School Uniforms – Start Up
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With so many schools going to uniforms there is a market for people who can supply these uniforms. While most schools make deals with certain suppliers they cannot stop someone from buying supplemental uniforms from anyone who chooses to provide them. This is really a fulfillment startup as of course you aren’t making them but you can find a supplier and sell them door to door. Because of so much gang activity in Los Angeles the majority of our public schools are all going to school uniforms.Your biggest hurdle in this start up is most of your private schools are contracted with certain manufacturers but as public schools embrace school uniforms the market will open.
How do I go about setting this business up.
- The first thing you want to do of course is identify what schools need uniforms.
- You want to probably get a copy of the uniform and see if you can find a manufacturer who can reduplicate it or already has it.
- Check your local thrift stores as they will probably have school uniforms that have been donated back to them.
- Print up flyers saying you have the uniforms for the schools in their local areas and list the price
- Offer an exchange program where you will collect their old uniforms that their kids don’t fit anymore.
- Provide a discount for ordering a weeks worth.
The uniform exchange program allows you to sell slightly worn uniforms for a discount to other students. As kids they will probably grow out of their uniforms in 6 months so you will have a lot of uniforms returning to you. This allows you to resell your used uniforms over and over and over again making money off of the same product.
As always make sure all used uniforms are dry cleaned and make sure they are identified as such. You might also decide to lease a space for one month near the schools so parents can come in there to get the uniforms for even cheaper. But, you can always run this whole business out of a van that will personally deliver new uniforms or you can run it at a local flea market. All this start up needs is someone to print up enough flyers as the sale of these items are almost guaranteed.
Extra: Don’t forget that you can also sell underwear, socks and shoes. A good coat, slicker, umbrella along with kids school supplies would be a lovely addition to this start up. You might as well make it all a one stop shop until you can sell out. Keep the prices cheap and move units and you’ll be running this business for years to come.
Extra Extra: Most of the uniforms are made overseas for dirt cheap. As your business grows you might want to look into buying them overseas and selling them here.
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Being a parent whose kid is in parochial school i can relate with this idea and had my share of feeling robbed every year when september comes around. You see we only have one distributor who supplies parochial schools with uniforms and gym clothing. Looking closely at the uniforms they are no different than any other clothing which can be copied. i have to give them props for having the area on lock down as they are the only people providing this service.
i remember while i was there clenching my fists when i saw the prices! There has to be a way of making this better to break this monopoly and charge less! I’m going to need a sewing machine that can sew the schools emblems and a commercial iron to iron the schools names on their gym clothing. I was thinking all this while i was there. The only thing is where are they getting their supply from?
If you check Alibaba.com for school uniforms you’ll probably find the overseas company that makes them. Then if you click on the USA tab you’ll probably find a company in the USA who sells them so you don’t have to ship them.
All of them are shipped from overseas and I’d bet if you did some super research you’ll find your exact pattern and maybe even the crest of your school.
Another thing you can do with this angle is set up a group that parents can exchange uniforms as their kids grow. Pretty much a school uniform recycle program.
This is a real nice hustle because you can undercut these overpriced local uniform companies with some cheaper made in china/costa rica knockoff.
I bet you can sell online, knock the price 30% down and target the top 350 cities. If they can knock off gucci and versace, i know they can knock off these uniforms.
This also was one of my backpocket hustles that I brought out because I know schools are making everyone wear uniforms in the near future. Since the manufacturers got the hustle on lock it’s best to wait til public school gets them as they are doing it here in LA. Now public schools can’t force you to buy from a certain manufacturer like a private school.
It’s a built in market. Every year in September you can rent a retail spot and sell out. You can recycle the old ones and resell them during the year to other people for less. So one investment and you can recycle the hustle year round as the kids grow.
The information is very much relevant for small business owners. that is how they can attain the maximum from the minimum.
Thanks for the compliment and Welcome.