Flash Piece Co.

Tattoo printed clothing for kickass kiddos 

[flashpiecesco]

Week 11 Progress

What is working?

Still trying to decide whether I can continue with my initial clothing company or if I can put together a different business quickly. I grew up learning how to make authentic Salvadorian food and my grandmother actually cooks her homemade food to the elderly people in her apartment complex. I have strongly considered getting involved and have encouraged her to charge for her food because she is incurring costs with no profit. So if I help her make this into a business, she already has the clientele I would just have to expand her tiny little food orders into something bigger and realistically a business. 

What is not working?

I was still persistent trying to contact other artists this week for designs because I didn't want to completely give up my clothing company but no word from anyone I have contacted. 

How do I feel the project is coming?

The clothing company seems nonexistent at the moment and I am positive I can help my grandmother grow her pass time into a true business rather than just for fun. Between finding a location, marketing and creating a social media presence and budgeting ingredients and utilities and other necessary restaurant needs, It may not be doable by the end of the course but I can still definitely help her grow the business in the meantime. It feels realistic. 

What am I learning about running a business?

You’ve just got to keep moving forward. Any setbacks you experience trying to start a business is because it takes a lot of blood sweat and tears to actually keep that business getting better. 

What am I learning about myself?

I am still quite positive and resourceful when I put my mind to it. 

[flashpiecesco]

Week 10 Progress

What is working?

At the moment, nothing.

What is not working?

I was able to reach out to an extended family member who is a graphic designer and has a successful business and he said about a week ago he could help me out with a few designs, at least 2 and a logo. Friday he reached out and responded saying due to the holidays and high demand he is unable to get my designs done before my deadline, much less before this course was completed. I felt completely helpless. I reached out to a number of other tattoo artists in Toronto and even outside of the GTA further west and south and no one in the industry wants to work with someone who doesn’t actually have a reputation or presence in the tattoo community. So I am completely as a loss at what to do. 

How do I feel the project is coming?

It’s reached a literal halt. Nothing can happen if I don't have designs especially since the point of my clothing line is based on the designs themselves. I have emailed and spoken to numerous other artists that don't seem at all interested in helping me out so I might need another idea and quickly. 

What am I learning about running a business?

At this moment, I realize sometimes I won't always be working on a tight deadline like completing a business for a course and there is always another way to be resourceful and work through any setbacks but right now, I am at a loss about how to move forward if I don't have someone willing to draw up some designs. 

What am I learning about myself?

I am often my own worst enemy and I can definitely get into my own head about what negative things occur. 

[flashpiecesco]

Week 8 Progress

What is working?

Well I was finding it incredibly difficult to find a company that would just print on the onesies I have purchased myself, but they all have packages that sell their clothing that the customer must use to print on and not their own clothing. So that was discouraging because it was also incredibly expensive which I couldn’t afford. Honestly, just the quotes for about 10 onesies and printing would cost me over $300. So instead I decided with the help of my partner to print ourselves and did some research and youtube tutorials to teach ourselves. It will take some trial and error but I am so willing to try and put in the work!

What is not working?

Still had some trouble finding an artist. None of the legitimate tattoo artists downtown were interested, so I asked a cousin of mine that has a professional graphic design company if he could draw up my designs and logo for the company. I am still waiting to hear back and see how that is going but at least it’s a lead. 

How do I feel the project is coming?

Honestly I am still a little discouraged and feel behind the timeline but I do also feel accomplished for deciding to do my own printing. Of course it will take extra work and some serious elbow grease but It makes me feel so much more invested because I am actually trying to commit myself 100% to this entire process. It is still taking more time than I envisioned though. 

What am I learning about running a business?

It is so much more worth it when you are invested into every step of the process. Before when I was simply trying to find printers I felt quite distanced from the entire business and that I was almost a middle man, but purchasing onesies and then posting about them online but the idea of doing it all myself excites me much more. 

What am I learning about myself?

I need to continue pushing my limits and crossing my boundaries for this business. I still feel too stagnant and when I think I’ve made progress I take a step back and relax for a little when I should be doing the opposite and putting more time and effort to keep moving forward. 

[flashpiecesco]

Week 7 Progress

What is working?

So far I have a clear picture of what I want to accomplish for this company and I have made some steps towards launching it. I have a company name and a web designer to begin the website and a solid foundation of money to back up the business. 

What’s not working?

I have actually had a difficult time finding a tattoo artist interested in my idea. Although I am completely set on appreciating the art and the imagery of traditional tattooing, some artist don’t feel comfortable getting involved with someone who isn't as present in the community. I am getting the feeling they would rather work with someone who is in the industry and isn't trying to capitalize on their artwork. So that is quite discouraging and I might have to find a graphic designer and maybe alter the designs and style that I originally wanted.

How do I feel the project is coming?

I simply feel I won't have completed all the necessary tasks to have even sold or made a profit by the end of the course. I have reached out to multiple artists and printing companies in terms of getting started but I have still a long way to go. Just a matter of persevering and working hard. 

What have I learned about running a business?

It isn’t as easy as it looks. Originally I applied to this course with the intention of wanting to open a cafe. That has been and will continue to be my end goal, so I did change my mind for the course and work on a clothing company instead considering the social media climate and all these influencers buying from “Instagram shops” lately but just because its a clothing shop, there are still so many legal hoops and businesses and other suppliers you have to go through as well. Takes a lot of work.   

What am I learning about myself?

That I am still a huge procrastinator and it’s getting more difficult to step out of that. I am so great at first and then I find it so difficult to make the time to do something even when I know I have the time. That and time management is still kicking my butt. I have still been trying to hand work in on time and taking all the right steps to get this business up and running. 

[flashpiecesco]

Financial Sources

For my business I am solely interested in using my own money to begin. I have a reliable job that allows me to provide a budget and invest into my own business. I also won't have a partner to rely on for other sources of investment so I will rely on myself. 

I also recognize that if my business is growing or I need some extra money I can ask my parents for some Love Money but I don't want to focus on depending on others to provide financial security for my business.

I personally am not interested in relying on government funding or bank loans to start my business. I realize that it doesn’t take a huge amount of money to begin my business, that just a small amount to start up is enough which doesn’t  justify me going to the government and bank for their funding either.  

[flashpiecesco]

Operations Plan

To begin my children’s clothing company, I will need to research where I can buy onesies and toddler shirts in bulk. I still want to maintain good quality shirts, I don't want to sell anything cheap but in order to get good quality I will likely have to spend more money, which might mean I will have to raise costs for the shirts. So it is a matter of finding a happy medium to make customers happy and still make a decent profit. 

Next costs would be the designs I’ll need. I am in contact with a few tattoo artists in Toronto that I can buy prints off. Those will cost roughly 100 a design, but I only pay once for the design then I can use it for as many shirts i would like. 

In the event that I want quotes or sayings on the shirts as well I will not only need a business license to register my business, I will need legal support to ensure no one on the internet copies my designs or tries to make money off of my ideas. 

I will also need to find I company that can print my designs onto my shirts. There are numerous companies that do that in the Vaughan/Toronto area and I will be researching which is reasonably priced but again, I don’t want to compromise on quality of the printing. 

I really just want to create a brand that can deliver on quality and maintain reasonably priced clothing for toddlers and babies that parents love. 

[flashpiecesco]

My customer persona

[flashpiecesco]

Case Study

Michael’s approach to his business was poor. He promoted his painting skills and thought he would do really well because he was charging a lot less than the competitors in the area. 

Where Michael lacked was that he should have also provided something else, like his skills as a repairman. If he had said to his neighbours as he was going door to door selling that he could also do repairs around the house for a reasonable price, he definitely would have gotten more business.

There is always upkeep that needs to be done on a home, so he could have definitely capitalized on that as well. Once he had done a few good jobs on some homes and satisfied his customers, they might have trusted him to paint their homes as well. 

With his one single customer who was unhappy with the painting due to the poor maintenance of the house/siding, maybe Michael could have tried to fix the framing before he painted that way there wouldn’t be any flaws and he would’ve done a proper job and gained a happy customer. 

[flashpiecesco]

My creative advertising assignment.

Came up with 30 different uses and names for the “nameless” item, underlined the top 10, underlined & bolded the top 5 and then at the bottom of the first page is my chosen name, use.

The second page is my paragraphs trying to sell my new product and i also have written down the slogan for my advertising. Then the last page is my design! 

[flashpiecesco]

My Competition

First Competitors My Baby Rocks

They are an online store that sells not only tattoo themed clothing but a lot more edgier style clothing like goth, punk and rockabilly styles. I think what considers them a competition is that my brand will be focusing solely on tattoo designs meanwhile they have onesies and shirts that showcase bands like Nirvana and The Beatles which does make them a lot more mainstream. As I begin my brand , I want to maintain the Americana traditional style and eventually as I grow, I can incorporate different tattoo styles the same way not everyone has the same tattoo styles either. As I continued scrolling through their website though, it almost seems quite dated and the shirts themselves are designed very generically. The designs seem to be created online and not by a true artist or professional and they all contain the same imagery of hearts, anchors and skulls. What they may be lacking in creativity and design might also be what keeps them relevant because their shirts are mainstream. Still, there is not much customer interaction on their website’s reviews or Instagram posts either, which solidifies my idea that people appreciate homemade and quality made clothing much like what I want to make Flash Pieces Co.

Which brings me to competition number 2, Etsy

Etsy is the home for your neighbour that loves DIY crafts and personalized items. People with a knack for creative thinking and odd talents go to Etsy to establish their shop and sell their products. So after researching, there are many shops that make clothing targeted to tattooed parents with young children. The intriguing aspect of Etsy is again, they are personalized and generally homemade items, so you when you buy clothing from here it will generally be more handcrafted and better quality. Which may not always be the case. Because of the nature of the “one of a kind” items, prices might be higher than your might be used to paying. Also, most shops aren’t local or Canadian, they're overseas which again raises prices because the shops must pay more for international shipping. Etsy is a great option for people that want personalized items for a gift idea and such, but the fact that they are homemade can make the item leaves a lot of room for mistakes.

Third Competitor, CafePress

The third and final competitor is CafePress which is another online powerhouse that provides merch and designed verified clothing for many companies like Disney and numerous tv shows like Greys Anatomy and Friends. What’s great with such a big company is that you can be sure that you will be getting great quality clothing and of course because they are known for good printing qualities as well. They also have an option to print your own designs, so if you want to make your own shirts and already have a design theres nothing stopping a customer for wanting to make their own shirts. Their weaknesses are if you aren’t willing to buy something in bulk it gets costly to produce your own designs and creations.

Overall, I realize that these are bigger names and definitely more established companies. For months I have actually been researching to see if my business idea is valid, will do well and most importantly if there is another small business already capitalizing on my idea and there is not. Amongst all the Instagram shops and small businesses that are popping up and capitalizing on trendy and cute baby clothes, I have yet to find company that is doing something tattoo related for babies and children but doing it well. There are numerous tattoo artists themselves and smaller business that are making shirts based on creative but traditional tattoo designs but again, there is nothing targeted to children or with a fun twist. Which is where Flash Piece Co. comes in.

[flashpiecesco]

This is my Message Map!

*surprise* I wrote it about Starbucks. I felt I knew the company well enough to dissect it and recognize their strengths and qualities. 

[flashpiecesco]

Strengths & Weaknesses

After numerous years working in retail and finding myself in the redundant routines of big corporations, I knew that was not the kind of long term career I wanted for myself. Following in the footsteps of poor management styles and condescending employees was definitely the driving factor for me to pursue entrepreneurship. I wanted to create something I could be proud of and that could sustain my career as well as my happiness. 

My longest and most beloved job was at Starbucks. Overlooking the ‘cult’ like status of their partners and overpriced beverages, the work was truly like nothing I had ever experienced. The fast pace and hectic environment kept me on my toes and really instilled a hard work ethic. I also fell in love with the coffee culture that the Pike Place empire had created. Unfortunately I left because I felt I couldn’t be myself. The individuality they encourage to their customers when it comes to drink orders wasn't applicable to their employees, and I am all about expression of individuality and standing out. 

In the year that I’ve left Starbucks, I have actually learned a lot about myself, my strengths and my weaknesses. Although much like a job interview, my humility gets the best of me and I find it odd to speak of my strengths, so I shall begin with those. 

I can have quite a strong personality which I’m sure can be seen as a weakness as well; but as an entrepreneur I think that is a quality that helps rather than hinders. My work ethic is definitely something I’m proud of, I can push through stressful situations with ease, I enjoy a challenge, I can play a strong leadership role when necessary. I am very ambitious. I don't succumb to trends and I would much rather stand out than fit in. I love to write. Most importantly I am passionate about what I pursue. 

And my weaknesses, where do I even begin? I suffer from anxiety, I procrastinate, I am afraid to fail, I find it difficult to take risks when I know I should. I can be quite sensitive. I think my biggest fault, especially when it comes to the work environment is my sensitivity to respect. If I ever feel disrespected or condescended towards, immediately my response is to walk away. 

Overall, I think I have a lot more to work on but I know I can be successful if I’m willing to focus on my strengths and overcome my weaknesses.

Thank you for reading.