We can help you establish your business with the proper licenses and registrations.
Start and grow your business
Get access to a la carte services with a Free Membership.
Get a step-by-step guided experience through business startup and development including legal entity formation, tax licensing, registration, and business plan creation when you sign up for an Apparel Entrepreneur Membership and use our professional roadmap to establish your business.
Plan it
Create a business plan
Plan on seeking funding for your business? Need to know what it will cost to start this brand and how long it will take to be profitable? You’ll need a business plan. Let our experts guide you through creating a business plan that you can use to stay on track and prove your idea is viable.
Name it. Search it. Register it. Own it. Use it.
Name Registrations. Trademarks. Patents.
You’ll want to make sure you pick a name that isn’t already owned by someone else. Our experts can help you find the right name and secure it so you can use it legally. Find out if you need to take it a step further and Trademark it or even patent your design ideas.
Form it. Business Entity Formation.
Sole Proprietor vs. Corporation vs. LLC
We can help you establish a legal business entity.
License it.
Business License. Tax License.
We can help you get all of the proper business and tax licenses you need to legally establish a business. We can also provide you guidance and more information on the industry-specific licenses that are required for sewn products including RN# and Garment Manufacturer’s License.
Legalize it. Legal and Accounting Services.
Hire the expert.
Need some legal guidance or accounting help? Let us connect you to an attorney or CPA.
Locate it.
Get an office/studio at FABRIC
- Opportunities to collaborate and network with other industry professionals and FABRIC's experienced staff.
- 24 hour access to building with your own key.
- Prices ranges: $350, $450, $550, $650 per month depending on location, size and amenities.
- Month-to-month with $100 deposit.
- 100-130 sq. ft. spaces available.
- Unlimited access to use specific areas like conference room and design center on a first come first serve basis and must be reserved.
- Discounts on rentable spaces like photo studio, recording studio, event spaces.
- Business insurance required and parking is not included.
Contact us for more info or reserve your office now.
Our Apparel Entrepreneur Membership gives you access to a road map that will guide you through these steps.
It's like having your own Business Advisor to guide you through these steps along the way.
Helpful tips
Take our quick quiz to make sure you've got what it takes to be an entrepreneur:
Are you a self starter and do you have enough drive to maintain motivation? You must be able to keep your moving your product through the development and manufacturing process while moving your business through development.
Are you good at making decisions?
Do you have the physical and emotional stamina?
Are you organized? Organizing and retrieving all of the information about your business and your products as needed is key to success.
Do you have enough time? Owning a business of any size takes more than 40+ hours a week.
Do you have the support of your family and how will the business effect them? Your attention and time will be taken by your business and the support of your family is vital.
Do you have financial backing or financial support? Starting a clothing brand does take a significant investment. They say it takes 3-5 years to make a profit from most businesses, and apparel is a bit more challenging. Just the development of prototypes can be thousands of dollars in pattern making, sample sewing, revisions, sourcing, and materials/trims. Then you've also got to fund the manufacturing.
Do you have basic computing skills and do you feel comfortable using the digital tools and resources that are necessary to function in today's business world? For example, do you feel comfortable with Google tools? Are you comfortable using email as your main form of communication? Do you use a digital calendar? Are you familiar with social media for business? Do you pick up new technologies with relative ease?
If you don't have one or more of these skills, do you have someone in your life or on your team who can help you with these? You may consider partnering with someone who has the skills you don't have.
Do you have patience and a realistic expectation of the timeline? Developing a sample line can take months. Manufacturing can also take months. There are challenges and obstacles along the way that may extend your timeline and you've got to be able to go with the flow. An unrealistic deadline only adds to an already challenging venture.
You may be excited about getting your product made, but before you start, you'll need to officially establish a business. This is so that you can open a business bank account and pay the invoices for product development expenses. You'll also need to purchase the wholesale materials/trims that are used to make your product. You can only do that if you have a business license.
Our attorneys can help you with patents, trademarks, and NDA's. However, you may not need any of these. Clothing designs are difficult to own the rights to. You can't own the rights to the mini skirt and prevent other brands from making mini skirts. But you may be able to own a design detail like a really unique function. However, you'll need to work out exactly what this detail is before it can be submitted by an attorney for legal protection. So, you may need to work with our team to develop the product before approaching a patent attorney.
We will happily sign an NDA to protect your design ideas. However its important that you know that we'd never steal your idea. We've already seen it all and we're already probably manufacturing something similar to what you're making for someone else. We're here to help brands develop their ideas. Our unique model was created to provide you with the IP (intellectual property) that you need to succeed and grow. We will always give you your patterns and tech packs so you can use them to manufacture anywhere. And we provide you with the resources to do your own wholesale material/trim sourcing so that you own that information. Besides we don't have the time to steal ideas....we're too busy helping hundreds of brands bring their ideas to life.