India is among the largest exporter of textiles and apparel in the world making it the most lucrative business to invest into. It is the largest exporter of cotton and jute in the world along with silk and handwoven fabrics being the second highest. The industry contributes 12 percent to the total exports of the country. It has strengths across the entire value chain from fiber, yarn, fabric to apparel. The industry has a great potential for both manufacturers and retailers thinking to get into the textile business. In this article, you will know everything about starting a textile business from scratch.
How to start the textile business ?
Depending on the investment and interest of business required in manufacturing and selling textiles, choose whether you want to be a manufacturer or a retailer that will buy from the manufacturer and sell to the customer.
1. Research the existing market & analyze the right demand to supply
First of all, you need to know everything about the demand in the existing market of textile business. You need to find the right market for best selling fabrics and textiles. Research on which textile and fabrics are popular in demand. Analyze which fabric is more profitable to sell as per the manufacturing cost and market price. Study what existing niche competitors are doing to sell those profitable fabrics in the market. Checking on your competitors gives you a good lead to make your business profitable.
2. Get a place to sell
You need to rent or buy a place to store and sell the fabrics you will buy from the manufacturers. Or if you are planning to step into manufacturing, either way you would need to rent or buy land for a factory. An ideal place is essential to your business. It places you within the reach of customers and suppliers. It also reduces transportation costs and ensures convenience to your potential customers.
3. Gather capital and funds
The textile business will require a decent amount of investment. The operating cost of manufacturing factory for textile production apart from the rent/cost of the land. The cost of equipment like knitting machines to knit yarn, weaving machines to weave thread, cloth cutting machines to cut cloth, etc. For retailers, again the cost of acquiring land for shops. The funds required to start the inventory and maintain stock for uninterrupted selling.
4. Decide over a name for your textile business and apply for mandatory licenses
After deciding a decent name for your textile business, you would need to acquire following mandatory licenses to legalize your business,
– GSTIN and PAN number
– Trade License
– Shop Establishment License
– Trademark Registration
– Pollution & Factory License, for manufacturers
For textile business name ideas, you can read our blog: Best Textile Shop Names
5. Contact the suppliers
Now once you’re registered and ready with mandatory licenses, you are ready for the next step. In the case of retail textile business, you can now arrange a list of manufacturers and contact them one by one. Detail down the cost they would charge for your initial stock. Choose the manufacturer depending on the transportation cost and select accordingly. Similarly in the case of manufacturing business, arrange a list of suppliers of raw materials. Contact them one by one. Select the supplier that is ready to give you at minimum cost.
6. Prepare a business plan with a good profit margin
In the case of retail, once you’re done with arranging your initial stock to sell. Calculate the total input cost including the rent and electricity of your shop and other labour costs if any. Accordingly estimate a selling cost that gives you maximum profit margin. Keep in mind the cost charged by your competitors. As a retail textile business, your motive is to prepare a business plan that gives you maximum profit margin. Similarly, in the case of manufacturing, calculate the total cost of investment. It includes cost of raw materials, cost of machinery, cost of labour, cost of electricity and rent of the place or any other operational cost. Try to minimize the overall input investment. Accordingly, select a profitable price to sell for your potential buyers.
7. Advertise and market your business
For every business, it’s important to market your product or service to be able to sell to more clients and gain profits, accordingly. Be it manufacturing or retail textile business, you can showcase your product/service in the best presentable way to attract and convert a larger section of potential customers.
Fab3D is one such app which can help textile business owners get new clients/orders with 3X speed, by instantly sharing model draped images of your textile to your potential customers. You don’t need to travel to different locations to sell your fabrics anymore. You can even decide how you fabric will look on a garment, even before manufacturing it and take feedback from your clients, hence getting orders in advance even before manufacturing the garment. Currently there are 100s of textile business owners using Fab3D App to increase the sales of their business and get repeat orders from their customers. Some premium clients include Donear, KGF Fabrics, Siyarams, etc… Try the Fab3D App yourself and get new clients faster than ever before!.
Investment needed to start a textile business in India
There are certain cost you need to keep in mind to estimate the investment needed in Indian textile industry :
1. Cost of Location – For textile manufacturing, you would need a place for the factory for production and inventory to store fabrics. In case of retail business, you would require an investment to buy or rent a shop for selling fabrics.
2. Cost of Manufacturing – In case you’re planning to start as a textile manufacturer, the manufacturing cost includes the cost or rent of purchasing the equipment, cost of setting up the equipment and the additional operational cost which includes cost of maintenance, rent, etc.
3. Cost of Labour – This cost includes the salary of labourers and other employees that would be responsible for the operation of production in case of manufacturing and for selling in case of retail.
4. Cost of Transportation – The transportation cost would include the cost required for transferring fabrics or textiles from the manufacturer to your shop. You can reduce this cost in case you’re planning to get into manufacturing by setting up the factory in the vicinity of your potential buyers.
5. Cost of Marketing/Advertising – This cost includes the cost incurred in the marketing campaigns for your textile business. The cost is obviously more in the case of retail compared to that for manufacturing business.
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Textile Business Opportunities in India
Considering the spending power and increasing domestic demand for textiles and apparels, there’s a plethora of opportunities to invest in the Indian textile industry. From domestic market to International markets, textiles industry in India has shown a significant positive growth in the last decade. India has an extensive structure of textile and apparel manufacturing with infrastructure spread across the country in numerous clusters. There is an immense scope of investment opportunities in retail businesses looking to start textile and fabric businesses.
The Government of India has been providing a lot of support under the Make In India initiative to encourage companies and businesses to develop , manufacture and assemble products made in India. The objective is to incentivize dedicated investments for manufacturing in the country.
Especially for the textiles and garments Industry, the government is providing several schemes and subsidies for ease of manufacturing and operations for both retailers and manufacturers.
Conclusion
So, decide whether you want to invest in retail or manufacturing depending upon the amount of investment you wish to invest. The manufacturing takes more investment than retail as it includes different operational costs that include cost of manufacturing, cost of labor, etc. Research the market of textiles and fabrics for customer demand, customer paying ability, and market size of different textiles.
Depending on the research, analyze which textile or fabric would be the best profitable investment to put your money into. Register your business and acquire related mandatory licenses. Contact a number of suppliers and choose the supplier that gives you at minimum cost for your initial stock. Calculate the total cost of investment and accordingly, prepare a business plan that gives you maximum profit. Take use of fabric visualization technology, to visualize your fabric onto a model. Therefore, selling your fabrics faster increases your sales significantly.
