How to organize a sewing business - a detailed production business plan, determine the profitability of opening + 7 sections of the business plan + 4 potential risks.

Opening costs: from 610,000 rubles.
Payback period: 12-18 months.

Before you think about how to open a sewing business, you need to understand that without the necessary knowledge there is nothing to do in this area.

The fact is that many experienced tailors are moving from working at home to opening a private workshop, and competition is increasing significantly every year.

Small ateliers should not be taken into account as competitors, since they do not sew on such a scale, but only to order.

When opening a sewing business, it is worth choosing a specific direction in which to work, something relevant.

If the area of ​​work being performed is scattered, the quality of the products produced may decrease.

In order for the business to be sufficiently relevant, you can work in the following areas:

• sewing children's clothing (children's clothes are always more expensive than adults, and you have to buy them much more often, since children grow quickly);
• tailoring of fur and leather products (can be sold significantly above cost);
• tailoring of costumes for wedding ceremonies;
• sewing outerwear (coats, raincoats, jackets);
• sports paraphernalia (tailoring personalized sports suits, sewing team uniforms).

Detailed business plan for sewing production

First of all, you need to draw up a sensible business plan for clothing production in order not to miss important points organization and indicate the sequence of actions.

For example, if you order from another city, you will only have to pay for delivery.

But if from another country, then there is also an import tax.

Required staff

The main means of operation of this production are employees.

In order to sew high-quality products, you need experience and knowledge, and even better, a diploma in this specialty.

In order to save money, you can hire several employees with extensive experience and appoint them as senior staff.

Others may be less experienced but learn as they go.

This should not affect the quality of the product in any way.

To motivate employees to work more productively, and seamstresses of the first category to contribute to the training of less experienced ones, in addition to the rate, you can pay a percentage of the profit (if the monthly plan is fulfilled).

Calculation of personnel costs:

How to find clients in the clothing business?

As mentioned above, without advertising many clients in the clothing business cannot be found.

However, nothing will say about the company as well as a job well done.

Therefore, you always need to monitor quality.

You need to search for clients long before work begins.

The sooner orders begin to be fulfilled, the sooner the business will break even and begin to make a profit.

This is done before hiring people, purchasing equipment and renting premises.

Start with small supplies, and as demand increases, scale up your business and conquer new markets for selling your products.

Monitor the quality of the produced goods, provide Better conditions than competitors.

This will help you earn a name in the market, thereby gaining a firm foothold in the clothing industry.

Sales of products

Another important fact is the sales of products, after all. The greater the volume of goods supplied, the greater the profit.

Nowadays everything more people go shopping online.

Using this, you need to make your own website or sell products using.

If your business is just growing and you don’t have your own boutique yet, then you can open a point on the market.

You can also agree on the supply of goods to stores, thereby expanding the range of places for selling products.

The store, in turn, will make a profit from increasing the price of the product.

Calculation of advertising costs

General calculation of the cost of starting a sewing business

Profitability of opening a clothing production

The payback period for a sewing business will be no less than a year or a year and a half.

Because it takes time for a business to develop.

Time to establish wholesale sales, speed of production, and perhaps even expand its scale.

With all this, the business has a good, even high profitability, which is equal to 60% (of course, subject to the prosperity of the business).

It is also worth considering the scale of production: a small workshop will pay for itself faster, but a larger enterprise will bring greater profits.

A young woman entrepreneur shares her experience of opening and running a sewing business in the video:

Possible risks when starting a sewing business

In any business there are a number of factors that can make it unprofitable, and maybe even unprofitable.

• A long payback period can lead to a lack of funds.
• The lack of clients will lead to operating at a loss.
• Lack of skilled workers in the market.
• The cost of materials, when ordering abroad, will fluctuate along with the currency.

In order to sewing business brought decent income and quickly paid for itself, everything possible risks should be excluded in advance.

Or, at least, prepare to minimize the negative consequences.

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The clothing business covers various related areas. You can focus on altering and repairing clothing, making custom suits, curtains, curtains, bed linens and quilts. Some seamstresses specialize in sewing wedding clothes, while others make elegant knitted leotards for gymnasts and figure skaters.

In addition to selling sewing services, you can also create in-demand items that you can then sell, such as bags, bedding, quilts, children's holiday costumes, and so on. Other seamstresses make a living by making custom upholstery, pet clothing, and textile toys. The sewing market is large and open to people with creative potential and the ability to sew.

How to start a sewing business

At the very beginning, you need to decide what, exactly, you will sew. Despite all the variety of sewing products on the market, there will always be buyers for exclusive, original products. There are many things that an experienced seamstress can make.

Individual tailoring. You can work as a dressmaker at home, or open a sewing studio and sew clothes to order.

Seamstress-fashion designer. If you are interested in creating your own fashionable clothing items, you can not only sew products according to customer designs, but also offer customers your own original designs. A fashion designer has more opportunities, because she can not only sew to order, but also sell her products in sewing stores and boutiques.

For a seamstress specializing in tailoring, there are many areas where she can apply her skills:

• Uniform
• Baby clothes
• Men's clothing
• Costumes for dancers, gymnasts and figure skaters
• Women's clothing
• High-fashion
• Intimate clothing
• Plus size clothing

And this list goes on...

Sewing wedding clothes. The wedding business provides great opportunities for an experienced seamstress. Many craftswomen earn good money by sewing wedding dresses and wedding accessories.

Sewing for home. Sewing decorative items for the home also provides great opportunities for the sewing business. You can focus on sewing curtains and curtains for windows, special decorative pillows, shower curtains, bedspreads and other bedding items.

You can sew leather and textile bags, covers for web equipment and clothing, as well as toys.

Clothing repair. This could be stitching loose seams or replacing a zipper. This kind of work can be very profitable business, since many people have clothes in their closet that need repairing and they have no idea how to do it.

Sewing clothes and accessories for pets. This is a rapidly growing segment, and you can start creating blankets for horses, clothing for dogs and other pets.

When choosing your home business niche, determine which area you will feel most comfortable in and whether that segment has a large market. Don't try to position yourself as a "jack of all trades." You will be trusted much more as a professional if you specialize in a particular area.

Seamstress's workplace

If you are focused on making curtains, you must have a professional understanding of finishing materials, fabrics, the latest trends and styles to make the best curtains for your clients.

Having chosen, for example, sewing wedding dresses as your specialization, you need to know everything about wedding fashion. Your sewing skills must be excellent. If you feel like your work isn't good enough, keep improving and constantly learn the latest methods and techniques. If you take your work seriously and are willing to work hard, no matter the difficulties, you will succeed!

The main tool of a dressmaker is a sewing machine.

Marketing market research

As with any other business, you must take some time to research and test the market for demand for your product or service. Draw up a business plan, even if you do not intend to attract external funding. This will help you focus on the most important tasks and calculate the financial prospects of your clothing business. You will also need to answer the following questions: where, to whom and how will you sell your products and services? Who are your competitors?

Clothing business costs

To start a sewing business, you need a reliable and versatile sewing machine and other sewing equipment. If you don't have everything necessary equipment, still try to buy the best you can afford, even if it is second-hand. Good equipment will last longer, and it will be much easier to work with.

The largest investment for this business will be the purchase of a sewing machine (if you don’t have one). Sewing machines cost from $300 to $6,000, depending on the model and the list of operations it can perform.

Find out as much information as you can about the different models of sewing machines, what they can do and how well they function. Nowadays, there are modern computerized sewing machines that are programmed using special punch cards to create embroidery. Some of them have an automatic needle threader, an LCD touch panel, and a device that can create rivet holes of 5 different diameters.

You may also need a serger, which allows you to create decorative seams on all types of fabrics. Its cost ranges from $300 to $1600.

In addition to sewing equipment, you will need:

• Sewing patterns
• Scissors
• Markers
• Pins
• Threads
• Fabric meter

In addition, you need to purchase a mirror from full height so that the client can examine himself from the outside.

Pricing your home sewing business

Your income potential will depend on the industry you enter. Also check what prices your competitors have for similar products. On the one hand, your prices must be competitive, on the other hand, you should under no circumstances work at a loss. Don't rate your work too low. The cost of the product must include your hourly wage plus profit.

For repairing clothes you can get $5-$30. For tailoring men's suit you can earn up to $1000, evening dress from $200, wedding dress up to $5000, and children's clothing can be sold from $10-$50.

The two most important factors in determining the price will be the time spent on sewing the model and the cost Supplies. Be sure to discuss all costs with the client before starting work, from the type of fabric that will be used to finishing hardware.

If the model includes drapery, calculate the exact fabric consumption and inform the client about it. Some clients buy the fabric themselves, and in some cases you will be tasked with choosing the material yourself. Discuss all these details with the client every step of the way to avoid conflicts and customer dissatisfaction. Draw up contracts for expensive work.

Potential income

Once your sewing business gains momentum, you can earn between $20,000 and $35,000 per year. An experienced seamstress with a strong client base can earn up to $60,000. Income can increase if you hire employees to do the sewing and you can do the marketing and sales.

Search for clients

To begin with, you can advertise in the media about your readiness to provide the services of a home-based seamstress. Subsequently, satisfied clients will recommend you to their friends and acquaintances. Over time, you will have regular customers, and word of mouth will bring you new referrals.

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The domestic clothing market is overflowing with products from Chinese, Turkish and Polish manufacturers. However, these products are not always characterized by acceptable quality: the parameters of the models do not correspond to figure standards, the size range differs from the generally accepted one, and the quality of tailoring leaves much to be desired. In this situation, buyers are increasingly paying attention to affordable and high-quality products made in local factories.

When drawing up a business plan for clothing production, you need to determine for which consumer the products will be intended. At the initial stage, an entrepreneur should definitely not compete with well-known world brands and focus on a wealthy audience spoiled by the attention of designers - it is better to give preference to the middle segment, in which for the buyer the quality of an item is much more important than the inscription on the tag.

Business Features

An entrepreneur who creates even a small production must understand that this area requires serious training and knowledge of the specifics of the industry. The reason is that many tailors who have successfully implemented the ideas of a sewing business at home or who have experience working in an atelier move to the next stage of development and open their own private factories. To compete with such workshops, you need to have not only organizational, but also creative abilities.

Another important factor is specialization: it is quite difficult to cover even three or four areas within a small enterprise. In addition, when producing heterogeneous products, productivity suffers greatly: seamstresses are forced to constantly switch between operations different types, cannot concentrate on work and ensure the proper speed of technological processes. Therefore, before launching a workshop, you need to conduct a qualitative study and determine what is best to sew: a sewing business will be profitable only if you focus on the most popular types of products.

There are two main production models that an entrepreneur can successfully combine when developing a business concept. The first involves work to order: the company is approached by designers and companies that are developing a new product, but do not have the available capacity to manufacture it. In this case, products are released under a third-party brand, which eliminates the cost of promoting it and allows you not to think about sales channels.

When implementing the second model, the enterprise goes through a full cycle, starting with the development of new products and ending with their sale under its own brand. An entrepreneur who chooses this path must clearly understand the quantitative and qualitative composition of the target audience, to attract which it is necessary to conduct regular marketing events. In this case, the attention of potential buyers can be focused on the following factors:

• Quality. The owner evaluates the quality of the item based on many criteria, paying attention to the fabric, threads, accessories, fit, behavior during washing and ironing. It is believed that high-quality clothing should be beautiful, practical and reliable at the same time;
• Price policy. The price of a thing must correspond to its quality - no one will buy expensive consumer goods, but high-quality clothing cannot be cheap either. Unreasonable deviations from the market price most often cause doubts and suspicions among consumers;
• Demand. You shouldn’t get too carried away with the release of exclusive or elite designer models - people buy simple things much more often: a shirt, skirt, jeans or underwear.

Production technology

The process of organizing a clothing business must take place in accordance with generally accepted technology for industrial production of clothing, including the following stages of product creation:

1. Design. The fashion designer develops sketches of the future product, selects the type of fabric, accessories and colors;
2. Construction. Based on sketches, the designer develops drawings, determines the dimensions of parts, and then creates patterns and technical documentation;
3. Open it up. Next, the cutter gets to work. Using patterns, he transfers the details of the product onto the fabric and cuts them out using scissors or cutting units;
4. Sewing. Seamstresses finish the edges and then sew the pieces together according to the instructions. At this stage, two methods of labor distribution are used: in the first case, each master sews the product completely, from start to finish, while in the second, the seamstress performs one or two simple operations, and then passes the semi-finished product further along the conveyor;
5. Finishing. Operators of auxiliary mechanisms sew buttons, zippers, install rivets and complete the finishing of the product;
6. Package. A quality control employee checks the product for compliance with quality requirements, attaches tags to it, and then transfers the product to the warehouse.

Business registration

Entrepreneurs working from home usually do not pay attention to the issues of registering an enterprise and draw up business plans for sewing studios without taking into account tax payments. However, larger-scale production, which employs hired workers, must be legalized. This procedure consists of several simple steps:

1. Submitting an application in the prescribed form to the Federal Tax Service;
2. Registration with tax authorities;
3. Choosing an appropriate taxation system;
4. Registration in the Pension Fund and the Compulsory Medical Insurance Fund;
5. Concluding agreements on the rental of industrial premises, pest control, garbage removal, recycling of fluorescent lamps and washing of work clothes;
6. Obtaining work permits from the SES and State Fire Inspectorate;
7. Production of company seals;
8. Opening a current account.

Businessmen registering a small workshop can choose one of the available forms of ownership - individual entrepreneur or LLC. Before you start a sewing business from scratch, you should study the differences between them and choose the most suitable option:

Comparative characteristics of forms of ownership

Form	IP	OOO
State duty	800 rub.	4000 rub.
Application for registration	form P21001	form 11001
Application for transition to the simplified tax system or UTII	+	+
Minutes of the meeting on the creation of the SPD	–	+
Copies of passports	+	+
SPD Charter	–	+
Owner's insurance premiums	+	–
Authorized fund	–	10,000 rub.
Number of owners	one owner	up to 50
Profit distribution	optional	dividends
Registration in funds	when hiring workers	Necessarily
Limits of owner's responsibility	personal property	LLC property

Workshop premises

When looking for a place to locate a workshop, entrepreneurs have to explore dozens of options: creating a sewing business involves using a well-lit, heated room with comfortable conditions for workers. Therefore, mini-factories are often opened on the basis of old administrative buildings, closed kindergartens and schools: the main requirement is the presence of a spacious hall for arranging the production area, as well as several smaller rooms - here you need to equip administrative offices, a bathroom, a dining room and a warehouse.

The location of the enterprise does not affect its status: preference should be given to suburbs, industrial zones and residential areas with low rent. Before organizing a sewing business, you must make sure that the production is accessible by transport - otherwise, the entrepreneur will have to buy or hire a bus for daily transportation of employees.

Business plan for a sewing workshop small sizes with a monthly turnover of 1.7–2 million rubles must provide for the rental or purchase of premises that meet the following requirements:

Sufficient area. The area standards for each seamstress are 4–6 m² when producing products from light fabrics, and 7–8 m² when sewing outerwear. It is also necessary to allocate space for passages, install auxiliary equipment, and organize a workplace for the fashion designer and cutters. The final layout of the 210 m² room will include:

• Production area for ten seamstresses - 100 m²;
• Cutting area - 25 m²;
• Ironing space - 15 m²;
• Fashion designer's office - 15 m²;
• Office of the director and accountant - 13 m²;
• Rest and meal room - 20 m²;
• Warehouse - 20 m²;
• Bathroom - 2 m²;
• Electricity supply. The total power consumed by sewing equipment of a workshop of the specified sizes can reach 18 kW. In addition, some machines require connection to a three-phase line with a voltage of 380 V;
• Water supply. According to hygienic requirements, the room must be connected to water supply and sewerage lines;
• Lighting. Working with a sewing machine requires high precision operations and good coordination of movements. Therefore, the illumination at the desktop level should not be lower than 750 lux. For local illumination of the working area, LED or fluorescent lamps are additionally used;
• Microclimate. For this type of work, the room temperature in winter should be between 19–25°C with a maximum humidity of 75%. In summer, an increase to 27°C is allowed with a humidity of 55–60%. In any case, the air flow speed should not exceed 0.2–0.5 m/s.

sewing machines

When developing a business plan for a sewing workshop with calculations, an entrepreneur may be faced with a huge variety of existing types of equipment: each manufacturer has more than a dozen types of overlockers alone. To draw up the correct specification, you should select in advance the main profile of the enterprise: sewing leather jackets requires a slightly different set of machines than sewing bed linen.

Before you open a sewing business, you should also purchase various racks for fabric, threads and scraps, brackets for patterns and hangers for finished products, arrange workplaces for managers, accountants and fashion designers.

Sewing shop equipment

Name	price, rub.	Quantity, pcs.	Cost, rub.
Production
Straight stitch sewing machine	19800	6	118800
Knitting sewing machine	20300	3	60900
Hemming sewing machine	28500	1	28500
Overlock	33500	2	67000
Riveting machine	40700	1	40700
Loop machine	68600	1	68600
Button machine	40100	1	40100
Accessories for machines (needles, belts, presser feet)	–	–	5000
Sewing machine table	2800	10	28000
Overlock table	2800	2	5600
Interoperational conveyor	6200	8	49600
Table for additional equipment	3600	3	10800
Basket for finished products	2500	10	25000
Dummy	4700	2	9400
Ironing system	40600	1	40600
Steam generator	6500	1	6500
Clothes rack	2500	10	25000
Ironing press	15600	1	15600
Warehouse rack	3500	5	17500
Packing table	2500	1	2500
Ceiling lighting	1200	10	12000
Sewing machine light	1350	15	20250
Air conditioner	35000	1	35000
Cutting shop
Cutting table 1.8x4 m	34500	1	34500
Tailoring tools	–	–	5000
Bracket for patterns	8500	1	8500
Rotary knife	15600	1	15600
Fabric rack	3500	2	7000
Ceiling lighting	1200	6	7200
Fashion designer's workplace
PC or laptop	18000	1	18000
Printer for printing patterns	8000	1	8000
Dummy	4700	2	9400
Ceiling lighting	1200	4	4800
Table lamp	1500	1	1500
Work table	3500	1	3500
Chair	1100	2	2200
Stationery	–	–	1000
Office
Director's PC	18000	1	18000
Accountant's PC	18000	1	18000
MFP	10000	1	10000
Telephone set	1500	2	3000
Network router	2000	1	2000
Internet access line	1000	1	1000
Ceiling lighting	1200	4	4800
Table lamp	1500	2	3000
Air conditioner	16000	1	16000
Work table	3500	2	7000
Chair	1100	4	4400
Stationery	–	–	3000
Utility rooms
Ceiling lighting	1200	4	4800
Dining table for staff	2000	4	8000
Chair	900	16	14400
Bathroom set	15000	1	15000
Microwave	4500	1	4500
Electric kettle	1400	1	1400
Personal locker for clothes	3300	15	49500
Total:			1046950

Staff

Sewing production requires high team coordination: in the technological process there is a close relationship between workers, so a failure at any stage can lead to a sharp decrease in the productivity of the entire enterprise. Personnel must be selected very carefully, taking into account not only professional, but also personal qualities of employees - responsibility, commitment, diligence. The business plan for a small sewing enterprise involves hiring:

• A fashion designer who creates new products and patterns for them;
• A technologist who develops assembly maps and sequences of operations, as well as controls the process of their implementation;
• Cutters who cut out parts of fabric products according to patterns;
• Seamstresses with experience in handling different types of machines;
• Operators of overlock machines, button, rivet and buttonhole machines;
• Specialists working with ironing equipment;
• Administrative staff.

Thus, when developing a business plan for clothing production with calculations, the following staffing table should be included in its composition:

Workshop staffing table

Name	Rate, rub.	Qty	Amount, rub.
Technologist	30000	1	30000
Seamstress-motor operator	25000	10	250000
Auxiliary Equipment Operator	25000	2	50000
Cutter	28000	2	56000
Ironing shop worker	20000	1	20000
Fashion designer	30000	1	30000
Cleaning woman	15000	1	15000
Mechanic at ½ rate	10000	1	10000
Storekeeper	10000	1	10000
Accountant	20000	1	20000
Payroll tax	–	–	147300
Total:			638300

According to sanitary requirements, all employees who have direct contact with products must keep their medical records up to date, undergo regular preventive examinations and get vaccinated.

The piecework wage system for seamstresses deserves special attention. The amount of remuneration is calculated based on industry time standards: for example, 21 minutes are allocated for the production of a men's shirt. With an expected monthly salary of 25,000 rubles, the cost of a working minute is 2.37 rubles: thus, a seamstress receives 49.77 rubles for sewing one product. It should be noted that when determining the amount of remuneration, you cannot use the data given in the business plans of sewing studios for small businesses: in individual production, slightly different time standards are used, exceeding industrial ones by tens of times.

Standards for sewing products

Range

The clothing industry of the light industry includes hundreds of different areas: within the framework of a project, an entrepreneur can sew fur coats or produce children's rompers with equal success. The only condition is the specialization of the enterprise: for example, it is quite difficult to organize the simultaneous production of knitted T-shirts and winter down jackets. Before opening a sewing business from scratch, it is also advisable to take into account the needs of the regional market and the profile of competitors’ activities in order to highlight free niches and organize the production of the most popular goods.

When listing the most popular ideas for the sewing business, we should mention the production of such products as:

• Clothing and linen for babies and young children;
• Teenagers clothes;
• Clothes and underwear made of knitwear;
• Leather, fur and suede products;
• Business suits and clothing for special occasions;
• Wedding dresses and suits;
• Jackets, coats and other outerwear;
• Sports and dance costumes;
• Workwear;
• Curtains, bed linen, bedspreads, tablecloths and other interior textiles.

Raw material suppliers

Currently, there is no shortage of accessories, threads or fabrics on the market: even a small manufacturer can order a batch of raw materials from Europe or China. Some entrepreneurs personally visit Middle Eastern countries because the materials they need are produced only here. However, on Russian market It’s also easy to find suppliers offering the widest range of products, including delivery and online ordering.

When choosing contractors, it is imperative to focus on the needs of the target audience: for example, European fabrics, although of excellent quality, are characterized by a high price, and therefore products made from them are bought mainly by wealthy clients. Consumers with average incomes prefer things made from materials produced in Russia or China: at a low cost, they are of quite acceptable quality.

Where to start a sewing business: after determining the main range of the enterprise, it is advisable to establish contacts with such suppliers and obtain a catalog of samples. Depending on the product range, a wide variety of fabrics are used in production: cotton, wool, viscose or polyester. In addition, when sewing many types of clothing, duplicating and lining materials are used - dublerin, non-woven fabric, twill. It should be remembered that natural linen, silk or woolen fabrics have the highest price, which directly affects the cost of the product, so it is worth working with them only if there is a guaranteed sale.

Sales of products

Entrepreneurs who start their own clothing business often underestimate the saturation of the market and assume that wholesalers and stores will immediately show interest in new products. However, most often the opposite happens: warehouses are filled with unclaimed products, costs rise, and the new enterprise is gradually approaching bankruptcy. To avoid this, you need to look for distribution channels and enter into agreements with partners at the initial stages of creating a business, simultaneously with searching for premises and selecting equipment.

In contrast to the methods given in the business plans of sewing studios with calculations, activities related to the promotion of industrial production should not be aimed at attracting the end consumer, but at increasing brand awareness. What can be used to stimulate sales:

• Advertising in specialized print media;
• Sponsorship participation in events of interest to the target audience;
• Production of POS materials intended for placement at points of sale;
• Direct contacts with wholesale resellers;
• Negotiations with owners of brick-and-mortar and online stores;
• Outdoor advertising on billboards and city lights.

It is advisable to create a corporate website for an enterprise, since it is much easier to promote a sewing business with its help: here you should place information about the assortment, wholesale and retail prices, terms of cooperation, and publish contact information for wholesale buyers. Some entrepreneurs go further and turn the site into a full-fledged online store that delivers not only to neighboring regions, but throughout the country.

Investments

It is quite difficult to develop a complete economic model of an enterprise: when making calculations, it is used a large number of variable quantities - such as the percentage of defective raw materials and finished products, time standards and material consumption, average labor productivity and much more. The following sample business plan for a sewing production with calculations, compiled for a workshop producing the mentioned men's shirts, will help you roughly estimate the profitability.

Start-up costs

The indicated amount of 1.54 million rubles is not final: to launch the production line, you will also have to purchase materials, threads and accessories in order to provide the enterprise with raw materials for at least a month of operation. The volume of these reserves is calculated taking into account the range and estimated production capacity; in addition to their monthly replenishment, the entrepreneur will have to allocate a certain amount to pay rent and utility bills.

Current expenses

When calculating the material cost of products, industry-standard fabric and thread consumption standards are used, developed for all main types of products. Before starting a clothing business from scratch, it is advisable to study this data and evaluate the profitability of producing certain items of clothing.

Material consumption rates

Name	Fabric, m	Threads, m	Accessories, rub.	Amount, rub.
Straight skirt	0,8	100	90	166,6
Jacket with lining	1,5	150	120	885,0
Mens pants	1,3	270	80	216,3
Lined jacket	2,2	200	160	1279,8
Shirt	1,8	120	100	308,5
Knitted blouse	1,6	100	80	264,6
Long sleeve dress	2,2	150	120	316,9
Sleeveless dress	1,5	100	90	224,0

Revenues and profitability

In addition to the cost of materials, the price of the finished product also includes overhead costs and trade margins. The value of the latter is determined mainly by the sales method: in retail sales, the margin can reach 120–200%, while when working with wholesale buyers, the maximum value is 25–35%.

For example, the wholesale price for men's shirts of average quality made from Chinese fabrics reaches 540 rubles with a material cost of 308.5 rubles. Taking into account the standard time (21 minutes), the length of the shift (8 hours) and the number of working days in the month (22 days), we can calculate the monthly production volume for a team of ten seamstresses: in this case it will be 5030 products without taking into account defects.

Product cost calculation

The development of the economic part of a business plan for a clothing factory ends with the calculation of economic indicators - average profitability and payback period of the enterprise. It should be noted that the second value can be adjusted depending on the degree of production utilization and the speed of product sales: in practice, it takes 3–4 months to develop a customer base and reach the design capacity.

Video on the topic

Economic indicators of the workshop

Conclusion

Any idea for a clothing business should be based on the real needs of customers. To monitor demand dynamics and stay ahead of competitors, you need to constantly study fashion trends and the latest design developments, and then adjust the assortment, offering customers only current clothing models.

Despite the dominance of cheap things, every person strives to dress and furnish their interior with better things. Needlewomen come to their aid, who, in their desire to earn money, make the world better and more attractive.

Should you start a sewing business?

This question is natural for anyone who has conceived his own business, especially sewing. Who should do this anyway, and perhaps this type of business is contraindicated for some? Let's consider the cases:

• you have a special education - you just need to decide on the range of services;
• you don’t know how to sew, but you want to do it and earn an income. Well, your desire to improve the world around you is commendable, but to make money you need to either hire someone or learn to sew yourself. Specialized magazines, courses, and websites will help you with this.

What is the purpose of starting such a business? Answer this question creatively and reasonably, the answers will later form part of your advertising campaign.

Here are sample answers:

• dress those around you stylishly, fashionably, individually;
• desire to work with natural, high-quality fabrics and, accordingly, the desire to wear natural fabrics, through which the body breathes;
• the need to bring your ideas to life, because there’s a whole closet of them accumulated!

Explain to your loved ones from the beginning what hours you work - this will eliminate misunderstandings and resentment.

Start-up investments - from scratch?

First of all, let's think about whether it is realistic to start without investment. The answer is unequivocal and for some crushing - yes. But just as there is relative and absolute truth, so our “yes” is relative. Regarding the grandiose business projects of the clothing world, with the opening of points in several regions, our investment in starting our own business will be zero.

Look around the room, house, apartment. Is there a place that can become your workplace? Absolutely any corner where you can put a household machine is suitable for this: your bedroom, hallway, kitchen.

In addition to the workplace, you will need the machine itself and cutting accessories (chalk/pencil, scissors, ruler, needles, threads). Very often, everyone has such things, but few people consider them as helpers in making money.

Having bought a new sewing machine, you need to check it completely within 14 days: try all the lines and loops. So that there is time to return it if a malfunction is detected.

If you don’t have a machine at home or it’s faulty, then use the services of a technician (when repairing/buying a used machine) or buy a new sewing machine for household needs. Nowadays this can be done via the Internet; many sites will pay for delivery and provide a one-year warranty.

The most expensive parts are fabrics and accessories. All capital investments depend on the focus of your production, discussed in detail below.

Sewing accessories include: threads, buttons, hooks, lace, etc.

Direction of production

A lot depends on what exactly you will be doing, including the cost of fittings.

• Slings for young mothers - make the basic pattern, and then use your imagination. Young mothers love their children and will gladly put them on their chests in exclusive slings!
• Taking measurements. It sounds absurd, but let's look at it. Imagine: you want to buy yourself a dress online. Model, shade, color - the dress is yours! But precise measurements are needed. If you remove it yourself and make a mistake, you will have to be disappointed, overpay the post office for resending the goods, waste time, and wait. Or you can take your measurements from a specialist and order any skirt or jeans without fear.
• Clothes for curvy women. Nowadays, even in specialized stores for curvy ladies and large gentlemen, you rarely find anything worthwhile, but excess weight does not indicate a lack of taste in a person. All you have to do is connect everything and make them happy. By the way, men are no less worried than women about what type of jacket to wear to hide their belly.
• Old to new. Very often you put a stain on a dress and lose your favorite thing. Make this your strong point! Somewhere an embroidery, somewhere a brooch, somewhere shortened. The girl has outgrown the dress - let's add a ruffle. Children grow quickly - lengthen the pants, insert them at the sides. Sew on a fashionable patch. It’s like clothing repair, but with creativity, with a new look at an old thing!
• Online tailoring. Sewing products to order via the Internet from high-quality fabrics. Customers will go to the website of the store with which you cooperate and have a discount, choose a fabric, then transfer money to you for its purchase and, upon receipt, pay for your work as a seamstress. This option is suitable for experienced and confident craftsmen.
• Sewing using patterns from fashion magazines. Two centuries ago, magazines for women began to be published with patterns and advice on who and how to emphasize their attractiveness. Why not make this your income?
• Correction and tailoring of wedding dresses. Nervousness before the wedding leads to a jump in the weight of the bride, her mother and friends, but your skillful hands will quickly and beautifully correct everything.
• Wedding accessories. Veil, umbrella, gloves, handbag, bouquet, boutonniere. All this, made to order, individually for each client, can become an excellent means of main income. Patterns can be taken from the Internet or bought in magazines. The main thing is to have basic patterns.
• Baby clothes. Casual and party clothes for kids will never go out of fashion, and there will always be customers.
• Sewing curtains, tablecloths, napkins, and other home decor. Nowadays, many people pay significant attention to comfort. Tablecloths and napkins return to the tables, and beautiful, decorative pillows to the sofas. Make it your label!
• Custom pajamas. Night is the time when you need to feel comfortable, and what could be more delightful than unusual pajamas! You can also add regular nightgowns here.
• Overalls. This is already an idea for mass tailoring.
• Clothes in ethnic style.

Our country is multinational and we can take advantage of this by combining it with online tailoring in order to expand the circle of clientele.

• Sewing home clothes from natural fabrics. Robes and dresses for home should be comfortable and made of high-quality fabric. Perhaps the simplest in terms of investment. Calico, chintz, and satin always had bright, beautiful prints, and every friend of yours has a mother or grandmother. Why bother coming up with a gift when you can give a comfortable dress with a good pocket for glasses and a cell phone!
• Handicrafts. There are no limits to creativity and imagination here. Pincushions, mobile phone cases, dolls and various soft toys made of felt, plush and natural fabrics. Nowadays, such toys are used to decorate homes, offices, and as gifts for weddings, anniversaries, and children.
• Sewing pillowcases, duvet covers, aprons. As an option, run-in to any of the above points.

The choice of business direction directly depends on your skills and the locality in which you live. In a small village with the Internet, you can organize almost any of them. If there is a clothing repair shop next door, it would not be ethical to do the same thing. Let's keep silent about the neighbor's indignation!

Finding clients is not the most difficult task!

There are advantages to working from home, as well as finding clients.

When searching, pay attention to:

• shops that you visit every day, even in a supermarket, you can inadvertently leave advertising leaflets on a bench or table for customers;
• social media, in which you need to create groups and post interesting notes on the topic;
• the surrounding area can be plastered with advertisements, updating them periodically;
• free bulletin boards on the Internet;
• Despite the generally accepted opinion, I do not advise you to impose your work/products on your friends, so as not to spoil the relationship. This is acceptable if a friend himself wants to buy.

All this will provide you with the first wave of buyers, clients, and it depends on you whether they will become permanent, whether they will return to you.

Features of organizing a sewing business from scratch

Having decided on the direction of your business and deciding that you can handle it, start organizing. If your scale is small, then you will save on rent and salaries. However, if you receive a larger order, you may need an assistant. If you have two machines, then you can equip a second workplace at home. It will be easier to find a seamstress who will complete the order for a piece rate payment.

When hiring a home-based seamstress, check her experience. What type of fabrics she worked with, whether she has sewing equipment - her salary will depend on this.

As you can see, it is possible to organize a sewing business from scratch and it is enough to have a reasoned incentive to make it a reality. The main rule that needs to be adopted is: fulfill even the least profitable order efficiently and soundly and everything will work out for you!

In this material:

The clothing business, the business plan of which must take into account the market situation, is aimed at sewing various clothes and more. First of all, it is necessary to find a demand that can satisfy such production, otherwise the enterprise will be idle. To open a sewing production, you need to draw up a business plan for a sewing workshop or factory, in which you will have to take into account a lot of little things.

What is needed to open a factory?

Before drawing up a plan for a garment factory, you need to take into account that to implement the project you will have to do the following:

• decide on the direction;
• monitor the market in this area and calculate future income and expenses;
• select a workshop;
• hire competent specialists;
• purchase equipment for the enterprise;
• calculate profitability;
• carry out organizational work on sales;
• place an advertisement for a product;
• to form the technology of the future enterprise;
• work out legal issues;
• organize accounting, select premises for a warehouse;
• resolve issues with transportation of goods.

An incorrectly chosen direction will be difficult to promote. Look around the market, determine the price positions for the clothes you want to produce. Only the factory whose production will be in demand will generate income. Determining demand requires careful monitoring. It would be a mistake to start production guided by your own ideas about demand and pricing in the market.

After the direction of production has been chosen, you need to find a room in which the workshop will be located. It is best to consider not central areas, and located at some distance from the center. The premises located there will have low price for rent. The main thing is that the work shop is equipped with water supply, heating and electricity.

When choosing qualified employees, you need to simultaneously purchase equipment for the workshop. You can purchase used equipment. First of all, you need to purchase fabrics and accessories. Be guided by the price-quality ratio. There is no need to buy the cheapest fabrics, because the final products will be of low quality, which means that the demand for them will be low. Make bulk purchases, which will reduce the price of the material.

The project cannot be completed without a qualified technologist who can calculate profitability and carry out organizational work on sales and advertising. Please note that only well-built enterprise technology will allow the enterprise to generate income and reduce costs.

The project will require the organization of warehouse management and accounting, without which it is impossible to know how things are progressing in the clothing business. If a project requires transportation, it will have to be created. However, these are additional expenses that must be included in the business plan for clothing production.

The following equipment is required for production:

• printers;
• special equipment;
• ironing tables and steam generators;
• equipment for washing clothes;
• computer-aided clothing design system;
• embroidery machines;
• cutting and laying equipment.

Opening of a sewing workshop

If you have experience working with various fabrics, have the necessary patterns and experience in design, then you can organize and open your own sewing workshop by registering an individual enterprise. To turn ideas into reality, you need to create a business plan for a sewing workshop.

You can start your own business only after you have decided on the tastes, financial capabilities and age categories of buyers.

It is possible to organize mass production, which will have average prices for products and will be designed for regional buyers. Or, for example, it will be an enterprise with only expensive products. All these factors are needed to draw up a new project.

It is necessary to decide what the company will produce: cheap products or fashionable and high-quality clothes at average prices. Of course, you can produce expensive clothes, become a designer fashionable clothes and instill good taste in customers. But access to this market is not so easy.

First of all, you need to choose fabrics, colors, negotiate with suppliers and store owners. To create a sewing production, consider the following costs:

• for the purchase of materials;
• to hire qualified workers;
• for the purchase of special equipment.

The quality of goods depends mainly on the equipment, because not a single professional employee can sew good products on a cheap sewing machine.

When planning your own sewing production, keep in mind that to open your own workshop, which is capable of producing 20-50 units of products per day, you need to spend 1.1 million rubles. And if a new sewing production project is a workshop producing 150-200 units per day, about 10 million rubles will be required. That is, the initial investment to open such enterprises will require considerable. In the first case, investments pay off in 2.5-3 years, and in the second - in 1.5-2 years.

Choosing a direction for a future sewing enterprise

The above mentioned careful preparation before starting production. Among the sewing directions you can consider:

• workwear (work clothes, uniform);
• outerwear;
• products made of suede, leather, fur (necessary equipment will be required);
• interior items (bedspreads, pillows, curtains);
• small and children's clothing.

Focus on seasonal sales. For example, before academic year It would be good to start producing school clothes. Take into account tenders, participation in which can provide good orders for long time, thereby greatly increasing the profitability of the enterprise. It’s a good idea to conclude agreements with fitness centers, for which you can produce a line of sportswear, since similar imported ones cost 2-3 times more.

Order a business plan

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