Fashion Business Owners Musings: Why are you even doing this?

Why did you decide to launch your fashion business?

I know we’ve all heard a lot about the importance of finding your “why”, in particular when it comes to branding and marketing, and growing your business. Yes, that’s important.

But that’s not actually what I’m talking about right now.

I’m talking about why you decided to launch your business, as it pertains to you. 

Why are you doing this?

What do you want it to bring to your life?

How is it helping you reach your personal goals?

How is it making your life what you want it to be?

Sometimes I think that not everyone is thinking about this. And it’s an important bit to think about.

If you don’t have personal goals that your business is helping to bring to life, then you’re working without living.

I often hear designers telling me about all the things they don’t like to do in business– the accounting, the social media posting, the blogging, the email marketing. It’s all so difficult and they don’t like it and they wish they just didn’t have to do it.

And I find myself wondering, “Then why are you?”

If you really don’t like it, then don’t do it. Don’t have a business. Why put yourself through all this?

And then I remember, “Oh yeah, because you want (freedom), (the ability to travel), (control of your day-to-day life), (flexibility), (prestige), (glamour), (fill in whatever you want to here).

The same designer who is complaining about what they don’t like to do is still doing it because of what kind of life they want to live. 

When you’re feeling a struggle to get anything done, or when everything you do feels like a horrible chore…I want to you think about your doing this. Why this business? Why business at all?

This isn’t meant to dissuade you from making the decision to keep going, it’s meant to help you realize what this business is meant to do for your life.

It’s OK to think about this. It’s not selfish and it’s not something you shouldn’t admit.

What do you want for yourself, your family, your life?

How is this business gong to help you get there?

Lots of love and encouragement,

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Nicole Giordano

Nicole is the founder of StartUp FASHION, an online resource and community supporting for independent designers around the world with building their businesses. A deep love for the craft of fashion paired with an adamant belief that success is defined by the individual, led her to found StartUp FASHION, where she helps independent designers and makers screw the traditional fashion business rules, create their own paths, and build businesses they truly love. More than anything else, she’s in the business of encouragement and works every day to remind makers and designers that they have something special to offer the world and that they can, in fact, do this thing!