After I finished my Packaging and designing class I decided to put everything that I have learn thorough out my college career. I started to do a lot of research on how to start a small business. First thing I had to figure out what am I going to call my clothing line. I had to dig deep to find a name that is catchy and means something to me. I chose the name Dazed And Confused Apparel.
I choose this name because at one point of my life I felt a little lost and i did not know what exactly i wanted to do with my life. I knew I wanted to go to college but I did not know what exactly to major in. I chose the name Dazed And Confused Apparel because it is about finding yourself as a person, and discovering who you are and what is your purpose in life. Most people spend their whole life finding their purpose in life, i felt this is fitting because since I am constantly growing as a person and I am discovering who I am.
logo study
After i chose the name of my clothing company the next step i took was designing my logo. I took everything i have learn in one of my design class to create my logo. I did some brainstorming on what i wanted my logo to be, whether i wanted it to be very detail or abstract, I had to dig deep again to chose my logo . I decided to use a owl to be my logo because I though it was fitting. The owl is sacred to the Greek goddess of learning, and since I am currently a student and I love learning as much as possible. Wisdom , Mystery , Transition, Messages, Intelligence, Mysticism, Protection, Secrets are all symbolism of the owl.
My next step I did was to Straighten out my legal obligations . First of all, I had to do a bit of research . I had to decide on my business structure (LLC, partnership, corporation, etc.). In the US, I need a tax ID number, a business license, and I also filled out a DBA (doing business as) form from my bank so that you can accept checks written out to my company’s name. Normally people may want to consider hiring a lawyer to either act as a consultant or be available on retainer should you need them. However, I took my time and Google every word I did not understand. I would strongly recommend anyone to follow this step because 1) It is legal 2) the tax I.d number comes in handy when ordering wholesale apparel and some wholesalers give a further discount on blank t-shirts with a tax I.D number.
This series well elaborate on how I started my clothing company with very little resources and finances, you can be navigate to the different by clicking on the links: Part 1(Intro), Part 2 (Nailing Down The Basics) , Part 3 (Making The Clothes), Part 4 (Marketing And Promoting).