"Fast fashion" is a term used to describe the newest trend in high-fashion apparel. In order to compete with second-hand stores and bargain brands, some formerly high-price designers have begun offering large quantities of affordable, attractive clothing engineered to capture a buyer's attention and inspire an impulse buy. In order to keep profits high, designers must release a constant stream of affordable and desirable clothing.               

The key to success in the fast fashion industry is creating a product that provides an irresistible temptation—it should be something customers want now. Creating this environment requires the designer to be flexible and courageous, and designers must be able to change their tactics quickly to keep up with market demand. Fashion today is an industry with a short shelf-life, and this creates a unique set of requirements for financing any fashion business.

When looking for a lending institution to finance your fast fashion business, you'll need to choose  a lender with a quick turnaround and competitive rates. Your profit margin will be slim, especially in the beginning, while you focus on building a loyal customer base and establishing sourcing relationships, so keeping your costs as low as possible will enable you to maximize profitability. Moreover, a fast-paced industry, such as fashion, requires a  financial partner that can respond to  your needs quickly, not one that labors over decisions or credit applications.

Other attractive features in a lending relationship include options for import or export financing. As your business grows, you may want to expand beyond our borders and begin marketing the product overseas, and export financing is an important tool in that process. Similarly, importing product can help keep prices down and make it easier to keep up with a competitive industry but only if you have a financial partner that both understands your trade cycle and offers competitive import financing options.

Finally, finding a lender who is flexible and who can add value to your business is crucial. Any time you ship product to customers, you run the risk of not being paid. By choosing a non-recourse factor, you can reduce the credit risk to you posed by these circumstances. For any fast-moving business with uncertain profits, this is extremely important.

Launching any business comes with risk, but choosing the right lending institution will help mitigate these risks and increase your chances of success.. Careful research, coupled with  an understanding of your needs, will help you find the right financial fit. In choosing the right financial institution, to finance your fast paced, fashion business, you will be placing your business in the best place to succeed. 

Most people have come up with a potential business idea at some point in their lives. After all, the idea is the easy part. Before investing time or energy into a new business, it's important to critically analyze the idea to ensure it will be a smart use of resources. Here are seven things every new business owner should consider before moving forward and getting serious with an idea: 

1. What is the customer profile? There’s no sense in starting a business without any customers, and the better you understand your potential market, the more likely your business is to grow and succeed. The current state of the economy makes it even more crucial to take some time to research your target audience because targeting everyone in general will be too expensive. Who are your potential competitors targeting? You might find they’re missing out on a niche market you can take advantage of once you’re in business.

2. What resources are needed? Understanding the full, up-front cost of a project is vital to ensuring its success. Consider the cost of materials, labor, advertising costs and other expenses. Will the costs outweigh the profits? If an idea isn't financially feasible, put it on hold for a later time.

3. What is the purchasing cycle? The longer it takes for profits to reach the business, the more money must be spent up-front. Understanding your purchasing cycle beforehand will help with budgeting. Once you’ve decided to move forward with an idea, remember—whether your business will have a short cycle like most retail stores, or one that lasts for months: find ways to reach your customers at each point in the cycle.

4. What product or service is this replacing? In order to effectively sell something, a company must convince its customers to buy its products instead of something else. Determine what item customers will be willing to give up in exchange for the service offered by the new business. This will also help when the time comes to advertise the product.

5. What is a reasonable sales forecast? Determine how many sales can be reasonably expected, and compare this figure against the production cost of the item or service. For example, a restaurant owner might consider the occupancy of the restaurant, the average cost of a menu item and how many people could be expected to stop in on an average day. It might help to review competing businesses to draw estimates from their data. 

6. How much growth potential is there? If you’re producing a hand-crafted item, for example, can it be mass-produced if the demand requires? Services that must be rendered by a skilled individual cannot be produced in high quantities. Leave room for growth, but establish limits early on.

7. Will the idea be viable in several years? Some business ideas seem appealing at first but would not be attractive in the long haul. Before deciding on a new enterprise, an entrepreneur needs to decide if he could be happy at that same business two, five or even 10 years down the road.

Of course, a successful business needs more than a smart idea, but testing each new idea against these criteria will help to create a secure foundation for the business to grow upon. 

Today we are going to begin a series in our blog on How We Help.  Occaisionally, over the next weeks and months I will post articles and comments from our clients on how Crestmark was able to help them with their specific needs.  Today’s example is from a Staffing company on the east coast.

The company is a very well known and respected temp medical staffing company located on the East Coast.  They provide a variety of medical professionals including LPN’s, RN’s and physical therapists to hospitals and nursing homes. 

They began to see significant decrease in their business from about June 2008 through January 2009.  The leadership took very proactive steps to reduce their overhead and business expenses, a process which they continue to do.  Due to management taking an active role in managing to a new sales forecast they have begun to turn the corner and are projecting a breakeven 2009.  Leadership felt strongly that they could post positive net income during 2010. 

Problem:
Their previous lender became nervous about the relationship after they experienced 50% drop in sales from the previous year.  The losses caused their lender to become very restrictive with their credit facility and availability as well as imposing some very strict financial covenants.  This put the company in a very precarious position; they had a drastic drop in business, they were experiencing longer than usual turn on their receivables, and their lender was restricting their credit line.

Solution:
They first came to Crestmark in June, 2009.  The client said he knew from day one talking with Crestmark, that we were different than the other companies he had spoken with.

We were able to quickly review and provide them with feedback on what we would be able to do for them.  Our solution was an AR Loan with an available credit limit that would give them more than adequate cash flow and some very welcome breathing room.  In addition we offered a 90% advance rate which was more aggressive than the previous lender, the new relationship was completed by the previous lender’s deadline

All of this has allowed them to continue to make necessary improvements to processes and expenses while being confident that they have a lender who will be there with them step by step to bring them through difficult times and ultimately to profitability once again.

Recently Crestmark Partner Services was able to partner with a local MI bank to provide financing for a struggling manufacturing company. 

Case Study from Crestmark Bank