How To Start Tailoring Business In Nigeria

Are you interested in starting a tailoring business in Nigeria but your problem is you don’t know how to begin? In this blog post, I’m going to walk you through the process step by step guide.

What you are to do is to read attentively and follow the instructions. Have included indepths details you need to know, so let’s get started.

Table of Contents

Step 1: check is your business choice.

One good advice that people need to take before establishing business, is to do business you are passionate.

Because if you establish business you don’t like, at the end of the day, you will be tired of it and quit resulting wasting of money to start tailoring business in Nigeria

Step 2: Develop a Business Plan

Define Your Business Model.

There are different niches in the tailoring business. You need to decide the type of tailor you want to be, which are the following :

Religious items.
Bridal wear and accessories.
Costume clothing.
Production sewist.
Hand dyed scarves.
Upholsterer.
Upcycler.
Customization.
Sewing lesson.
AIterations
Drapery and home decor.
Handbag.
Quilting.
Children’s clothing
Toys and dolls
Baby supplies.
Design sewing patterns.
Design embroidery kits.
Costume designer
Corsetry and lingerie
Bet accessories.

Choose one or more among the list to focus on.

2. Raise money for tailoring business.

Money is really needed in this business model. You need it to purchase tailoring equipment, rent a shop and promote your tailoring business to get customers to your business.

To raise capital for your tailoring business, you can use ;

Through saving: saving money is one of the oldest methods to raise capital for a business. You can use it to raise money for your new business.

If you don’t know how to save money, read this Untimate guide to save money effectively in Nigeria.

Getting a business loan : Loan is another method you can get money for tailoring business. To get a loan these are place to get loan in Nigeria which are, branch, fairmoney MFB, Aella, Kuda, e.t.c.

3. Create a Financial Plan.

For a business to strive you need to create a business plan. So how to create a business plan for tailoring business.

Write down how you are going to raise money for the business?
Write down the price you are going to charge customers that want to patronised your business. Will you charge less or high.
The kind of location you like your business to be.
And alot more.

4. Plan Your Marketing.

To get customers to your business, you need to create a strategy to attract customers.

It’s the most important thing to do inorder to make money with your skills. The more the customer the more money you make in tailoring business.

Mouth-to-mouth strategies.

Mouth-to-mouth marketing is one of the oldest methods to promote a business, it involves telling those you know about your business. Inform your friends and family about your business, and also ask them to recommend their own friends to your business.

Step 3: Register Your Business.

Need to register your tailoring business to make it legal. To register your business, follow this procedure.

Register with CAC.

Visit CAC ( Corporate Affairs Commission )
official website to register your business, ensure you have their necessary requirements in place.

Also Read : How To Register Your Business In CAC.

Obtain Permit.

There can be other requirements that you need to have in place to be able to start tailoring business in Nigeria.

To find them out have conservation with those into tailoring business model, ask them what are the thing you need to register so not to have upfront problem.

If you meet good person they will explain everything you need to know to ensure you have no problem.

There are a lot of good people in Nigeria, take your time to find those good tailor and ask them questions.

Step 4: Find a Suitable Location

Choose a Location.

Find a place where you are going to rent a shop to start your tailoring business. To find a good location follow these tips.

Ensure the location people are passing by, like is very busy.
Ensure that the community there is no criminal activity that has been going on there.
Ensure the location the people who are passing by can easily know what you are doing in the shop.

Set Up the Space.

Before renting a shop ensure it can contain all the properties you will buy to start tailoring business in Nigeria. If you are pleased with the shop you should design it look pleasing.

5. Purchase Tailoring Equipment and Materials.

If the shop is set and ready, you need to start buying all the equipment you need for the tailoring shop. Things you need to purchase are :

Different kinds of fabrics.
Buttons
Silk pins.
Zipper.
Tailor chalk.
Pinking shears.
Snips.
Bobbins.
Seam ripper.
Needle threads.
Sewing machine.
Tracing wheel.
Needle threads.
French curve.
Yard stick.
Measure tapes.
Transparent ruler.
Pointer and creases.
Awl or stilettos.
Pins
Iron.
Ironing board.
Presser feet
Lighting
Paper
Measuring gauge.
Marking tool’s.

Step 6: Develop Your Skills and Services.

Enhance Skills.

Keep improving your music skills and those who are working for you, at any time new designs can come out. Most of your customers will meet you to sew trending clothes for them.

Render different services.

To be able to make money in different angles, offer different services to clients. Example of service you can offer are :

Custom tailoring.
Photoshoot art direction
Trend/mood boards.
Repair damaged clothes.
Color direction.
Full collection design.
Catalog layout
Merchandising.
Pattern drafting
Trim/finding/ hangtag/ label design.
Tech sketches.
Tech packs.
Textile repeats/specs
Fitting
Vendor correspondence/follow up.

Step 7: Hire and Train Staff.

Hire Experienced Tailors.

As time goes on you start to get a lot of customers patronizing you, meaning it will be challenging to handle them all. if you want to reduce the stress on your shoulder. You should hire expert tailors.

Keep a sign board in front of your shop that you need an experienced tailor to work for you. Know that you have to pay them, if they are working for you.

Provide Training.

Some girls and boys would like to learn hand work in your hand, if they see you’re a good tailor.

If you’re interested in having workers accept anyone interested to learn under your feet. They are going to pay for the service you want to render to them.

Make sure you have agreement with their parents to ensure that everything goes smoothly with you and the apprentices, but don’t forget to treat them like your children.

Teach them well because if they start their own tailoring, business in Nigeria, at the end of the day you can receive favor from them if they succeed in their tailored business, because you take your time to teach them and treat them like your own.

Step 8: Market Your Business.

These days to beat other people that are doing tailoring business, you need to build a brand to stand unique, people will see you as the best, meaning many customers will patronize you. To create a brand follow this step.

Build a Brand.

First step to build a brand is to create a unique name that is easy to spell and remember so that customers won’t find it challenging.

Design your shop.

Spend money in your shop to make it look beautiful, put modern days ‘ designs to customize it.

You can meet a professional Carpenter to give you an idea of a tailoring shop or check online to find tailoring business shop idea design.

Visit search engines like Google, in the search bar type in “tailoring business shop design ideas” then press search, you get different design.

Choose the one that is suitable to you.

You don’t have to spend all the money in your bank to make a beautiful shop, a little touch of money can make a difference.

Promote Your Services.

There different method you can use to promote your business such as :

Use social media.
Local advertisements.
Word-of-mouth to attract customers to your tailoring business.

Use one of the method or all of them to promote your Tailoring business.

Offer discounts price.

Give customers a discount price and also create some special offers that will attract clients to patronize you.

Step 9: Set Up Easy workflows.

If you want to have a good working experience, you need to organize how you are going to be working in your tailoring shop.

Take a day to sit down and plan how you are going to work in the shop. For example, in the morning I am only going to sew clothes, while my worker will iron the clothes. Think deeply to find the workflow that is best for you.

Step 10: Focus on Customer Satisfaction

Deliver Quality.

To find success in this kind of business model, you need to always deliver quality work to clients.

Why ? Because Imagine you take your cloth material to a tailor that they should sew a skirt and blouse for you at the end of the day. When the tailor delivers it to you, you are finding it difficult to put on the clothes.

You’ll feel bad about it and I believe you will never patronize them again. But if the work is good you will tell all your friends and families, and recommend them to anyone in need of a tailor.

So before you deliver client work, make sure that you’re given them the best work ever.

Deliver client work on time.

If clients give you cloth to sew for them and you are taking the whole years to deliver their work for them, it will ruin your tailoring business.

Whatever you are giving work you should ensure that you deliver their work on time. These customers need it for something, not for you to hold it down for them in your shop.

If you don’t have a chance due to you having other work to do, it is better to avoid collecting the work in the first place.

If you still feel like getting the job, tell them when you are able to deliver their work for them. If they feel comfortable with your own, they will agree but if they don’t, don’t be greedy, kindly return the cloth for them. Don’t ruin your reputation because you want to make money.

Seek Feedback.

To know if you are good in your tailoring business, you should ask your customer what they think about the clothes you sew for them.

If they say positive words that’s means you are doing a great job, but don’t settle for that try to keep on a proving your skills to ensure that you win a lot of customers hearts.

If some customers complain that the clothes are not that good, don’t complain or get angry, take note of that and try to improve the area that they are complaining about.

For example, if customers say that you’re not delivering their clothes on time, try to ensure that you are always sewing and delivering their clothes according to the agreed date. Doing this you will keep happy customers.

So this is how to start tailoring business in Nigeria, if you have any question use the comment section below.