Being a fashion vendor is exciting work, and there has to be a constant flow of orders to keep things running. Fortunately, the business of fashion is all-year round with the peak months being from June to September. There is a slight lean season just after Diwali, but to ensure a constant flow of orders we have a regular line of new designs coming in nearly every month.
We do not have promotional programmes to push our company to buyers, and rely on word of mouth. Of course, being a vendor to top labels and attaching their labels is preferred over having one of my own label. It is because starting my label would require high capital and an inventory, which can be quite difficult (at times).
Meanwhile, there are of course advantages and disadvantages of being a fashion vendor with problems being part of the business, which have to be handled with utmost care. The advantages are that quantities are good; so, I can plan production capacities and there is no dead stock to worry about. The disadvantage is that money can be stuck if buyers don't pay on time, and so one needs a big capital investment.
We also need a continuous flow of orders to increase the per day efficiency without periods of discontinued operations. At times, periods of fluctuating deliveries could affect the brand's image, which in turn can affect our business as well.
Getting a break as a vendor to big stores like Shoppers Stop is not as easy as many may think, since the requirements of top stores and brands are at times hard to match. They want factories with large production capacities and have different health and safety requirements. Then, there is the question of different product styles; each retailer has its own priority of time, cost and quantity.
