New Year, New You. 
To you and your family, we wish you a healthier,happier and more prosperous New Year 2021.
It all starts with an idea and a first step taken towards making this idea become reality.
We are only a phone call away to make sure this first step is followed by a second, third, fourth, fifth ... positive step heading in the right direction. 
Remember, we like to give before we receive. 

People really love the fact that we provide them with a WhatsApp number as they often have an internet connection yet not all have the money to give an expensive phone call to our landline or mobile when they live in a different country and continent.

Apart from our content which comes directly from working with other Brands, Retailers and fashion stakeholders (agents, trade shows, PR, manufacturers ...), we also encourage you to interview and get the real news from Designers or TV / Radio programmes like The Profit on CNBC and investor Marcus Lemonis.

Marcus Lemonis is...

We hope you and the family are well and safe. 

As you start having several seasons' experience, there is one question you should ask yourself:
What if I go back 6 months or 2 years, what would I do differently based on what I know today?

We regularly ask this question to Designers and on this occasion, we received answers that must be shared with you as you are planning to start up or scale up your fashion Brand.

The UK Designer (High End Apparel) answered the following:
"
My main mistake was to focus to much on design. I was investing up to 80 to 90% of my time on design. I was concerned about the product. I forgot about the rest.
If I was to re-do it, I would invest the time in marketing and a PR company. I would invest in selling and reaching out to buyers.
"

A similar situation with a French high end Designer (Accessories) who has a strong experience and skills in photography, journalism and Branding, his response was that he should have invested more time in selling and...

It is entirely possible that COVID-19 could generate challenges in the following areas:

• Manufacturing / Logistics & Supply Chain –
  How to make sure you will receive the products you need on time. Will you need extra insurance to cover the risk of receiving the goods late? Do you need to realign production numbers based on the current purchase trends?  Will you need to pay more for shipping in order to guarantee delivery on time?
  Will you need to identify new suppliers, new manufacturing countries and what will be the costs or investments involved?
• Public Events / Collective Gathering –
  Governments and private organisations have taken steps to postpone or cancel events (concerts, fashion shows, trade shows, racing competition ...). This has started to affect many big events, yet it does not yet seem to be affecting so much retail traffic.
  However, there could be measures you could be taking in your stores which would offer regular...

As you start up or as you grow your Fashion Business, you want to discover what other companies have done.

You want to understand the golden rules and you want to understand the mistakes.

Do you agree? This can save you and time and lots of money.

Why not spend some time listening or watching The Profit on CNBC. In every episode, Marcus Lemonis is investing his own money in companies and he helps them scale up effectively. 

What is unusual is the level of honesty and transparency in this programme. Marcus himself is happy to share the mistakes he made and the true reasons why he cannot work with a specific business owner. LEARN FROM IT.

Today, let's review what was shared in the episode of Ben's Garden, a retail store in New York City.
The business does around $1.6 Million per year.

Ben Busko: "I want to scale and grow and this is what I have been really stuck on"
Marcus: "And so, has your business gone down?"
Ben: "Yes, Sir"

At every little stage of your Brand's growth, you...

Recently, we were able to hear and see Christina Tan from CNBC interviewing Noni Purnomo, CEO from Indonesian Taxi operator Blue Bird.

Blue Bird was founded in 1965 and today it is a $1 billion company. 
As it has an agenda to be more sustainable, it has decided to take on electric vehicles including the new Tesla (model X).

Their goal is to have the support from the Government and funding organisations so that the yearly 4000 taxi replacement fleet can be made with EV (electric vehicles). 

Noni Purnomo's father Purnomo Prawiro explains why competition is nice.
"If there is no competition, there is no challenge.
If there is no challenge, we can't improve ourselves". 

Today, the company faces the competition of taxi operators like Grab or Uber.

What was interesting to hear is that when Blue Bird launched its own app in 2011 (ahead of the others), it was not picked up by the market place however with competition (Uber...), it is now the norm. 

RESOURCES

Blue Bird on ...

As a domestic or foreign Brand exhibiting at LFW (London Fashion Week) or PWF (Paris Fashion Week), you must have built the right foundations before you go there.

Do you remember rejecting a proposal, a product or just speaking to somebody because your first impression was negative?

Let's share a few top tips and a few mistakes we have seen this season when foreign Brands exhibit in Paris (hopefully it has and will not be your case)

• Not speaking a little French to break the ice with French Buyers
• Not having several price lists (different documents) to accommodate different Buyers from different regions
• Only having one currency (your own and not €, £, $ ...)
• Lookbook/line sheet not fine-tuned for the European market (or other regions – you can also possibly plan 2 different teaser lookbooks)
• Inappropriate shipping terms or payment terms
• …

So your next top tip is to ensure you prepare and you use ann expert to guide...

Are you looking to set up your Fashion Brand in 2020 or have you recently done it?
Are you looking to better manage your Fashion Brand or project?
Are you looking to scale up the Brand and make it a global and profitable business?

Then this series of business of fashion webinars is for you.

Reminder
1.All webinars will be recorded and accessible from a desktop or mobile.
2.The webinars will start from the week of January 6th 2020. The day and time will change as we wish to accommodate our followers and Clients located all around the world.

REGISTER BELOW

As we need to develop a 20/20 vision why not check out our vision today:

Which coffee cup will fill up first?
Call or email us for the correct answer. Or click on the tweet and see the answers. 

Know which cup will be filled? pic.twitter.com/LAAJhjZI5K

— Alvin Lindsay - Become Unstoppable. (@alvinlindsay21) January 2, 2020

As it is the New Year, it is about the New You.

As you have decided to create a 20/20 vision in 2020, your eyes may spot what one of our Team members saw on the grass at the largest Royal London Park.

Very often, 2 opposite feelings make us take action:

Pain or
Pleasure

Think about a business decision you took recently.
What got you to take action?
What is the pleasure or passion to move forward,  make more money, connect with better projects or people, have a more fulfilling life?

or 

What is the pain that you were going through? You need to stop the fact that you were not happy, having cash flow issues?

We are here to help you identify the reasons and implement the solutions. 

PS - This does ALSO apply to the Boutiques you connect with.
Are they trying to please themselves with an exciting new brand, new design, new price point, new customer segment thanks to your Brand?   PLEASURE

Are they trying to fix a problem they are having with another Brand not having the right styles, the right designs, the right price point, the right partnership agreement, the right agent who does not put pressure ...?  PAIN

What gap are you filling up?