How to Start an Accessory Company

Last year the accessory industry contributed to $8.3 billion USD in sales to the economy. Jewelry sales consisted of more than 1/3 of all sales. The accessory market continues to thrive at a steady growth rate despite a still sluggish economy. The reason why? Simple. Accessories are a quick pick me up. They do not require sizing or trying on and they make women of all ages feel good. Why not add a scarf to spice up your outfit? Why not throw on another bangle to make one feel fantastic? Even if I do not have any makeup on or I am feeling blah, if I put on some jewelry, I feel like I made an effort and I feel better. Silly I know.

The ease of starting an accessory business is what one thing that accessory companies have loved about this industry. They do not need to worry about case packs or sizing or huge minimums as with clothing. Sometimes with manufacturers one can find a factory which will do small production runs such as 30 per style. That flexibility makes it very easy to jump into this industry.

To get started today with your accessory company, click here.

When starting an accessory company, one needs to focus on formulating a plan. For instance, what is the company name, what will my logo look like, what is the message and look of my website, what will my styles look like, will I have a public persona or will the company be faceless and should I write a business plan?

When producing the goods one needs to worry about sample production, acquiring the pieces to make the samples, possibly customizing hardware or fabric/leather choices to avoid duplication in the marketplace, finding factories or contractors to eventually produce the goods and quality control!

Once samples are made the next step is to get some samples. Most companies have showrooms and some do trade shows. Most do both. It is a big commitment financially to do the trade shows but they are the best way to meet buyers and hear feedback firsthand. Before going to market, one has to worry about linesheets, Look Books and order forms. One should definitely have press kits on hand to hand out to buyers at the trade shows. A great way to start making money right away in this business is to set up your company website either through ebay.com or etsy.com or through your own website and start selling the goods online. The benefit of this is that you can charge the end consumer retail prices versus the wholesale price which you would receive from boutiques.

There are so many more details to go over when starting an accessory company. For more information on how I started an accessory company click here.