Do you want to know how to start a bag business? Many people are trooping into the bag business because of the advantages it holds. It is one of the biggest industries in the market today, with a lot of profitability.
Women see bags as a necessity, with some taking them to the extreme and becoming collectors.
Men also enjoy bags and purses as they help them move things easily from one place to another.
Now, we can go on and on about the business and how profitable starting a bag business is.
It is not easy to start a bag business, just like it would be if you were going to be starting any other kind of business.
Once you get one aspect wrong, it is sometimes difficult to go through the process of running the business.
How profitable the business turns out to be in the end is very much dependent on how you start it.
This is why asking how to start a bag business is important before you go ahead to start the business.
How to Start a Bag Business
Now, the truth is starting a business has never been a straight line, and there are some important factors to consider.
There are some features that should not be missed regardless of anything that comes your way.
We have combined these steps here to give you one of the best guides on how to start a bag business.
1. Plan Everything from the Start
It is important to make sure everything is planned out from the beginning of your process of starting a business.
This puts many things in prospect and will allow you to go through every other planning stage in the process smoothly.
The first of these things will be the type of business you want to go into.
There are so many forms, but when it comes to the bag industry, it is dominated by sole proprietors.
So, if this is the best business for you after your research, you should go ahead with it.
However, if you are going to have a partner, you should plan for a business structure from the start.
Everyone should know what is expected of him or her before the business starts and after it starts running.
Now, another thing to understand about the bag industry would be the fact that you can do this business in two ways.
You could either enter as a manufacturer or come in as someone who just buys and sells them.
We cannot say which is more cost-efficient as it will depend on how you want to go about things.
But regardless of anything – planning how the business should go helps you avoid issues along the line.
The next thing to consider is the type of bag you will be selling or making, as there is a lot in the market.
Some of these bag types would include;
- Briefcase
- Bucket bag
- Laptop bag
- Pouch
- Purse
- Tote
- Travel bags
- Wallet, etc.
It is not mandatory to only make or sell one – you can do as many bags as you can.
Above all, ensuring you offer quality whenever you send out products is important.
2. Understand Cost and Pricing- How to Start a Bag Business
There is really no step that goes above this one when you are looking at how to start a bag business.
You should thoroughly consider your business finances as it determines the feasibility of the business.
Without proper consideration of this, your business may crumble before your eyes which is why our emphasis is on this point.
So, do a detailed and proper study of the market to understand fully what you need to know about finances.
What does it cost to start a bag business in your area if you are manufacturing the bags?
What will it cost to buy these bags from different manufacturers and sell them to your customers?
If you do both of them (buy some and make some) – what will the cost of production be like?
The total cost of making one back or getting one bag will be important when you are determining your prices.
With the pricing system you choose, the value needs to be slightly higher or equal in order for customers to purchase.
So, when you plan to price, determine the value also that your bags will bring – aesthetics, class, functionality, etc.
All these should be documented whether you are going into this business alone or with a group of people.
Where will the funds start coming from?
Do you need documents to gain access to such funds?
There are a lot of questions you have to answer to properly set the finances right for your project.
3. Write a Business Plan
Developing a business plan is also another important step in the process of starting a bag business.
Now, one of the pieces of advice that the more experienced people will give us is always to write everything down.
This will include your plan for the business, and this seems weird, especially if you are going into the business alone.
It will be difficult to sell a business to the general public if you cannot sell that business to yourself.
You have to first believe that this business is profitable and it has all the values to meet the goals of the customers.
So, write down every part of your plan just as you have thought about it in step one.
If not for anything, this is a feature that will come in handy if you ever decide to expand and get investors in.
The financial documents should be included in your business plan document – nothing should be left out.
4. Educate Yourself for the Market- How to Start a Bag Business
You sometimes have the vision to start the business but lack what it takes in terms of technical know-how.
At this point, education becomes important to answering the question of how to start a bag business.
When we say educate yourself, we do not necessarily mean going to the classroom to study making or selling bags.
Even if this is one way to get an education, it is not the only way.
You can learn while working with someone who is already in the business of selling or making these bags.
The most important type of classes for you will be those on general marketing practices in the bag industry.
Understanding how to market bags will make it even better and easier for you to do business.
So, take up a course on marketing online or attend seminars and webinars that offer crash courses.
Another way to go about this will be to learn how to create or manufacture these bags.
This aspect is only going to be relevant if you ever have plans to make these bags, not just sell them.
Our suggestion will be to learn from people in the industry rather than looking for a class or course to study.
When it comes to making things, practical experience will always be better than theoretical one.
5. Work on Getting Licenses
It is then important to get all the business done when it comes to registrations for your business.
This starts from branding and continues until every aspect of the registration and licensing is complete.
Branding starts from the basics, like getting a logo and then giving your business a name.
However, it goes deeper with getting your brand personalities in check and coining a value proposition for the created brand.
With your business name, the next thing to consider is registrations, which turns your business into an entity.
Open an account for your business, so your business funds are not mixed with your personal funds.
The next step is to work on licensing and make sure you acquire all the licenses that you need.
There will be more to look at when you are going into manufacturing than if you decide to make just sales.
However, it is important to note that regardless of the one you choose, licensing and permits are important.
There are local licenses and permits that you will need, and then there are those that will be national or international.
All are important, so you should be looking to get all of them for your business before moving forward.
Licenses help us avoid a situation where operations are disrupted by the authorities because of a missing paper.
6. Location & Props- How to Start a Bag Business
Another thing you should look at when you are planning how to start a bag business is the location.
This is one of the subjective things we talk about at the start of this article – the location you choose is subjective.
You will first have to consider how much space you will need, and this is determined by the size of your business.
If you are going into manufacturing, some equipment might generate a lot of noise which isn’t good for residential areas.
When that is the case, you will have to take your industry far from where people reside.
For those who want to order and sell, you might even decide to work from home if you have the space.
Space is everything when it comes to location because these bags will have to be stored before they are eventually shipped.
After sorting the location, you should do a market survey to look at the things you will need.
The list of things required grows longer when you decide to manufacture bags rather than just sell them.
Some of these would include the following;
- Sewing machine.
- Walking machine foot.
- 1/4in basting tapes.
- Finger presser.
- Rotary cutter.
- Travel iron with steam function.
- Ironing board, etc.
7. Implement All Plans
Every stage we have covered for starting a bag business has a lot to do with planning.
Planning, however, cannot be all you look at when deciding how to go about things.
Once you are satisfied with the planning phase, the next thing you should be looking at is how to implement it.
Implement it all and make sure no stone is left unturned from all the time you spent planning and working.
The first stage of implementation will involve the finances of the business, which is a very important part.
You documented where the capital to start will come from – this is the point where you start sourcing the funds.
Once the funds are ready, you can move into the second phase of things, the purchase phase.
This should start with your location, whether it will be a factory for the manufacture or a shop for sales.
Even if you are working from home, this is the point you start setting up the space you will use for business.
After securing the place, you should look at getting all the tools you will need for effective working.
8. Take the Business Online & Market it
Once you are set to start the business, all that is left for you to do is market the product you have.
The approach to marketing will be different for someone who is manufacturing and for someone who is selling.
However, for the two categories, a common factor will be the fact that you need a unique selling point (USP).
It is easy to market your business when you know what sets you apart from the competition.
You can do online and offline marketing, but we recommend you take your business online properly.
In the 21st century, people desire information as fast as possible, and the internet provides that.
So, invest heavily in how much online visibility your business will be getting from the start.
A website and an eCommerce page are a must whether you are just selling bags or making them.
Also, your social media accounts should be all the proof that your business is exactly what you say it is.
You should not forget that offline marketing is vital.
You can do it in many ways, depending on your strategy.
Brand ambassadors should be bred locally first before you think of how to find them online.
In all, host events and partner with other events to create awareness for your business and what it has to offer.
9. Expand When the Time is Right
Scaling is important – remember you had to look at how scalable your business is when you start.
If you are starting alone, at what point will you start looking at partnering with people to improve your profitability?
You might be looking at getting a partner for a lot of reasons, one of them could be to enter a new market.
Regardless of what your reason is, you would end up disappointed if you jump into scaling without properly planning things.
Scaling your business will not always be associated with increasing your business size to gain more traction and profit.
It could also involve reducing the business for a lot of reasons that may arise after or during the start.
A partner might decide that this is not the business for him along the line, and you need plans for this.
You need to prepare for anything challenges to make sure your business stays safe always.
10. Create Extra Value to Build Customer Loyalty- How to Start a Bag Business
Whether you are looking at how to start a bag business or you are looking at how to run a bag business.
This is one factor that you should always be considering, and it is another one that will keep varying.
There will be a difference in the value you create online and the value you choose to create offline.
You could introduce coupons online, loyalty cards and freebies when people shop for bags in your store.
This applies to both online and offline shoppers, but there are other ways to create value that is particular.
A perfect example of this is including free shipping for online customers when they pay a certain amount.
Final Words on How to Start a Bag Business
At the end of the day, one important thing to take home is that all these steps are equally important.
Ignoring one could affect the other, so there is no need to risk one to favour the other.
You are looking for the best result in your business, and these are some of the steps you could follow to achieve that.
You will need to brush up on things like dropshipping when you are looking to go into a business like this.
But ultimately, you have all the tools needed for you to go start your bag business now.
Best of luck!
