Clothing E-Commerce Site Business Plan
Women enjoy the outdoors, just like men. They can hunt, hike, fish, and more. Why should men have all the fun? Women don’t want ugly and rough clothes, or tools designed for men’s strength. Women are equal to men, but they don’t need to be exactly like them.
Solution
Liquid Culture will offer functional and beautiful online outdoor clothing for women. Larry Wilson and Maggie Granger, co-owners of Liquid Culture, will create a cost-effective operation by partnering with Magic Clothing Company for manufacturing and shipping. Liquid Culture will focus on clothing design and marketing.
Market
Women’s outdoor wear has become a billion-dollar niche in the clothing industry. While many online stores sell women’s outdoor wear, none sell exclusively online. Word of mouth via social media, with an emphasis on content and opinion leaders in outdoor fashion, women’s health, and women’s fitness, will be key to our success.
Competition
- Major online outdoor retailers like REI, Columbia, Patagonia, LLBean, and others.
- General clothing sellers like Amazon.com.
- Women-specific retailers like titlenine.com.
Why Us?
Liquid Culture’s mission is to provide designs, styling, and clothes that energize any outdoor activity. Whether snowboarding, beach running, or river drifting, Liquid Culture offers comfortable, durable clothing that looks and feels wonderful.
Expectations
Forecast
Liquid Culture’s Year 1 line consists of the best fabric, designs, and styling. Larry Wilson and Maggie Granger have fifteen years of combined experience in the outdoor garment industry. Maggie has been a senior clothing designer for Manic Woman Clothing for the past seven years, and Larry has been the website administrator for South Face for the past eight years.
Our cash balance projections may be unrealistically high, and we expect higher expenses than projected. However, we are confident that our estimates will adjust to realistic expenses in the future.
Financial Highlights by Year
Financing Needed
$460K funding includes $260K from the two founders and a $200K loan. Startup expenses are estimated at $58.5K, with $401.5K needed in cash reserves to support deficit spending for the first few months.
Opportunity
Problem & Solution
Problem Worth Solving
Women enjoy the outdoors, just like men. They can hunt, hike, fish, and more. Why should men have all the fun? Women don’t want ugly and rough clothes, or tools designed for men’s strength. Women are equal to men, but they don’t need to be exactly like them.
Our Solution
Liquid Culture’s mission is to provide designs, styling, and clothes that energize any outdoor activity. Whether snowboarding, beach running, or river drifting, Liquid Culture offers comfortable, durable clothing that looks and feels wonderful.
Target Market
Market Size & Segments
Liquid Culture will focus on two groups of women who purchase outdoor clothing:
- Women 17-25 years of age: This group is important to attract to the website. We will offer inexpensive selections in each clothing group with popular cuts. Our logo will appeal to this group.
- Women 26-40 years of age: This core group will drive Liquid Culture’s success. To attract them, we will promote quality, attractiveness, and savings. Hassle-free returns will be crucial.
Competition
Current Alternatives
- Major online outdoor retailers like REI, Columbia, Patagonia, LLBean, and others.
- General clothing sellers like Amazon.com.
- Women-specific retailers like titlenine.com.
Our Advantages
Liquid Culture’s advantage is its focus on the marketing process. Our website is the endpoint of a marketing program to drive customer interest. Larry Wilson’s experience with South Face’s website, which averaged five million hits a year, ensures customer satisfaction online. Maggie Granger’s clothing designs have been praised and will change how quality women’s outdoor clothing is sold.
Liquid Culture’s agreement with third-party fulfillment is another competitive advantage. Our design team will work closely with the facilities, reducing inventory needs and production costs.
Keys to Success
Keys to Success
Our keys to success are:
- Standing for equality and appealing to independent successful women.
- Authenticity in our social media presence.
- An accessible, entertaining website that offers new discoveries.
- Establishing a strong advertising campaign in magazines.
- Strong vendor relationships for quality manufacturing and quick shipment.
- An excellent design staff.
Execution
Marketing & Sales
Marketing Plan
Liquid Culture’s marketing strategy is simple: social media and word of mouth. We will curate content related to women’s issues, health, activities, and equality. We will promote on women’s fitness websites and advertise on platforms like CosmoGirl and Ellegirl. Amazon.com will help with branding.
For the first two months, we will offer discounts to attract customers, followed by seasonal discount strategies throughout the year.
Sales Plan
Liquid Culture will launch a $245,000 ad campaign mainly on social media to target our core customer groups. We estimate it will take most of the year to build our sales and show a profit.
Discounts will be offered at various times to even out seasonality and build initial awareness of the website.
Operations
Locations & Facilities
Company headquarters will be in Bend, OR, a rapidly growing community known for outdoor sports. The website will be hosted on the Amazon cloud. Manufacturing will be outsourced initially locally, and later in Asia. A short delivery schedule will help manage inventory effectively.
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