In 2012, Tyler Haney had no experience in fashion design yet still managed to outperform Nike! She expanded her apparel business to receive $57M in funding in just 6 years.
You can do it too if she can.
This is what she did:
The first is 2012 Despite the fact that she enjoyed jogging, she didn’t like the black spandex costume designed for Olympic participants. She was driven to design a running outfit for everyday joggers like herself. She had little knowledge of this region, though.
- After starting from scratch, she began to test fabrics that met the three requirements of being sweat-resistant, durable, and comfortable to wear while moving.
- After making preliminary sketches of her ideas, she started looking for local patternmakers to carry out her designs.
- Haney made dozens of kits by hand for her loved ones. then requested their opinion by asking, “Did that look good?” Fitted it? What were they like to wear it? Friends noted that she appeared more self-assured, felt less afraid to exercise, and was, most importantly, more likely to be active.
- As a result of this criticism, she left her job and focused even more on establishing her brand.
- She discovered a factory that could carry out her “small orders,” which numbered no more than a few hundred pieces.
January 7, 2014. Small boutiques in London, Austin, Texas, and New York City received restricted orders from Haney.
- A buyer from London placed an order for 11,000 units one day. Haney invested all of her assets and those of her family in completing this initial production run.
- The kits were popular and sold out quickly both online and in certain stores.
- She made the decision to begin selling her clothing online.
November 11, 2014. She learned there is no sportswear brand in Austin, Texas, after visiting. The kits’ internet admirers also desired to touch and feel the fabric. Therefore, she set up her first little shop location there.
- April 2015. She put together an initial $1.1M in seed money.
- She had 70 meetings that resulted in “no” when trying to raise the following series A funding. She then began leaving a lot of merchandise at meetings with male investors who didn’t want her business, with the suspicion that it would end up in their spouses’ hands. And it succeeded. She raised $7 million on October 14, 2015.
- In New York, she started a permanent shop. This resulted in Vogue mentions and a debut presentation at New York Fashion Week in the beginning of 2016.
- July 2016. An additional $13 million in investment.
- A 400% increase from 2016 to 2017 in business.
Series C funding: $34.1M, led by Google Ventures, as of 17.3.2018.
Haney has been included in two lists: Fast Company’s “100 Most Creative People in Business” and Forbes’ “30 Under 30: Retail & E-Commerce.”
You can do it too if she can.
Source: entrepreneur.com