How to Find apparel suppliers for Your Business

Fashion is one of the most popular niches in ecommerce, and it's no secret that it's a difficult one to break into, especially if you're a beginner. After all, fashion entrepreneurs from every corner of the globe are launching new online stores every day.

If you're looking to launch your own clothing brand, it's important to make your brand stand out from the crowd, and selling unique products is a great way to do that.

Of course, the challenge is finding those unique products, and that's why many entrepreneurs opt to create their own products. Choosing whether to supply clothes to kids, adults, or even both, is a hard decision to make, and you may need some guidance starting this process..

If you're an entrepreneur who wants to launch their own clothing business with custom products, you'll need your own designs. What's more, you'll also likely need to work with a clothing manufacturer to turn these designs into products.

One of the first questions you need to ask yourself when thinking about launching your own clothing business is: Do I really need to work with a clothing manufacturer?

If you're just getting started with your business, it's important to know that working with a clothing producer can be a risk – both financially and with regards to your time.

When you're working with a clothing manufacturer, you'll need to place bulk orders for your inventory. That means you'll receive a large number of products that you'll need to store and manage yourself – this could eat away at valuable business funds if you're starting out on a shoestring budget.

This isn't a problem if you find your audience likes the clothing you've created, but there's no guarantee that this will be the case. This is an issue that even the biggest retailers face. The only difference is that they can afford to absorb some of the losses if their clothing doesn't hit the ground running.

As we said, working with apparel suppliers can be a risk.

If you're just launching your business, or if you want to experiment with different niches, we recommend that you start lean.

We don't want you to end up in a situation where you're trying to clear out your inventory at discounted prices, resulting in you actually losing money.

If, however, you were to start your business using the dropshipping model, you wouldn't need to worry about sourcing, managing, or shipping your inventory. There are a plethora of great dropshipping products that you can choose from, and your supplier will ship the products directly to your customer's door.

Also, you can change the products that you're selling with just a few clicks – there are no financial repercussions as you haven't already manufactured the products.

All you really need to worry about is growing your business.

With options like dropshipping available, we recommend thinking about starting small to find out if there's an audience that you can tap into before you start making moves towards working with clothing manufacturers.

Of course, finding a clothing manufacturer for your business and producing your own inventory can certainly be a great way to run your business. Let's dig into the nitty-gritty of working with clothing manufacturers.

Take into account the following:

Price

Shipping times

Quality

Experience

You'll want to choose the manufacturer who can provide you with the highest quality products for a price point that aligns with your current business funds.

You'll want to find a manufacturer that can provide you with the fastest shipping times.

In the above section, we gave you a list of ways that you can find clothing suppliers, but this checklist is a great way of assessing all of the suppliers you've found.

Do your research. Ask around. Do everything you can to find the best clothing manufacturer for your business.

In an ideal world we always recommend going to visit the clothing manufacturer so you can review their processes. We know this isn't always possible, but if you can, we advise that you ask the clothing manufacturer if you can make a visit before you order any products. This will help you to validate your decision to work with them, and build your business relationship, which is essential in a long-term partnership.