Kara from The Make Fashion Agency is with us this week talking about her exciting new fashion agency.
1. How did your business start and why?
Kare and Cathy's business 'The Make' has been up and running for just over a year now. After meeting and working together at a well known agency in 2009, Kara moved on to a boutique agency while Cathy furthered her long working career in fashion wholesale sales by working her way up to management. She then moved on to a role as National Sales Manager at White Suede before satisfying the urge to open her own business in 2011. It was in 2012 Kara's boss got offered an amazing job opportunity she couldn't refuse so it was then we decided to merge and 'The Make Agency' was born.
2. Tell me about your business and the vision for your company?
Our business is a fashion agency, we have about 14 womenswear brands in our banner of labels, we look after sales for these brands in Vic, Tas and SA. We service mainly the independent boutiques. ʻThe Makeʼ is a strong sales driven team working with established and up and coming brands that primary focus is on building and growing these brands within the industry. At 'The Make' we pride ourselves on service, reputation and professionalism. To set ourselves apart from the rest we put 100% focus on building and strengthening our working relationships with stores. We provide a service that goes beyond the sales that take place in our showroom. With the industry being so competitive we believe service is the key to sustaining longevity.
3. What are some of the challenges you have faced?
As previously mentioned the fashion industry is extremely tough at the moment, we are competing with online, overseas, etc. The consumer is nowadays so spoilt for choice and so spend savvy we need to go above and beyond for the customer. Our primary focus is maintaing and strengthening our working relationships with our clients as well as our customers.
3. We all know how hard it is to grow a business, have you got any marketing tips to share?
We have found social media has been such a positive force in helping to get our business name out there. Instagram and Facebook have been such amazing marketing tools for the fashion industry and us, it enables for us to reach customers all over Australia and all around the world at no cost! We have also found word of mouth in the industry has opened many doors for us, and introduced us to many new clients. Reputation is everything.
Visit The Make Fashion Agency's Facebook page
Interested in meeting local business owners? Our Local Business Event later this month is the perfect place.