What does this mean, that you don’t know how to start?

What don’t you know how to start?

You don’t know how to start a collection?
You don’t know how to start the illustrations?
You don’t know how to start on the tech packs?
You don’t know how to start finding suppliers?
You don’t know how to reach out to suppliers?
You don’t know how to reach out to manufacturers?
You don’t know how to define your budget?
You don’t know how to price your products?

Seriously, what does, I don’t know how to start mean?

The answer could easily be different for everyone. But I have a sneaking suspicion that you not knowing where to start is quite similar to the next aspiring fashion brand entrepreneur.

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Storytime

When I started my first fashion brand, I was brimming with ideas. But I didn’t have the skills to sketch it out my ideas like I would see designers do in 30 minutes on Project Runway. This was back when Project Runway first came out, and I was obsessed with this show.

“You are either in or you are out.”

Brilliant. And true.

I didn’t live in this world of high fashion with fabric stores like Mood. And I didn’t know how to find fabric from suppliers with small minimums outside of retails shops like Fabricland in small town Canada. 

I didn’t know how to draft patterns or grade them. 

I didn’t know how to make a simple tech pack (honestly, I didn’t really need them either since I was sewing everything myself anyways).

But what I did know how to do was sew. I could easily follow patterns and I could sew anything. And I could figure out technical details to create my own patterns that I didn’t know how to do out of genuine curiosity (and sometimes frustration). 

Sewing was my skill that I had built on since my first project when I was 8, a dress for my favourite doll, a cabbage patch kid named Ronnie. (Which according to my teen are creepy dolls she wanted nothing to do with when I tried to pass them down to her). 

So during those early years of my first brand, where I didn’t know how to start was finding fabric suppliers. This was my challenge always.

We don’t live in a closed world now like we did then when facebook was first coming out, and websites were more like business pamphlets for information.

Now we have virtual trade shows, online shops, curated directories, Youtube tutorials, brands opening up about their processes of creating their collections.

So let me ask you again, what do you mean you don’t know where to start because each and every step requires a start?