Tonibonoj – from my mind to the Catwalk

Hello!!!

It feels like ages since I last updated the blog. I trust you’re well and week going good so far?

So what have I been up to? Last week felt like I was running against bricks and it wasnt very nice. I guess that’s business for you, infact, that’s life really. Nonetheless, I remained and continue to remain positive.

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Time seems to be running away!

Not sure if I’ve mentioned previously but we are looking to launch the label in Spring/Summer 2011 and that my friends is not far away at all. According to my industry veterans, I should have agreed orders by now and be working on deliveries to Stockists in time for Jan…If that’s the case, I was late even before the label was created :S.

It’s a little (very little) worrying but when did ‘customary’ ever put me off anything? Never! Every Drapers (trade magazine) edition I have read since my Subscription started in Summer has mentioned the increasing flexibility of buyers to purchase outside of the normal buying periods. However, I am fully aware that as we (Toni Bonoj) get bigger, volume of production will require that we work close with industry time tables to ensure we can meet order requests and ensure customer satisfaction which I am thoroughly passionate about.

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Headache Moment

So that said, where am I in the production cycle? Point zero; creating samples. Fun (NOT) of a new starter is searching for a production team to work with. It makes absolute sense that the team that creates the samples get the work for production also as you will have established a working relationship and ironed out any possible issues with production. Number one problem arises as not all clothing manufacturers work on samples because it’s often more work than they can charge for; many see it as loss leading activity. So even if a manufacturer’s price sounds good, without them creating samples initially, one has to take the risk and go ahead with production and keep fingers crossed. The other thing I have found is manufacturers are often unable to give an exact quote on production cost. I understand why this might be, but how does that help with my planning? So, as its difficult to pen costs down to an exact amount, best thing to do is to allow yourself a range to work with.

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Business Accounts – Snooze button

Today, I went about trying to set up a business account. No kidding, some women could have had babies in the time it took me to b e interviewed by a certain High Street bank and no, I still have to go back with more documents. It was a painful experience but as I try to learn from everything, here are my tips for anyone trying to set a business account up:

• Your time is important, set a time limit for the meeting and let the Business account manager know this
• Know what you want from the bank account
• Dont be persuaded by any additional fancy products, you will find that many of these are available on the internet for free or at a lower price
• Dont make any decision under duress, take away literature so you can read and make a decision later
• I know it wasn’t their intention, but I felt they wore me out so I could just say yes to everything 🙂
• Finally, do compare offers from different banks. You’ll be surprised at how many different offerings and propositions there are out there!

On that note, I’m signing out.

Have a fantastic week ahead!

T