Yes, you should get a piece of this $1.5 trillion-dollar global wellness market. Data shows that consumers are spending on their appearance and they want to spend more.
Let’s assume you’re a working mother with years of nurtured interest in an active lifestyle. Now, you desire to launch an activewear business. One that would gain global recognition and be profitable. Awesome! We love your drive.
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Saying you want to build a billion-dollar activewear brand is one thing. Achieving this is another. You definitely don’t want your dream to die a dream. What you are about to read would guide you from the idea to getting your first million from the business. Hopefully, you keep pushing till you have your billion-dollar company.
The Right Foundation for Starting an Activewear Business
Did you know tying your interest in starting an activewear business to something meaningful motivates your brain and can become your source of strength? Note that personally meaningful doesn’t mean it is limited to you.
Although Business News Daily informs us that freedom and passion, not money is the main motivation for entrepreneurs according to research from Cox Business. Entrepreneur tells us that 80% of purpose-led brands outperform the market. However, we recommend linking your interest in starting a business to a passion because it can be translated to a strong purpose for your business.
Now, don’t get worked about the number of hours you would spend surfing the internet to learn how to craft a strong purpose for your brand. Knowing your passion is enough for us. We have had a working mother based in Toronto, CA undergo a consultation with our brand strategist to craft a strong brand purpose for her fashion business. All she had was a passion that she was able to communicate to us. Now, she is getting ready to release her first collection.
Tina Tai
Remember: Building a billion-dollar business is not a walk in the park, becoming an entrepreneur is not all about ideas. You would need to keep yourself motivated and establishing a connection between your business interest and a purpose is a perfect bedrock for your empire. Also, don’t forget that 80% of purpose-led brands outperform the market.
Time to Focus on the CORE
You know how you have to bring your pot filled with water to a boil before adding your desired amount of rice. Yes, that! That is exactly what we are examining here. Having a CORE for your business is important because of the differentiation power it gives you. In a pool of thousands of activewear brands, you want to stand out. Different brings attraction which can convert to purchases if done well.
Thus, at this level, you are either crafting your company’s vision/mission statement, company values/culture, and defining your target audience alone or alongside a brand strategist.
Your company’s vision should be audacious and it should represent what success means to you and the business. A fictional example of a company’s vision can be “To motivate working mothers to start their fitness journey”. Your vision statement doesn’t have to include words like best, first, etc. An expression of your company’s desired end impact is enough.
Then, your company’s mission should speak to the how. How are you planning to motivate working mothers to start their fitness journey? Would you be using technology?
Next, when it comes to your company’s values and culture, you have to only include values you are ready to live by. Picking values that would look good to your staff, investors, and customers can damage your company’s reputation.
Afterwards, getting your target audience information correctly is a game-changer. This is because your target audience information would influence your activewear designs, its color, its texture, your marketing plan, and overall communication of the company.
Remember: It’s okay if you haven’t named your business at this level.
Also, If getting your CORE right would take 40 hours, we advise you to take out the time to do a great job or get the help of a brand strategist.
Find your Source
Are you going to use sustainable materials for your activewear? What about your designs? Would you consider getting help with the designs? Assuming you have your brand strategy or 1st part of Core done, allow that strategy influence your actions at this level. If your target audience is between 26-41 years old, you should be considering using sustainable materials. Well, you have to show that your company cares about the environment because those people do as stated in Forbes. Let’s assume going fully sustainable might not be achievable as you start, you can follow the made-to-order style. Using the made-to-style would still demonstrate your company’s commitment to a greener earth.
Another area under this category is finances. Get your capital ready, calculate your margins, and get a financial accountant. Check what figures you want your company to be hitting and strategize on the how. Making a profit is planned not experienced.
Remember: Your core plays a huge role here in deciding your materials, designs, selling price, vendors/suppliers, etc.
Complete your Branding
This is part 2 of the core. You can refer to your Core as branding, we used the word Core to emphasize the importance of that step. In a nutshell, branding helps your company become close friends with your target audience. If your target audience likes you, they would buy from you.
Now, you have to craft a tagline, create a brand personality, create a brand voice, and customer persona.
A tagline is a statement that depicts the positioning of your company as well as its brand promise. To get more details on brand personality and brand voice, view this article.
Next is customer persona, a customer persona is a fictional character backed up with real data. An example is “Conscious Fiona” who resides in the United States and earns above $40k per annum. From this article, we can see that the socially responsible consumers in the wellness market are one of the biggest spenders. What does that mean to you? It means this category of consumers in the United States is willing to pay more for activewear designed with organic/natural materials and sustainability in mind. Avoid using random data or guesses to create your customer persona.
Remember: You need to engage in a lot of research to serve your customers well. At Solid Fiction, we are committed to bringing ease and growth to female entrepreneurs, we have also had several working moms trust us to build a brand strategy that would get them noticed and loved by their target audience.
Right before Marketing
Although some people stumble toward success, stumbling is not sustainable. Go for a working process that can be replicated. Replicated successes win over accidental successes.
Let’s focus on technology. How do plan to capture sales that happen overnight? How do you plan to expand your reach? How do you plan to speak the language of your customers when it comes to technology?
The future is digital and your customers are expecting a seamless experience with your business. A lot of business owners’ go-to solution for technology is either a website or having social media platforms which are just okay for a start. However, as your activewear business grows, you should explore integrating augmented reality (AR), artificial intelligence (AI), and virtual reality (VR) to create a great customer experience.
On the subject of websites, do not settle for any website builder company and get stuck in an unending subscription wheel. Choose Solid Fiction to save you from being drained. Choose ease by going for the done for you option, we design and develop your e-commerce website for you without any unnecessary monthly subscription commitments.
Remember: Your website must speak to your target audience. You cannot afford to have a generic website; your business must stand out. Also, let your brand strategy guide you at all times. Your company’s brand strategy document is there to guide your company’s communication. If you are targeting working mothers, let the visuals on your website communicate that.
A Realistic Marketing Plan
Influencer marketing should be a part of your marketing plan. Popular activewear brand, Gymshark adopted influencer marketing during its early days to become a million-dollar company. However, choosing influencers is not a game of popularity but research. Did you know an influencer can have a 100K followership but a poor conversion rate?
When choosing influencers, go for the ones that have built a community, ones that have engagement, ones that are a fit for your target audience, and ones whose content aligns with your content vision. If you are targeting working moms, your target audience would follow mom influencers. This means you should seek to drive engagement and sales for your brand through mom influencers.
In addition to this, go for content marketing through the relevant platforms your target audience engage with. On Instagram, create posts that address starting a fitness lifestyle, step-by-step workouts, meal plans, etc. Content marketing isn’t all about your product but your customers. This doesn’t mean you should talk about topics not related to your brand or talk about your brand. Use content marketing to show your customers that they are your priority.
Remember: It is impossible to grow what you don’t invest in. You ensure your children get their daily dose of vitamins for growth. Extend that same energy to your business.
Summary
From the idea stage to earning your first million from your activewear business isn’t rocket science. With proper branding, you can achieve your goal. Our thinking is that if you can make your first million, you can hit a billion-dollar.
This article breaks down what steps to take to start making sales in your business. It’s 2022 and if you are going to launch an activewear company in the United States, you should be thinking about sustainability.
However, just before you proceed to manufacture or sourcing your apparel, set the right foundation. Why do you want to start an activewear brand? You have to research to build your brand. Remember, branding is beyond naming the business, it is about your strategy to win the hearts of your customers.
Also, do not forget that your customers want a seamless experience. The future is digital, use technology as leverage. Avoid getting drained with website builder companies that can have you spend countless hours trying to navigate and then trap you in an unending subscription wheel. Choose Solid Fiction to have your e-commerce website done for you, escape genericism, and pay only once for your website design and development. If you want to choose Solid Fiction and affordable pricing, click here.
Lastly, we strongly advise using influencer marketing and content marketing as a part of your activewear company’s marketing plan.
Did you find this article helpful? Let us know in the comments. Also, if you are a working mom that read this, we are sending you our regards. You can build a billion-dollar company.
