For the past five years, I’ve successfully run an online clothing and decor shop from home. No initial investment, inventory, or advertising dollars were needed – just smart strategies and determination. Many believe home based clothing businesses require high startup costs, but with the right approach, anyone can build a thriving online store from their living room.
A clothing business has a lot of moving pieces – you’ll have to manage color choices, sizes, styles, shipping, and inventory management. To stay on track, here’s a 10-step guide and checklist to ensure you’re set up for success.
When I began my own clothing business, I didn’t have access to any major upfront capital. Therefore, I had to learn how to minimize almost every cost while outsourcing as much of the fulfillment process as possible.
This guide will show you how to replicate this “print-on-demand” method so you can be at home (or anywhere else) while semi-passively fulfilling your orders.
This business model frees you from worrying about:
Inventory management
Manufacturing costs
Shipping and handling
Customer returns
Remember, the steps below can be adapted to any type of product – clothing or otherwise. For this guide’s sake, we’ll focus on apparel.
It may seem obvious to know what you want to sell, but you would be surprised by how many aspiring online business owners skip this crucial step.
For example, while you may be clear on your niche, such as yoga clothing, you might not have decided on what types of products to sell. Racerback tanks? Performance leggings? What types of designs will you use, and what major theme will tie it all together?
Here are a few action steps that can help clarify your product selection process:
Create a Mood Board: Use Pinterest to gather ideas from other home-based clothing businesses that inspire you.
Study Competitors: Look at what successful competitors in your niche are selling to see what’s working and what you like.
Leverage Unique Skills: Think of any unique skills you have, like graphic design or hand illustration, to differentiate your products.
Identify Trends: Use tools like Google Trends and social media to spot current market trends.
Define Your Audience: Work out who your ideal customers are by age, gender, and fashion preferences.
Once you’ve decided on your products, develop your graphics and designs. If you’re creative, use Adobe or Canva. Alternatively, hire professional designers on platforms like 99Designs to ensure your products stand out with unique, high-quality designs that resonate with your audience.
Next, you’ll want to know your financial goals, expenses, and boundaries. You’ll want to have an idea of how much you want to make and what resources you’re able to leverage in order to get there.
Some key questions to ask yourself include:
How much money will I need to spend? If you’re planning on hosting your online shop on a platform like Etsy, you won’t have to pay for a website, but you may have to pay for listing and transaction fees. On the other hand, if you host your own store, you’ll have to pay host fees and possibly transaction fees as well.
How much time will I be dedicating? Don’t forget about sweat equity. Your time and effort are valuable, and should be taken into account when setting your financial goals.
What are my monthly operating expenses? This includes things like software subscriptions, shipping costs, packaging materials, etc.
How much money do I want to make? Set a realistic income goal for yourself based on the amount of time you’ll be dedicating and your operating expenses.
Exploring the potential answers to these questions will help you to stay on track and manage expectations as you grow your home-based clothing business.
Start by stepping into your customer’s shoes. Picture their daily lives, what excites them, and how they interact with fashion. If you sell yoga clothing, what would your ideal buyer be doing when they wear your products? What types of activities would they be participating in?
Next, identify the demographics of your ideal customers—think about their age, gender, and lifestyle. What kind of fashion do they prefer? What are their shopping habits? You’ll have to connect with your audience and utilize market research tools like social media insights and industry reports to get a clearer picture.
Use all this information to create detailed customer personas to guide your marketing strategy. The better you visualize your ideal buyers, the more effective and targeted your marketing efforts will be.
Print-On-Demand companies are affordable and convenient options for a home-based clothing business. This is where a third party handles printing, packaging, and shipping your products to customers. You don’t carry inventory, pay for products upfront, or handle any of the fulfillment logistics after you set everything up.
There are many POD options available, but some popular ones include Printful and Printify. I personally use Printful because they have a great selection of products, as well as offering excellent customer service, and seamless integration with platforms like Etsy and Shopify. Their customer service team is fantastic, and they are available 24/7 through email and chat.
To compare the two POD programs, check out my Printify vs. Printful breakdown to dig deeper into their features.
Make sure to compare pricing and profit margins among different POD services. High clothing and shipping costs can quickly eat up a lot of profit. I aim for a 30% profit margin on all of my clothing items.
While many POD providers are free, a few cost money, and others have both free and paid plans. Free plans are perfectly fine for getting started, and as you grow, you may want to consider upgrading your plan for more features and customization options.
Finally, remember that you can work with many different PODs. For example, I use Printful for printing my sweatshirts, shirts, and tank tops, while I use Gooten for home decor items.
You never know how good a product really is unless you test it yourself. Printful and Printify both offer sample products at discounted rates for business owners.
Here’s how to assess clothing quality for home-based clothing businesses:
Shipping Times: Order a sample of your products to see how long it takes for them to arrive. Consider where your target audience is located and if this shipping time will be acceptable for them.
Quality Control: Check the print quality, stitching, and overall construction of the product.
Placement and Quality of Print: If you’re using print-on-demand, make sure the design is accurately placed and high-quality.
Fit and Sizing: Make sure to order a variety of sizes in both men’s and women’s clothing to ensure they fit as expected.
When creating or purchasing samples, it’s important to keep in mind that they are an investment in the success of your business. Take the time and effort to thoroughly test and evaluate your products. And having other people try them on and provide feedback can be invaluable in the long run.
A clothing business is highly visual, so having high-quality images of your products is essential. Good product photography make all the difference between making a sale or not.
Here are some tips for taking professional-looking product photos:
Using natural lighting helps showcase the true colors and features of your products.
Invest in a decent quality camera or hire a professional photographer if possible.
Style your clothing on models or mannequins to give customers an idea of how it will look on them.
Take multiple angles and close-up shots for each item.
If you don’t have access to models, you can also use flat lays or styled product images. Websites like Place.it or Smartmockups allow you to easily create mockup images of your products on different backgrounds and settings.
At this point, you have your products, financial targets, ideal audience, and high-quality images. What’s missing? A storefront, of course. You’ll need online real estate for your clothing business so customers can browse, learn about your brand, and make purchases.
Here are three popular options for creating home-based clothing businesses:
Shopify: User-friendly interface with customizable themes and built-in SEO tools, but higher subscription fees and extra costs for third-party apps; also limited customization compared to open-source platforms.
Etsy: Built-in audience for unique products with easy setup and low initial costs, but transaction fees add up, and there’s less control over branding plus fierce competition.
WordPress (WooCommerce): Full control over design and no subscription fees, but a steeper learning curve, responsibility for hosting and security, and potential costs for premium plugins.
In a nutshell, entrepreneurs who need a user-friendly, all-in-one solution should choose Shopify. Sellers of unique, niche products will benefit most from Etsy’s easy setup and built-in audience. Those with technical skills wanting full control over their store’s design should opt for WordPress with the WooCommerce plugin.
Now that you know where you’re hosting your online clothing business, it’s time to design it to fit your brand. Your branding elements should reflect your target audience and differentiate you from competitors.
Here are print-on-demand business name ideas to help you come up with a name if you haven’t already. Think of a name that clearly connects to your clothing brand and is easy to remember.
You should also consider:
Logo
Color scheme
Typography and fonts
Voice and tone
Brand images
You’ll have variying levels of control over these elements depending on your chosen platform. For example, Shopify offers customization options for logos, colors, and typography, while WordPress allows full control of every aspect.
If you have a lot of time, talent, or a well-staffed team to build a website, opt for WordPress and hire a design team to build your branding elements. Otherwise, consider using pre-made templates on Shopify or Etsy to save time and hit the ground running.
With your storefront structured and your products ready to go, it’s time to craft compelling product descriptions that will sell them.
Here are a few tips for writing effective product descriptions:
Know your target audience and use language that resonates with them with the support of AI tools like Jasper. Use sensory words and descriptive language to bring your products to life.
Highlight the unique features and benefits of your products so customers understand what sets them apart.
Use SEO keywords to optimize your product descriptions for search engines with programs like Semrush and EtsyRank.
You may also want to include key policy information such as shipping times, return policies, and any special offers or discounts. The clearer and more informative your descriptions are, the more likely customers will buy from you.
With your products and storefront ready to go, it’s time to get the word out about your new clothing business. Here are some marketing ideas to consider:
Social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest are great places to showcase your products and connect with potential customers.
Collaborate with influencers or bloggers in your niche to reach a wider audience.
Consider running promotions or offering discounts for first-time buyers.
Attend local events or markets to promote your brand and make connections.
Even online clothing store owners need to connect to a community to get the word out and receive feedback. Take at least one small step every day to promote your business and track the results. Over time, you’ll find certain channels work better than others. Focus on these and continue to refine your marketing strategy.
Clothing is one of those ecommerce niches that will never go away. Year round, millions of people are searching for unique clothing pieces, making it a lucrative market to tap into. Building a customer base takes time and hard work, but with new tech tools and the right mindset, you can successfully run home-based clothing businesses, no matter your budget or experience level.
