Future outlook and industry trends
According to recorded research, the fashion industry keeps on evolving every decade, and it is unlikely that a particular trend will spread past one decade. However, of all the trends that come and go, the urban trend and lifestyle never fade away and has remained dominant in the lives of people especially the urban dwellers. In fact, the urban culture of late has been gradually catching up with the youths living far from these urban centers, and this has been made possible by the kind of music these youthful people watch on televisions, the movies they watch, and the youthful people they interact with especially in schools, mainly colleges and universities.
Secondly, almost every place in the country and even outside the country is getting urbanized, with the emergence of urban centers in approximately five kilometers’ radius in most countries. This means that very soon, practically everyone will be living in the urban, consequently embracing the urban culture due to influence. Thirdly, every youth, due to the need of wanting to be accepted by his/ her fellow youths, is embracing the urban lifestyle, including their way of dressing, walking, talking, etc. This means that he will be forced to buy trendy and urban clothes, so as to have a sense of belonging. This to me ends up being a ready market for my products and in fact, these are the potential customers that I target.
For that reason, even when other fashion, styles, and trends come and go, the urban lifestyle keeps on expanding. With the increase in the number of people demanding urban products and clothes will come with a ready market for me to sell my products to them. Therefore, the future looks promising for the venture I chose to undertake in my business plan.
Legal or concerns related to the venture
According to the legal requirements of the country, it is required of me as an entrepreneur to pay for a working permit, in form of an enterprise’s license. This is an act enacted by the Government to ensure that its citizens pay taxes to support the general running of the country. According to the laws that govern the state, every business venture is expected to be legally registered and every citizen is expected to pay taxes. Therefore, when setting up my business, I will be expected to license it.
Secondly, I am also expected to ensure my business against accidents or burglary. These are unexpected incidents that happen to businesses and homes, and it is always better to be on the safe side, as recommended by the Government. The government recommends therefore that every business be insured against these accidents and incidents (Kennedy, 2006).
Approach to raising capital
In my business venture of selling urban clothing with my newly established clothing line, I intend to raise capital through various means. To start with, the venture does not require a lot of capital, and SME (Small and Medium Enterprises) can raise capital through small loans from banks, grants from sponsors, family, and friends, a startup with the entrepreneur’s savings, leasing of one’s assets and shares (Luther, 2001).
Since I intend to start as a small-scale entrepreneur and go medium in three years’ time, there are various ways and methods I intend to use to raise the amount of capital I require for my business. To start with, I intend to use a part of my savings as a part of my capital. However, I do not intend to use all my savings, in case something goes wrong in between the setting up, which may lead to the flopping of the business or an urgent need for money to run an emergency. Therefore, the remainder of my savings will be used to run such an emergency case, and this will be 45% of my total savings in my personal accounts.
Secondly, I intend to raise part of my capital by taking a small loan from the bank. This will help me add up to the part of my savings that I will set aside from my savings for capital.
If by then the capital is not enough, I could consider selling some of my shares at the stock exchange or look for grants from local sponsors, family members, and my close friends. Raising capital and starting up are usually the hardest and most tasking roles when setting up a business.
Obstacles of raising capital for the venture
There are various obstacles that I might face when collecting capital for a start-up. Some of the probable obstacles are, the loaner bank may not be willing to offer me the amount of money that I will borrow from them. This means that I will have to look for alternative means. Secondly, counting on family members and sponsors is a risk because they are not a guarantee that I will get the money. Some may be unwilling, and the willing ones may not be in a position to provide me with the amount I expect from them, and this means that I will have to look for alternative means.
The money in my account would also not be enough to provide me with capital and at the same time act as a backup in case there is an urgent need for some more money as discussed above. This will automatically mean that I will have to find another source of money in case of such an accident/mishap.
Start-up capital can be very difficult to rise, especially if the aspiring entrepreneur doesn’t have any other existing business apart from the one that he is aspiring to set up. The situation becomes worse if the budget exceeds the money that the entrepreneur had planned for. This is a common case that arises from either miscalculation by the entrepreneurs or inflation.
References
Kennedy, D.S. (2006). The Ultimate Marketing Plan: Find Your Hook. North America: Adams Media.
Luther, W.M. (2001). The Marketing Plan: How to Prepare and Implement It. New York: AMACOM.