Venture Concept No. 2

Opportunity My opportunity is opening a store called Tailored that provides properly fitting clothes to customers who usually can’t find clothes to fit them when shopping at other clothing stores. This may be because these consumers have a unique body shape or they may have a height and size combination that may not be considered normal (tall and thin, big and short). Many people go hours shopping without finding clothes that fit them appropriately and may have to settle for clothes that’s in a larger size or may not buy any clothes at all. My stores are going to be in the southern states of the United States until I have developed my business and can expand to other states. I haven’t targeted a specific demographic as yet. For the time being, my services are going to be for all age groups and genders until I have the need to target a particular demographic. Shoppers are currently dealing with unfit clothes by purchasing clothes that can somewhat fit them through traditional clothing stores or online clothing stores or getting their clothes made by a tailor for a high price. This is a really big opportunity because many people who I interviewed have problems with finding clothes and many others tell me about their bad experiences all the time. I think the window of this opportunity will be open for a long time before scientists find a way to control humans’ weight and height.

Innovation My innovation is pretty simple. I am allowing customers to make clothes from scratch by first choosing from clothing sketches (casual wear or formal wear) and then having a tailor/seamstress in the store take customers’ measurements. After the measurements are taken, customers can expect to get the clothes by a quick delivery or pick it up in a Tailored store when it is ready. I am also going to make it an option for consumers to track their clothes online from the time it is made to when it is delivered to the destination. I would charge a price based on which design customers choose and not based on their size or height because I think it’s easier that way. The price range would be from $15 to $70. The same price range as most low-priced clothing stores like ‘Ross Dress for Less’.

Venture Concept My innovation will solve the opportunity because people who need help finding clothes to fit them properly won’t have to worry about finding clothes anymore. There will also be an option for clients’ measurements to be stored in the database, so they can reorder clothes in any design they want without remeasuring themselves. This is another way to make the process of getting properly fitting clothes easy for the customer. People will choose my services because it is inexpensive and it is much less stressful than store hopping for hours. There are no switch cost involved from switching from buying clothes to getting it made by Tailored. Customers will switch to my store because it’s a better fitting option. My competitors are any store that offer tailor/seamstress services and even online companies that give consumers an opportunity to design their own t-shirt. Their weakness compared to my company is the lack of pleasant atmospherics. My competitive advantage is probably going to be my fun atmospherics. Packaging, customer support, and the customer experience will play a major role in my business concept. Success in these three aspects is going to give my business a good reputation and attract more customers. I will have about 15 employees: 4 sales clerks, 2 tailors, 2 seamstresses, and functional employees like someone in Finance, Marketing etc. 

The three minor elements 1) My secret sauce will be the services I am providing to customers such as atmospherics, reward cards, and a virtual community. This would make it more difficult for other tailors/seamstresses to compete with my store.

2) My next venture would be selling products that complement the goal of my store which is to serve people with proper fitting clothes and make them feel good about themselves. These products include sewing machines, shoes, and accessories.

3) In the future, I see my company expanding globally. I want to hire more employees and have more stores. I don’t see my business expanding to anything more than making clothes and selling products. This venture will help me achieve this vision by giving me a foundation for my entrepreneurial career.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to do the ‘Venture Capital No. 1’ or ‘What’s Next’ exercises