Ever wanted to start a business (or more specifically, a boutique) but weren't sure where to start or what steps to take? You aren't alone! Strut Clothing owners Julia & Rozina sit down in a candid interview on all things starting a business and go in depth on the things they did that made them successful, what they would have changed or done differently, and what advice they would give to aspiring entrepreneurs out there. Read on to get the inside scoop of the conception of Strut Clothing and how it got to where it's at now!
What do you think the first step is when wanting to start a business?
JS & RD: When starting a business, we believe that you must 100% love the product you are selling to consumers. For us, this started when working the wholesale apparel markets. We fell in love with the fashion industry instantly and shared so many similar ideas and aspirations along the way. We both networked with many buyers during this process to really get an idea of what it’s like to own a boutique prior to starting. Fast forward to a year of Strut, we’ve had so many ups and downs but we’ve learned from our own mistakes and are now planning bigger and better things (coming soon!). After you are certain that you trust and love your product, then that’s when everything else comes into play like creating a business plan, registering your business and EIN, and opening up business credit lines.
Definitely have a business plan in place; that be 6 months, a year, 3 years, etc! This will ensure that you keep your head on straight and remind you of the WHY behind starting your business. This is so important, will help keep you moving forward, and is key in being successful.
What kind of goals did you set when you started your business? Did you achieve them and if so, how?
JS & RD: In all honesty, we did not really have many “goals” in place when starting Strut, which is something I wish we could have gone back on to set up achievable, actionable goals. We didn’t think much into it, when we launched we kind of just let it do its thing. Sure, we had the idea and vision in our minds of maybe doing Strut full-time one day, but other than that we didn’t have many goals set in place which was a big mistake. Going into this year we are working to develop a better business plan and actionable goals to keep us motivated and moving our business forward.
What challenges did you face when first starting your business?
JS & RD: When first starting out it all felt too good to be true with all the support we were receiving. However, when we did finally launch our first collection I think it was definitely a little slap in the face. Maybe we were a little too optimistic in the beginning; again, comparing ourselves to others, that our collections were going to sell out and truthfully that was not the case. Moving inventory was definitely a big challenge for us that we didn’t really anticipate. Also, as you may know, we started Strut both living in different states and that is still a challenge we face. Trying to ensure both of us as owners feel we have our own role in the business was tricky at first but something we have gotten a better rhythm at.
What would you have done differently when starting a business?
JS & RD: If we could go back a year ago, we would’ve cut back on our spending upfront. This is why your business plan and budgeting are so important. When we were doing our crazy shoots in places like Vegas and New York, we would buy so many accessories for these outfits just to take a few photos in them. Looking back, we didn’t need to spend all of that for every single photoshoot. We made the same mistake when buying inventory. We would plan bigger launches when we knew we didn’t have the investment at the time. Don’t get us wrong, we definitely still think it’s worth it to have those investments, but don’t overindulge and overdue it. So, we are now focusing more on building our brand on a personal level and attending pop-ups to gain relationships with our customers.
We also suggest being more cautious of money. In the beginning phases of our business we spent money like it grew on trees when we weren’t bringing anything in yet. We were comparing ourselves to other boutiques and small businesses which caused us to overspend money we didn’t have at the time to try to make ourselves fit in. We also wish we would’ve taken a little more time to learn the ins and outs of starting a business such as the marketing, advertising, and taxes aspects. We kind of just jumped into things so quickly as we were eager to get started and didn’t really take the time to create a business plan and set reasonable, actionable goals.
What advice would you give to someone wanting to start a business?
JS & RD: We would advise someone wanting to start a business to take baby steps. Although it is a very exciting feeling, you want to make sure you have a solid business plan moving forward. We jumped into this off adrenaline and realized there were many factors we were unsure of such as budgeting (where we struggled to keep track of purchases), sales taxes (where we’ve gotten hand fulls of late fees in the mail), our living situations (where we were still trying to figure out our post-college lives) and more. The truth is as a business owner you are learning something new every single day and we’re still trying to figure it all out! Something that did help us tremendously is networking with other business owners before starting Strut. We asked them all the ins and outs of starting a boutique and would take any advice we could get into consideration. This was HUGE in helping us take this spontaneous leap of faith and we probably couldn’t have done it without all of the mentors and small business owners that have guided us along the way. Starting a small business is obviously not easy and we are still learning so much everyday. When starting a small business you need to be sure your end goal and vision are clear to help keep you moving forward successfully.