Receipts?
Aight let's talk BUSINESS (info to build and advice for those looking to start)
- Thread starter Unknown Poster
- Start date
boxfullofjoel
All Star
- Make sure you have a small " nut" no car payments,credit cards, etc....
- Network, Network, Network you would be surprised how much free help and connect you get in the right circle. Look up startup networking group and incubators
- Referrals are also key (cheaper than marketing dollars)
- Think big + act big =be big
- Use services like fiverr, 99 designs to make you look legit
Good question.
Be prepared. The one regret i had going into the opening of the store was we didn't take every possibility into consideration. We should of had more xl and xxl sizes. We should of promoted it months before hand instead of weeks before hand. We should of had a clear cut budget that went towards promotional materials. We didnt take into consideration paying the right people to get extra promotion. All of that stuff i am taking into consideration for the next pop up shop that will be open spring 2016.
Another thing we didnt think about was the general handling of business in terms of product presentation.
There were certain things i learned quickly just from dealing with people who came through the store.
Pricing: does the price warrant what the item is worth? We were selling limited production ts, long sleeves, hoodies for the prices we were because they were made in limited quanties and there was no place else in all of new york in the five boroughs where anybody could get those products. It was exclusive. Literally less than 6 pieces of each item were produced and going on sale.
Also...i didnt take into consideration the press/media angle. Getting the store and its products mentioned in a paper like village voice, vice, random nyc zines etc.
As well...we didnt really flesh out long term goals as well. For as many people that liked the stuff i had i took into consideration those who didnt. Eventually i had to realize that not everyone wants to wear loud tshirts and hoodies and so i worked to develop more simple and less graphic driven pieces for everyday wear.
Since a corporation is a separate legal entity, owners of a corporation only pay taxes on corporate profits paid to them in the form of salaries, bonuses and dividends. The corporation itself pays taxes, at the corporate rate, on any profits of the corporation. However, incorporation can be a complicated and costly process, and it is important a business owner understands the general costs of incorporating before beginning the incorporation process.
There are typically four types of fees to incorporating: a fee to file the articles of incorporation with the Secretary of State; a first year franchise tax prepayment; fees for various governmental filings; and attorney fees
| legalzoom.com
That's none of your business how much profit we made.
I could post a photo of every receipt for every sale we made literally...but that's not good business or smart to do. And it contains sensitive information.
But i was actually surprised and shocked we made sales period. Had customers from indiana all the way to Switzerland come in and buy clothes. To actually turn a profit was awesome. It gave me more than enough confidence in my abilities not only as a businessperson but as a creative as well.
Especially networking. I amassed a great number of business contacts from people working at Alife and Supra all the way to style.com contributors. Met so many great people from the experience.
What is my business? Retail.
How many employees do I have? 1 at this point. I hired one of my friends to work as a sales rep because i figured if i could help a homey out so hes not selling drugs or getting in trouble that's great. He quit the third day and walked off after getting into an argument with my partner who i appointed as brand manager. He was responsible for getting us the spot for the store.
Are they family? Nope. Friends.
How long have you been in business? This was a short term retail experience/experiment that was only open for two weeks. It was originally supposed to be for a month but the owner of the store we rented the space from tried to change the terms of our agreement from 700 for the month to 1000 for the month two weeks in. We realized shortly after why they were so happy to rent us the space...we were helping them pay their rent because they weren't making any money or have any foot traffic in the storefront. Two weeks after we left...the store went out of business.
I figured a pop up shop was an easier way for us to connect with an audience i cultivated online. Before i was just selling stuff online. This was more of a visibility test to see if it was ready for the public. I like doing pop up shops more than having a permanent storefront cause let me tell you. There are brands that are well known like supra, black scale, the hundreds, etc that have storefronts in that same area we were at and the storefronts are empty the majority of the time. I would rather have a shop open for a limited amount of time than have to worry anout making enough money to cover overhead costs, rent, and still turn a profit to live from at the end of the day. Rocksmith actually had a store in the same area and they closed. And that's an international brand.
NYC retail costs are no joke. And they are rising. So unless you have that kind of constant business to warrant having a full time storefront there's no point in doing it
Are you in a major city? Yes. New York. The shop was located between ALIFE and Sabit NYC on clinton and rivington ave in the Lower East Side of Manhattan.
How did I analyze the competition? Eventually we just accepted the fact that we are new in terms of being in the NYC fashion scene. We aren't Supreme, we aren't Diamond Supply Co, we aren't Stussy, we aren't Alife...we realized quickly that people are quick to gravitate towards things that are already known and established and people are already supporting. So we just made a very strong effort to not compete...but just to think of ourselves more so as adding life to the new york fashion scene. Like i do me...it's not a race cause what I do with my brand is different from others. It's unique that way. We stay away from what's popular and trendy and try to forge new styles.
Sweet.
Eventually i want to do clothing full time and focus on music. I personally have been doing everythjng i can to gain more attention to my brand and my own creative exploits.
My main thing is I blog. I have 3,521 followers at the moment. I style it as an online magazine for art, music, fashion, culture, skateboarding, bmx, and other worthwhile things i enjoy.
The main inspirations behind the current format of my blog are magazines like Richardson, Flaunt, and Paper to original crossover mens lifestyle magazines like Transworld Stance and even graffiti magazines from back in the day.
It's basically a cross pollination of content. Where there's an intersection between low end and high end. The blog has a diverse audience now. The clothing line was something i did from the blog to help establish an identity for it offline.
For those that are serious: Get business credit and a business profile to insulate yourself and your personal info a little bit. My personal credit is good, for the past few months, I've been getting tips and got the push from a Brotha and his wife who knew what the hell they were doing, and they've schooled a young breh 
To get a business credit profile, this is basically what you have to do. I found this online, but this what they were telling me to do and I've been doing it since late July:
*Establish your business
*Incorporate it (LLC, S or C corp)
*Get a business tax id (EIN)
*Open business accounts
*Establish business details (a separate mailing add dress from your personal, a business phone number, etc.)
*Start a business credit file that reports to all 3 bureaus of credit. Dun & Bradstreet (DUNS #) is basically like a SSN for your business
*Start establishing lines of credit as your business (tradelines) for reference....
and pay on time
Business credit doesn't have shyt to do with you. The point is to treat your business like a living, breathing person.
You start off with no credit and no credit history, so it's blank file.
I got my small little rental space last month and this weekend, I'm going to get an additional car for my business from a guy that I know at his dealership
All in all, I'm going to officially be independent in business by mid January. I'm putting in my notice to the company I work for in December after bonuses
I've had permanent butterflies in my stomach since starting the whole process but I'm ready
To get a business credit profile, this is basically what you have to do. I found this online, but this what they were telling me to do and I've been doing it since late July:
*Establish your business
*Incorporate it (LLC, S or C corp)
*Get a business tax id (EIN)
*Open business accounts
*Establish business details (a separate mailing add dress from your personal, a business phone number, etc.)
*Start a business credit file that reports to all 3 bureaus of credit. Dun & Bradstreet (DUNS #) is basically like a SSN for your business
*Start establishing lines of credit as your business (tradelines) for reference....
and pay on timeBusiness credit doesn't have shyt to do with you. The point is to treat your business like a living, breathing person.
You start off with no credit and no credit history, so it's blank file.
I got my small little rental space last month and this weekend, I'm going to get an additional car for my business from a guy that I know at his dealership
All in all, I'm going to officially be independent in business by mid January. I'm putting in my notice to the company I work for in December after bonuses
I've had permanent butterflies in my stomach since starting the whole process but I'm ready
To incorporate, I just went to Incorporate.com https://www.incorporate.com and paid the $700 package. They have cheaper options at like $100 to I think $400
My fees for the state totaled to about $160 for South Carolina. The state filing fees were included in that and they got me my Federal employer ID number (EIN).
↓R↑LYB
I trained Sheng Long and Shonuff
For those that are serious: Get business credit and a business profile to insulate yourself and your personal info a little bit. My personal credit is good, for the past few months, I've been getting tips and got the push from a Brotha and his wife who knew what the hell they were doing, and they've schooled a young breh
To get a business credit profile, this is basically what you have to do. I found this online, but this what they were telling me to do and I've been doing it since late July:
*Establish your business
*Incorporate it (LLC, S or C corp)
*Get a business tax id (EIN)
*Open business accounts
*Establish business details (a separate mailing add dress from your personal, a business phone number, etc.)
*Start a business credit file that reports to all 3 bureaus of credit. Dun & Bradstreet (DUNS #) is basically like a SSN for your business
*Start establishing lines of credit as your business (tradelines) for reference....
Business credit doesn't have shyt to do with you. The point is to treat your business like a living, breathing person.
You start off with no credit and no credit history, so it's blank file.
I got my small little rental space last month and this weekend, I'm going to get an additional car for my business from a guy that I know at his dealership
All in all, I'm going to officially be independent in business by mid January. I'm putting in my notice to the company I work for in December after bonuses
I've had permanent butterflies in my stomach since starting the whole process but I'm ready
+rep on the bolded, good info breh.
↓R↑LYB
I trained Sheng Long and Shonuff
There's very little fees and you absolutely do not have to pay someone to do it. Get your Federal Tax ID number from the IRS (this is free). Go to states secretary of the state site and incorporate your company in your state. You'll probably have to pay a fee, 150-200 max. Once you get your incorporation paperwork back you're pretty much done. Check your county and city to see if you have to file paperwork for them as well.
DrBanneker
Space is the Place
How's the store going? I have my own business as well.
