What I am trying to achieve with this plan is that it is not only our check list of things to do - but it needs to be appealing for a loan. The loan. How much do we REALLY need? And how much are they going to give this group of hopefuls? I am reaching for $250K - but is that enough, I wonder? Littles, Leo Tech & Bird will be the best Children's brand to hit the market since Osh Kosh B'Gosh. We also wanted to - if you remember - produce in the USA. But where are the factories? Well that is another argument that Barack and his team need to meet - the fashion industry has gone to Washington and now has a seat - so we'll see. So how about starting a factory in the future? That's a ton of money at least $500K. So this plan had better be rock solid.
Back to the plan. My mentor gave it a once over and told me it was wordy and long. So now I know what I need to revise. And I respect her advice - so I have to review, review and review. The move to Arizona put me as a full-time stay-at-home-mom because the husband went back to work full-time.So in the mist of re-writing this plan, home schooling my kids, feeding the horses and other wildlife (the kids) and baking sugar cookies in the shapes of dumplings - I still have to revise my development calender for the season we want to launch.
I have created a development calender for 18 months starting from July, 2010. It included every single aspect of what we need to do to launch this thing. From the date of the website launch to the date we are expected to see our first invoice payment from vendors. Doing this calender helped me a great deal with my financial projection worksheet. I now know when to expect a payment and how long it is going to take to see results for the business. I also see how much money is going to be spent 6 months before we see any return. So it was clear how much money is needed for the loan to start. Month by month I listed the events, travel, sample making, contract payments, credit card spending, fabric purchases, every thing, and how much I expect we should be spending. A sure way to see it all in black and white.
We will start smaller than we initially projected because we don't want to run into a rut. I have experienced working with a small company that did not have a plan or exit strategy, let alone a way to pay for the pile of bills from factories and vendors. So we are not trying to go there. We are doing our best to be as savvy and smart as possible. Collecting my thoughts and putting them down in this way is not as easy as I thought.
I am also antsy. I am anxious and itching to get this off the ground. Who needs money? I thought. I can get this collection made for nothing and get it into the hands of buyers in 6 months! But then what? I have no money for production and I am NOT burning any bridges with the friends I have made int he industry. So back I go to review and revise this plan and make it the best thing ever. 4 months behind, I am already faced with reality of owning a business - that things do not always pan out the way you may want - but it does get there. Finally I have a solid advocate in my mentor to work on this plan and quickly get it going.
I am giving myself 30 days to get results from myself!
Arizona is great, though. It is very inspiring and has tons of potential for collection ideas and design concepts all around. I am loving the mix of native/western and cactus! The sky's at sunset are awesome and the stars are right outside my door. Our horses are making me think of bridle leathers and belts and stitch work - browns, blues, purples, greens and metal. There is some kind of fashion industry here and I am making myself available if possible with some of the local fashion networks here. I have made some connections already and am hopeful that even though we are not in LA anymore - there is still hope of industry connections.
Now - the oldest son asked to have something "different" for dinner. So we bought a small octopus from the Oriental market in Tucson....
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