Introduction

India is incredible and it is full of colors and when it comes to the dresses, you won’t get such variety in any other part of the world. Whether you belong from a posh urban area or you are from beautiful traditional north Indian cities, you must have noticed the variety of clothes that are available across the markets of India.

India is famous for its quality of silk and various other fabrics and bright colors are a major part of the creation. Tailoring has deep roots in India because of this wide variety of clothes and there are not only high-class designers who are into this business but there are lakhs of Indians who run their own tailoring shop or boutiques with their own idea and creativity as well as entrepreneurial skills.

If you have ideas to create a new style or setting a trend or you have a great attraction towards the fashion industry and want to do something of your own, tailoring business has a lot of potential opportunities for you.

Tailoring business can be categorized into two different segments –

  1. Sewing and Alternating Business – This is the most basic form of tailoring business one can have. If you are good in sewing and want to run a home based tailoring business, you can start with the sewing or stitching clothes and further grow and develop your range of services and expand in the same genre.
  2. Sewing and Designing Business – In this type of tailoring business you don’t only sew or stitch clothes according to your clients choice but you also suggest and design clothes which you can sell directly to your customers. This is more of a boutique where you have to use your own creative ideas to make newly designed clothes for your customers. You might also get customers who will provide you a design and asks to make similar clothing. All this are part of this business.

Market overview

Tailoring business requires a lot of research of the trends and fashion which are in the market. It requires a thorough analysis of the market not only in terms of the fashion but also other facts like the wholesale and the retail prices. The cost of the products needs to be purchased like sewing machines, raw materials like dress material, stitching accessories etc.

Firstly, try to survey the market and understand what the new trends are. You can talk to your friends, colleagues and family members about their choices of clothes and even get information from their friends to extend your reach.

Secondly, check the prices of the raw materials and the machinery you would require starting the business. Compare different shops online and offline to have better products as well as at reasonable prices.

Finally, try to survey through the social media so that you can gather knowledge as well as spread the news of you going to have a tailoring business. It will interest prospective customers in advance.

Scope of Tailoring business in India

Earlier the tailor shops used to wait for the occasions like Dashera and Diwali as most of us used to stitch new clothes during the festivals. But with the increase in the standard of living, fashion is not restricted to the festivals rather there are many people who buy clothes across the year. So, if you have the right talent and the right approach for tailoring business, you can go a long way.

Some of the major benefits of this business are –

  • You can deliver and work on your own ideas of fashion, style, and creativity.
  • You can be independent completely about your choices.
  • You don’t have to hire people from the beginning or a very few number of people will be enough to run the business at the beginning.
  • The initial investment is really lower as you would require a sewing machine and stitching materials. Then as you get orders you can buy the raw materials. But of course, if you want to market your products on a good platform, you need to invest in few samples. You have to create a few of your designs and have a mannequin wearing them to showcase your skills to the local public. This might increase the initial investment but then also the margin is on the lower side when it comes to the initial investment of a tailoring business.
  • Profit margins are on the higher side if you make your own designs and you can reap moderate profits with general tailoring and sewing business. But if you compare the profit with your investments, the margins are quite attractive.
  • The entry-exit barrier is not there in this industry and you can anytime start this business even sitting in your bedroom.
  • The last point also indicates that there is no emergency of having a rented space to make your tailoring shop. You can start right from your home and expand it afterward.

Hindrances

How many tailoring shops are there in your colony? How many of them are popular? These two questions are the main hindrances on your way to start a profitable tailoring business. If there is a huge competition amongst the local tailors, then if you want to start a tailoring business from your home, you need to provide something different to the client.

Another drawback of this business is it is more or less seasonal till the time you haven’t made enough name to attract customer throughout the year.

For this business, you need to be really patient as there are many customers who don’t understand fashion but will give big lectures on it. They might also continuously ask you to modify the designs. This might result in losses so you need to handle them tactfully.

Business plan

You need the right plan to start the right business in the right way, isn’t it? Like every other business depends on a business plan, you need to plan every aspect of your tailoring business to make it a profitable venture. Let’s start with

  • Training and learning: You might be great at stitching your clothes and designing your sister’s dress but for becoming a professional, you need to know the right techniques and have the right skill set. You can take up a vocational course on designing and stitching for understanding the work in more professional and creative way. You can learn various techniques online and there are so many online sites to help you in this regard.
  • Plan the Business requirement and write them down: You need so many different types of needles and colorful threads that if you don’t write them down you will forget while you visit the market. Check out the new sewing machines online and compare the prices. If you want to add technology to your tailoring business, add the costs and expenses of the computers and software required for this business. Make a list of local buyers who might turn into prospective buyer so that you can estimate the number of orders and make an estimation for the wages and salaries of the workers or employees (if hired).
  • Registration: If you want to do it professionally, you need to abide by the laws and that is why you need to register your business with the registrar of the state. If you are about to begin the business as a sole proprietor, you can register it as proprietorship business or else if you have partners you can register it as limited liability Company or partnership.
  • Setting up the shop: Whether you make the shop inside your home or in a rented space, you need to design it according to your need. If the place is on rent, have a rent agreement for sure and if you are about to start it from home, try to reorganize the place. You would need tables, racks and hangers and a store room to keep the raw materials.
  • Purchasing the required equipment and raw materials: First and foremost, you need to purchase the right sewing machines. There are different types of machine for different types of clothes. You need to decide which one you would require and then you can purchase it online or offline. The price of sewing machines in India ranges from INR 3000 to INR 2.5 lacs. The professional sewing machines with automated techniques would cost you over thousands of rupees. You need to buy mannequins and design sample clothes for them which will again cost depending on the type of clothes you are making as the sample. You would also need to buy patterns for printing, stitching accessories, threads etc.
  • Make a price list: Start with a few items of your own and showcase them along with the price to attract the customers. You can analyze the general market price and accordingly make a price list for your products which you are going to make.

Marketing strategies

When you start a business which has so many competitors around, you have to do something extraordinary to acquire the customers and retain them.

  • As this is the age of online marketing, try to market your products and business online through social media and another online platform.
  • Offer your customers certain discounts on their first purchase to attract more customers.
  • Try to suggest them something different and new which would suit them and their style.
  • Pricing must be done very reasonably at the beginning so that the customers get the interest in your business and clothes. With the increase in turnover, you can adjust the prices.

If you are in India and have both creative and entrepreneurial skills and want to have your own tailoring business, follow this business plan and work according. The market is vast and there is no end to this market, so there are endless opportunities which you can make use of to make your business venture a profitable one.

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