Are you thinking of starting a dance costume business but don’t know where to start?
These five questions will help you determine if you are ready to take the plunge or if you need to spend a little more time on preparation.
Can you sew to a high standard?
Before you even start thinking up a business name (spoiler alert, this is such a low priority it isn’t even on the list) you need to be honest with yourself about the standard of your sewing.
You don’t have to be the best, but you do have to be of a high enough standard that other people will be willing to pay for the garments you produce. Have you made dance costumes before? Did they last or did they start to show split seams and lose crystals?
If you are not quite up to standard yet, it doesn’t mean you can’t start a costume business, but you should perhaps look at getting some training and experience under your belt before you start charging people.
Making a mistake, like sending out a costume that doesn’t last, early on in your career could jeopardise your whole future business. Put the work in now and you will reap the benefits later.
Does your home life support your idea?
What is your family life currently like without a sewing business stuck in the middle of it? Do you have young children at home? Is your partner supportive of your idea? Do you have to take children on the school run twice a day? Drive to appointments or classes? Are your evenings usually full with social outings? Do you have a regular day job?
It doesn’t matter if the answer to these questions is yes, but if it is a yes, then you do at least need to think about how a sewing business might or might not fit in with your lifestyle and prior commitments.
Think about how many hours it might take to make just one costume and then look at your average week. Would you have the time and opportunity to make that costume? How many costumes per year are you hoping to be able to make? It’s best to be realistic from the beginning rather than spend time and money starting a business that you don’t have time to run.
Do you have the right equipment?
You don’t need the most expensive sewing machine out there, but you do need a machine that is reliable and can keep up with the demands of a busy sewing business. There’s no use having customers lining up in the streets to buy your costumes if your sewing machine is always in the repair shop.
A dance costume can be made on a regular sewing machine with a stretch stitch, but an overlocker (or serger) is going to make life a lot easier and some customers will expect to see professional looking seams. If you don’t yet have an overlocker, can you build it in to your business plan to buy one.
The most important thing is to know what your machine is capable of and don’t make promises you can’t keep. If you can’t sew a tutu, don’t take orders for tutus.
Do you know what legal requirements there are?
Depending on where you live in the world, there are going to be legal requirements that you need to adhere to. Just because you are a small business and working from home does not mean you are exempt from paying taxes, buying the necessary insurance and protecting your clients and business assets.
This stuff is mega important and it’s best to start off with it in place from day 1 rather than spend the first few months chasing your tail and trying to make yourself compliant after you’ve started trading.
Once you are trying you will hopefully be busy making costumes. You really won’t have the time to research this after you’ve started and you may end up being penalised and losing your business before it gets going.
Who are you going to sell to?
This may seem like an obvious one, but who is actually going to buy your costumes? Do you know any dancers or dance families? Has someone already asked you to make them a costume? Do you know your local dance school?
It may be tempting to say you will make any dance costumes for anyone who asks, but this is a sure fire way to make sure you don’t have any customers.
Dancers don’t want to buy a costume from someone who can ‘make any costume’. They want to buy from someone who specialises in the type of costume they need. They want an expert.
If you were having brain surgery, would you want a brain surgeon or a paramedic operating on you? Sure, the paramedic is going to keep you alive, but the brain surgeon is the one who can keep your brain working as it should.
Likewise, if you are a ballroom dancer, you want a costume maker who knows their stuff about ballroom costumes. You wouldn’t ask someone who makes gymnastics leotards to do it. They might be able to make a ballroom costume and it might look ok, but it wouldn’t be the specialist, most perfect dress you imagined because that’s not their skillset.
Be the person you want your customers to ask for.
If you know who your customers are, you will know what costumes you need to make. Don’t be too broad. Be the expert in your field.
I hope that’s given you some ideas into the kinds of things you need to be looking at if you are wanting to start a dance costume business. There is so much more to it than just these five questions, but this is a good place to start.
If you want to know more you can sign up to be on the waitlist for my new online course – How to start a dance costume business.
