FASHION BUSINESS INCUBATOR TEACHES KEY SKILLS TO ENTREPRENEURS
David Park credits his growing clothing line to two things his fighting spirit and the downtown Fashion Business Incubator, where he picked up some much-needed business insight.
“I really didn’t know anything about this business, so I was starting from scratch and doing everything twice the wrong way and then the right way,” said the 39-year-old Park. “I knew I needed some direction the incubator could provide.”
At a time when apparel manufacturers are becoming a shrinking breed, staying afloat often takes more than just a trendy line. It also requires the kind of hands-on business education offered through the incubator, also known as the FBI.
Launched last September in a donated 500-square-foot space at the NewMart, the incubator has grown to 35 members, ranging from fledgling designers to established labels. Members pay $100 a month for access to training, networking opportunities and information on such things as costs, shipping and licensing.
It was the brainchild of co-founders Sandy Bleifer, a Realtor working to revitalize downtown buildings, and Frances Harder, an associate professor at Otis College of Art and Design.
The cornerstone of the program is FastTrac, a six-week, nuts-and-bolts course offered through the USC Business Expansion Network. The university subsidizes $750 of the $1,250 cost of the course for qualifying students. For FBI members, it provides $1,000. So far, 14 members have graduated from the program.
“The FBI is a group specifically concerned about providing human capital instead of doling out loans it’s congruent with our mission here,” said Nitin Bhatt, executive director of the USC program.
The rapidly changing apparel industry has created the need for designers to not only hit the ground running but keep up the pace.
“A number of small businesses are so caught up in the design of fashion that they failed to see the changing environment around them,” Bhatt said. “Look at what’s happened in the past few years. The Asian crisis and devaluation of currencies created a buying frenzy over there and squeezed our manufacturers out.”
About 6,000 apparel jobs have left the county since 1997, according to Bhatt. That exodus is posing a threat to the industry, which added $31.4 billion to the L.A. County economy in 1998.
Since its inception, the incubator has received a number of inquiries via its Web site from designers in such far-flung regions as Crete and India looking to somehow participate in the program.
The mass appeal has prompted Harder to try to create a business-to-business Web site that will offer courses online as well as e-commerce opportunities for designers. Currently, the two founders are seeking funding from venture capitalists with the hope of launching a site later this year.
The FBI also is working with Bank of America and Capitol Business Credit to possibly provide loans under $50,000 to incubator participants. “Basically, we can act as a clearinghouse and offer input on businesses we think have a real shot of making it,” Harder said.
For Park, whose company, Walk in the Park, produces a contemporary clothing line for women known as Sky, the incubator has been a big benefit. His business brought in $4 million in 1999 and he projects $7 million in sales this year. That marks a big change from 1997, when it was $400,000 in the red.
Park isn’t the only one learning the apparel business through the FBI.
Family business Fleur de Peche is putting its finances in order for the first time. Elena Bates handles operations while her daughter, Carilyn Vaile, designs the contemporary knits for separates that rang up $1 million in sales last year.
Until now, one key ingredient has been missing from the business a budget. “We were operating by the seat of our pants. We would buy fabric and hoped our samples sold,” Bates said. “Now, we’re more careful about what we’re spending and how often.”
Another FBI member, former Caltrans civil engineer Stephanie Turk, hopes to launch WearUnder, her intimate apparel line for plus-size women, later this year.
“The FBI really helps you break into the industry,” Turk said. “I know about finding contractors to build bridges but not about bras, so Frances (Harder) has been helping me get leads for pattern-makers. It’s also helpful to be around other students to bounce ideas off and experience growing pains with.”
