Eco Friendly Clothes Online Store idea: need FEEDBACK (please)

[francevalue]

Hey! Hope you're all great.

I had this idea to create value by providing people with an eco friendly clothes brand . In fact a lot of people are willing to consume in a more responsible way especially in clothing, which I believe is great!

I already have a 770+ following on Instagram for my brand.

Here's how I'd do it:
1) Continue to grow my Instagram everyday. (Using follow unfollow method)
2) Put one of my products (maybe a cap with obviously our logo on it) on eBay and putting the link on Instagram.
3) Once I have $30 profit from the sales, I would open a more professional looking store on Shopify, branded and all.

To create my products, I would use first an online custom clothes creator and ship it to the person when he orders. I know it's not the best solution, but i can't order it and ship it again for now.

To get an eco friendly image for my brand, I would first plant 1 tree for each order placed on the website. Then in the future I'll use more eco friendly materials and shipping.

What do you think? Do you see any flaws, regarding CENTS or anything else?

Thanks!

 

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[francevalue]

I wanted to use this website, but it is a wee bit expensive:
CustomInk

Does anyone here know a cheap no minimum order custom clothes maker please?

 

[EricFromCanada]

This is identical to what is already being done by a company called Tentree so I'm not sure how you are planning on differentiating yourself or adding any value.

Clothing companies are also a dime a dozen so your idea definitely has a low barrier to entry that anyone could replicate in a few hours.

Margins are going to be razor-thin if you're using a print-on-demand company unless you charge a premium for your t-shirts. However, to get people to pay a premium you need an actual brand that people care about, which you don't currently have.

 

[francevalue]

This is identical to what is already being done by a company called Tentree so I'm not sure how you are planning on differentiating yourself or adding any value.

Too bad.. I need to think about a way to create even more value..

Margins are going to be razor-thin if you're using a print-on-demand company unless you charge a premium for your t-shirts. However, to get people to pay a premium you need an actual brand that people care about, which you don't currently have.

You're right. I should try to create a trend and a strong image brand.. Which is difficult.

Do you think there is still room for me in this niche? Anyway, thanks for the answer.

 

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[biophase]

Too bad.. I need to think about a way to create even more value..

Do you think there is still room for me in this niche? Anyway, thanks for the answer.

You can differentiate by actually planting each tree yourself instead of outsourcing it.

 

[SEBASTlAN]

Continue to grow my Instagram everyday. (Using follow unfollow method)

Please don't do that.

 

[DeletedUser0287]

Hey! Hope you're all great.

I had this idea to create value by providing people with an eco friendly clothes brand . In fact a lot of people are willing to consume in a more responsible way especially in clothing, which I believe is great!

I already have a 770+ following on Instagram for my brand.

Here's how I'd do it:
1) Continue to grow my Instagram everyday. (Using follow unfollow method)
2) Put one of my products (maybe a cap with obviously our logo on it) on eBay and putting the link on Instagram.
3) Once I have $30 profit from the sales, I would open a more professional looking store on Shopify, branded and all.

To create my products, I would use first an online custom clothes creator and ship it to the person when he orders. I know it's not the best solution, but i can't order it and ship it again for now.

To get an eco friendly image for my brand, I would first plant 1 tree for each order placed on the website. Then in the future I'll use more eco friendly materials and shipping.

What do you think? Do you see any flaws, regarding CENTS or anything else?

Thanks!

Well, looks like you are going with the logo slap method. So your largest value skew is going to brand vibe. Everything you do has to be invested in eco branding. From the start, a lot of the things you are doing will go against brand alignment. Most likely the dropshipper will use plastic bags. Ekk. Most likely won't use eco-friendly branded fabrics like Tencel.

The best way to create brand vibe is to get the industry/influencer/niche leader to wear your items. For example, we have a tennis racquet brand. Nadal is seen playing with it in Wimbledon. The value of the tennis racquet just jumped to like 100x. Industry leaders add value to anything they touch.

A. If your product is just average, which I am assuming based on your post. You most likely won't get people of influence to wear it for free. Meaning you are going to have to just pay.

B. If your product is somewhat unique/good, then more people are inclined to take you on for a lesser payment.

C. If your product is exceptional/remarkable, you increase the probabilities of an influencer wearing your stuff organically.

None of these options are exactly cheap though...

Cheaper branding methods are web design to convey eco friendliness or knowing influential in the space.

 

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[francevalue]

Planting it myself is great but time consuming. Thanks!

Yes there would be a contradiction between brand image and products...
I need to think about it but thanks!!

 

[DeletedUser0287]

I forgot to mention, a more practical way is to find the most influential person in let’s say a small eco friendly club to wear it and to keep finding these smaller influencers to build up.

In the Nike story, Phil Knight contacting Bill Bowerman was the game changer. Without the high influence of Bill Bowerman backing the shoes, Nike would have never scaled up and Phil would have been like 99% of failures.

 

[Einfamilienhaus]

What do you mean with Eco friendly clothes? Do you mean clothes from from the aspect of Slow Fashion? Where are your producers located or do produce them by your own? Have you gathered some informations about "What makes clothes Eco friendly" from the aspect of the European market?

The reason why I'm asking these questions are because of your targeted groups. These people are well informed about slow fashion. It is not a mainstream market. The usual person of interest are people who are interested in a healthy lifestyle like vegetarians, vegans. Also a big group of allegics and expectant mothers. You cant just say I produce eco friendly Shirts or put a random eco certificate on your cloths like Nike and still produce in Bangladesh. We in Europe try to produce in Turkey, (Marokko) and Bulgaria but the working conditions are still really bad.

I work with some of the slow fashion owners in Berlin together. Many of them have their own little manufacture next to the shop or they buy from a local producer in Germany. That is the reason why their customers trust them and buy a shirt for 40$ instead of 3$.

 

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[francevalue]

What do you mean with Eco friendly clothes? Do you mean clothes from from the aspect of Slow Fashion? Where are your producers located or do produce them by your own? Have you gathered some informations about "What makes clothes Eco friendly" from the aspect of the European market?

Yes it would be directly linked to that. For now they would be located in the USA but later on I could move to more local producers.
I'm currently working on that

 

[biophase]

Planting it myself is great but time consuming. Thanks!

That's exactly why you would do it. Because it takes your time. Sacrifice, if you are truly eco friendly.

 

[DeletedUser0287]

That's exactly why you would do it. Because it takes your time. Sacrifice, if you are truly eco friendly.

Doing something just because it takes more time is illogical. OP needs to first determine if it actually matters to customers if OP physically plants the trees him/herself. If they do care, then in order to make the time investment worth it of physically planting, OP should make it very clear that they are planting the trees. Photo and Videography.

The #teamtrees did this at massive scale.

 

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[biophase]

Doing something just because it takes more time is illogical. OP needs to first determine if it actually matters to customers if OP physically plants the trees him/herself.

I think you are missing the point. It's not because it takes more time, it is because there is more personally effort involved. You have to convince your customers that you, as the owner care about the environment and that this isn't just a marketing gimmick.

This is the difference between success and failure.

Op wants to create an eco-friendly clothing line. He wants to make a shirt with eco-friendly materials. Then he says "To get an eco friendly image for my brand, I would first plant 1 tree for each order placed on the website ".

Outsourcing a planted tree is easy, which is why so many companies are doing it. Just send $1 to a tree planting company and they plant one tree. So what the OP is really saying is that he is going to lower his profit margin by $1 on each shirt. Hardly a sacrifice or enticing proposition.

He wanted to provide more value and stand out from the rest. So to do that you need to be willing to put in more work.

Guess what planting each tree yourself does? It shows your customers that you are committed. You are taking the time to do it. You aren't clicking a button to send $1 away. It also gives you unlimited content on social media. How many videos, photos and blog posts can you make?

 

[Bearcorp]

It also gives you unlimited content on social media. How many videos, photos and blog posts can you make?

This. OP if you want to create the right vibe for your company do it yourself. Potential customers, influencers, and people that might follow your social media but not actually buy anything, especially when your range is low as your starting out, all these people can still buy into what your doing.
Imagine in 12 months time, 2 years time even, if you get some traction how many trees you will have planted and how much content you’ll have to show the world. Your little start up has grown and physically planted thousands of trees all in house!

It’s a far better story for your brand.

 

[Xeon]

Are the shirts and merch themselves going to be eco-friendly? And how will you prove that to the customers? These eco-lovers bunch are generally better educated and more well read than your average man on the street. If they find out your merch raw fabric is produced in a factory in Honduras or China which releases 25,000 tons of waste into the sea every 4 months, good game.

How about the packaging?

Since everyone is going down the eco-lover save the turtles vegan paleo keto path nowadays, maybe you should do it differently and market to people who believe in the Carnivore Diet or people who believe that eco-loving is futile instead, for example.

When everyone zigs, you zag.

The thing about starting these type of businesses, is that you have to live the brand. That means everything you do, including the chair you sat on, must be eco-friendly, or else someone will snap a pic and post on Instagram calling your brand "inauthentic".

 

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[DeletedUser0287]

It also gives you unlimited content on social media. How many videos, photos and blog posts can you make?

If they do care, then in order to make the time investment worth it of physically planting, OP should make it very clear that they are planting the trees. Photo and Videography.

The #teamtrees did this at massive scale.

Did you not read the end of my post?

 

[Strm]

You can differentiate by actually planting each tree yourself instead of outsourcing it.

Exactly. Make a video of you doing it and thank the person who ordered your product in the video, for example "Thanks, John Smith, for ordering your T-shirt from our store. We planted this tree together with you!" Well maybe not exactly like this, but you'll get the point. Make it personal.

 

[francevalue]

I think you are missing the point. It's not because it takes more time, it is because there is more personally effort involved. You have to convince your customers that you, as the owner care about the environment and that this isn't just a marketing gimmick.

This is the difference between success and failure.

Op wants to create an eco-friendly clothing line. He wants to make a shirt with eco-friendly materials. Then he says "To get an eco friendly image for my brand, I would first plant 1 tree for each order placed on the website ".

Outsourcing a planted tree is easy, which is why so many companies are doing it. Just send $1 to a tree planting company and they plant one tree. So what the OP is really saying is that he is going to lower his profit margin by $1 on each shirt. Hardly a sacrifice or enticing proposition.

He wanted to provide more value and stand out from the rest. So to do that you need to be willing to put in more work.

Guess what planting each tree yourself does? It shows your customers that you are committed. You are taking the time to do it. You aren't clicking a button to send $1 away. It also gives you unlimited content on social media. How many videos, photos and blog posts can you make?

A lot of people would like to see a 17 year old teenager actually do something for the planet! THis is a great idea. Thanks!

 

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[biophase]

Did you not read the end of my post?

Yes, I did read that. You said to find out first if people cared that he planted his own tree. How exactly would he do that? By asking his customers that question?

My point was that you have to DO first, because YOU care. Not because your customers care or not. Customers will care if you care. That’s why I think you have it all backwards. You are only doing something for profit, not because you care. If that’s the case, nobody will care about your company either.

 

[MattL]

Guess what planting each tree yourself does? It shows your customers that you are committed. You are taking the time to do it. You aren't clicking a button to send $1 away. It also gives you unlimited content on social media. How many videos, photos and blog posts can you make?

I love this idea.

Also by creating content relating to this on socials it'll be more enticing for customers to buy. In a way, they get to see you plant the tree that they bought. Plays into the narcissistic nature of social media.

Maybe you could even add a voluntary field to the checkout section where they can add their instagram social...

IG PIC
"Planting the tree that @customerwhoboughtashirt342 just bought. Buy a shirt at yoursite.xyz and mention your IG to get featured on this profile"

Rough draft but hopefully you get the idea...

 

[DeletedUser0287]

Yes, I did read that. You said to find out first if people cared that he planted his own tree. How exactly would he do that? By asking his customers that question?

My point was that you have to DO first, because YOU care. Not because your customers care or not. Customers will care if you care. That’s why I think you have it all backwards. You are only doing something for profit, not because you care. If that’s the case, nobody will care about your company either.

Not backwards at all, it is called validating a concept first before doing whether for profit or not.

I am sure majority of people starting a business “care” about their business. To make the immediate assumption that just because you care, they will too? Is completely illogical.

But regardless, #teamtrees thing validated the idea. Although it was just donation anyways.

Edit: Most of the trees planted from #teamtrees was outsourced and still successful. I guess all OP has to do is plant several thousand himself and make a viral video like planting 1,000 trees in a day. After that, it all gets outsourced.

 

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[biophase]

Not backwards at all, it is called validating a concept first before doing whether for profit or not.

I am sure majority of people starting a business “care” about their business. To make the immediate assumption that just because you care, they will too? Is completely illogical.

I think the majority of people "care" about money, not about the business. Caring about your business is not the same as caring about your product or your customers.

Does the OP care about the environment or is he using the eco-friendly angle just to generate sales (caring about money only?)?

An outsider would most likely come along and say that the eco-friendly, plant a tree angle is just a gimmick to sell shirts. So he would have to convince potential customers that he does care. What better way than to get his hands dirty.

 

[francevalue]

Does the OP care about the environment or is he using the eco-friendly angle just to generate sales (caring about money only?)?

I obviously care about money but I also a lot care about the environment and sustainable growth.

But I do believe your idea is great!