Sunday, March 1, 2009

Selling to retailers

It's been almost 2 years since Bubele was started and I recently found a sales rep in the mid west and decided to hire her to show Bubele at the trade shows she does. So far, so good. She has brought in quite a few orders! I was hoping that I would have more of an idea what retailers would want and narrow down what I should reproduce.

Due to lack of funding, I only have very limited stock of each style and color. I did this so I could have more variety with the Mix and Match pieces. Now, I am getting ready to finalize my reproduction and I am so confused! The design I thought would be the least popular- the multi stripes- is actually selling. It's a good thing, but I had planned on phasing out the stripes and bring in a new print to mix and match with the dots and regular stripes.

I also planned on introducing 2 more styles: t-shirts and girls top/dress. Each will have the Bubele Loop and will be mainly for replacing the bigger sizes in the Bodysuits I decided to drop. I found that bodysuits over size 12 months do not sell very well.

I am producing more than I did last time, although I don't think it will be enough for the sales I am projecting. I am not worried about ordering too much, I know they will sell eventually. I am worried about funding all this up front! Awhile back I considered bringing an investor on board but decided against it. But, if I don't produce enough stock then I am stuck telling retailers that I am out and possibly losing those and future sales.

I am all over the place with this! Any one have advice for how they plan how much stock to keep?

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