Who will be your biggest client in 5 to 10 years?

Predicting the future is a difficult task. If it wasn't, people wouldn't have such a respect for visionaries and intellectual pioneers that were centuries ahead of their time. While no business needs to be centuries ahead of the curve, it is still important to ask yourself where your business will be in the next 5 to 10 years. In the apparel manufacturing industry, one of the major forecasting issues that is rapidly approaching involves the increasingly common transition from brick and mortar stores to online shopping.

What this really boils down to is a simple question: Are the companies that you currently rely on for selling your products and making your business profitable going to still exist in the next 5 to 10 years. If the answer to that question is a resounding... maybe, then your business needs to be planning ahead for the future. Here are a few helpful tips on how you can plan ahead for changes to the apparel industry in the years ahead.

Don't Make the Mistake of Ignoring the Trends

While it might be easy to fall into the trap of thinking that you have plenty of time to adjust your business plans and strategies, don't make this mistake. In the apparel industry, the numbers do not lie. Apparel ecommerce has become one of the primary reasons for the success of ecommerce, and it is only continuing to grow. Easy returns, free shipping and other conveniences have all led to online clothes shopping becoming nearly as second nature as ordering computers and tech items online. If your apparel manufacturing strategy relies exclusively or almost exclusively on brick and mortar stores, it is probably time to rethink that strategy. The sooner you make that decision, the better off your business will be.

How to Forecast and Prepare for the Years Ahead

When developing a forecast, it is helpful to break all of the aspects of your industry down to their bit parts. For example, consider your products, market and geographic region, and ask whether there are any individual sellers of your product that are important enough to deserve their own forecasts. With these factors considered, it is then important to question how industry changes such as the increased growth of ecommerce sales will affect these factors of your business. Often, a quality software solution that is dedicated to the apparel industry can help make the analysis easier.

Once the forecast is in place, it is easier to develop a sales plan and strategy that allows you to react to the changes you reasonably expect to occur in the coming years. In practical terms, this involves taking steps to transition a business in a way that it can respond to the new consumer trends and demands. Slowly but surely, a proper plan will allow apparel manufacturers to adapt their business in such a way that they are prepared for the new growth in ecommerce.

Examples of how to achieve this can vary by market, but seeking out ecommerce retailers, creating your own ecommerce site and encouraging existing partners to place a heavier emphasis on their online presence are all great places to start. However, it is important to note that all of this forecasting and sales strategy should not be done in a vacuum. Each and every piece of analysis and planning should be done with the intent of growing profit and sales in the years ahead.

Two Other Forecasting Pitfalls You Need to Avoid

As a final reminder, there are a few other easy mistakes to make that apparel manufacturers should take care to avoid. The first is moving the goalposts. Never change the forecasts once they are finalized. They were set for a reason, so don't make excessive adjustments, even if you genuinely believe a slight change might have occurred. The point of a forecast is not to predict the future exactly, but to prepare for a likely future. Prepare as much as possible, but then focus the majority of your business efforts on actually responding to the changes you are expecting. In short, don't put too much stock into the forecast since the execution afterwards is even more important.

Second, don't have a myopic forecast. In other words, encourage feedback and input from experienced people that might be able to challenge your forecast. In this way, they might catch something you missed that can seriously enhance the forecast's accuracy. By following these tips, your apparel manufacturing business will be well positioned to respond to the upcoming changes in the apparel industry.