Be the Expert

Trying to have a breakthrough in any industry is difficult. Many times, people will look for a majority opinion to validate what they are doing. I’ve come to realize that when you ask 100 people for their opinion, you will get close to 100 different answers.

I’ve been involved in the apparel industry since 2009. I’ve always maintained a student mentality where I’m constantly open to learning new processes and new methods to be better at my job. I also study other companies and I try to understand what brings them success. There have been many times where I would look at other brands and say, ‘who would possibly wear that?’. In many occasions when I would ask that question, it would be a brand that is very successful. The owner of that brand probably never asked any of his friends for their opinion. He or she stayed true to their course and believed in what they were doing. They knew who their customer was and they knew wanted. They became an expert in their customers eyes. That was the key for me.

There have been many occasions where people will ask me for my opinion on their designs. My answer is usually ‘It doesn’t matter what I think’. The sad thing is that it’s the truth. Whether I think it’s good or not shouldn’t matter unless I’m the target market. Just because of my background, I’m not the judge of what would be considered amazing design for the vast majority of people. I can only be the judge of what I personally think is cool. What I normally follow up with is, ‘who is your target market?’ In reality that’s all that matters. Are you meeting their needs? How large is this particular demographic? What are some of the buying habits of your customers? What is their average income? What percentage of their income do they regularly spend on products similar to your? These are only a few of the questions you should be able to answer about your company.

The fashion industry isn’t unique to other businesses. In every industry, the same questions are asks. All of the questions that were written in the previous paragraph are questions that every entrepreneur must be able to answer about their company. Once you are able to do so, you will no longer need to ask friends and family of their opinion. You yourself will know the answer.