10 Important Lessons I've Learned running my Fashion Brand: Part 3
2024 marks 10 years of being founder & CEO of Alala and BOY have I learned a LOT
Hi my fashion founder crew!
Hope everyone is having a wonderful week.
Sharing the last of my 10 big lessons I’ve learned in the decade (insane!!) of starting, running and scaling my brand - hopefully they will be insightful and helpful for you as you work towards that $1MM!
As my gift to you, my 10 lessons are open for everyone to read.
I’ll include a few bonus lessons in a separate newsletter for my paid subscribers as a very big THANK YOU and token of GRATITUDE to you for supporting my Substack. Love you guys.
And if you’d like to give ME a gift, I would absolutely LOVE if you could share this Substack with a friend who might enjoy it. Muchas Gracias!
If you missed Part 1 and Part 2 - read them here!
Here we go! Yay!
Lesson 8: Riches in the Niches
It’s tempting to say your product is for everyone, or in Alala’s case, for all women. But it’s true that when you’re for everyone, you’re also for no one.
I think it’s a much better proposition to have a clear and concise niche, especially when you start your brand. You want your ideal customer to say “yes, this is for me” and the opposite to be true as well. Niching down allows you to really connect into a community, speak their language, be THE product they need.
For example, you make chic work wear for plus sized women. That is a very clear and concise audience that you’re serving, which helps to establish yourself within that group. You can work with plus sized influencers, and speak to podcasts and publications that cater to this audience. It really helps when you’re launching and scaling to $1MM, because you have limited focus and resources as a small brand.
This is honestly a lesson I wish I had learned early in my journey, because I think I would have gone a lot more specific in terms of what Alala the brand stood for and the product that we created.
You can start expanding once you have established a fanatical customer base of course! The double success whammy would be to also have a signature product that appeals to your target audience, and grow from there.
Lesson 9: Entrepreneurship is a Mindset Game
I’m sure you’ve had an inkling of this by now: Entrepreneurship is the ultimate personal development game.
There comes a point in time on this journey where you realize that you’re probably one of the biggest obstacles standing in the way of your own goals.
Now you might say: Denise! How can that be! I am doing everything I can to make this work.
And yes I know you are. But there could also things in your subconscious that might be affecting your performance and your belief that you CAN achieve everything that you want in your business. How do you feel about money? How do you feel about your own ability to succeed. How do you let the fear of failure affect you?
Before I started working with a mindset coach in 2018, I was at a breaking point. I was burnt out and frustrated and I hated every day I spent in my business. It was a really tough time. She helped me work through some of the root causes of my stress and actions and it really helped me propel my business forward, as well as teach me how to deal with the ups and downs of entrepreneurship in a healthier way.
So yes, there is a lot more to business than just dollars and cents. Embrace that journey of getting to know yourself - it’s truly one of the best parts of this entrepreneurial experience.
Two podcasts that really helped me understand myself better were Mind Your Business by James Wedmore, and the Manifestation Babe Podcast by Kathrin Zenkina.
Lesson 10: You are more than your Business
OK this last one is more of a loving reminder from me to you - founder to founder.
This is a crazy path we’ve chosen to be on. One where we give up control, where sometimes we do everything we can and things still don’t turn out the way we hoped.
We all have awful founder days. I’ve had so many in the last 10 years I can’t even count them all. The days when you’re taking negative sales because of huge returns, or you had a really tough conversation with a team member, or you got a one star review from a customer. Ugh.
If you’re as Type A and overachiever-y as I am, I’m sure those days hurt really badly. You feel like crap, want to burn it all down, and all the what-ifs swirl around in your head. The pressure is so huge it makes you want to laugh and cry and throw yourself off a building at the same time.
Just remember in those moments - that YOU ARE ENOUGH. You are an amazing human being. You are doing your best with the information and experience that you have.
You are NOT your business. Any failings in your business are not YOUR failings. You exist as a beautiful human being choosing to do something that is really freaking hard. Something that has a small chance of huge success, and big risks.
So don’t be so hard on yourself. Go out and take a walk. Take a deep breath and go do something you love. I’ve been there, and so have many others before you, they just choose not to talk about it. You CAN do it.
It’s a big reason why I started this Substack - to share the ups and downs of my journey with you so you know you’re not alone!
OK love you guys!!! Have an amazing week and go out and make some money!