If I was to give advice to someone considering starting a business it would be to do something different, execute it well and do it with personality.
Doing Something Different and Executing Well
Self-funded startup Blank Label produces and sells co-created men’s dress shirts online. Using a slick design-it-yourself application (pictured above), users can select fabrics, detailing, customizations, size and cut with prices starting from a very reasonable $45. By turning passive customers into engaged co-creators Blank Label stands a good chance of developing a committed following and producing products that people love to talk about.
As one of the founders, Danny Wong, explains:
We originally were a suit and dress shirt company, similar to your custom tailor, but scaling that was problematic, and we wanted to try on a concept that was a bit sexier than just fitted clothing. We wanted to design our own clothing, and give consumers that same power too.
With Blank Label, we’re hoping to revolutionize the retail industry to have more consumers adopt co-creation and turn away from mass-production.
And Some Personality
Of course, bespoke tailoring has been around forever. The difference here is the simplicity of the online process and the positioning – Blank Label has been designed to appeal very definitely to the ‘young guys’ which get frequent reference on the site.
You can see that in everything from the copy and graphics, to the showcase designs and the provocatively posed cartoon woman who appears as the application loads. Moreover it seems to be a pretty authentic voice too:
The reason we’re doing this is for the experience of being an entrepreneur, and building a business that is world-changing …
Originally, I thought that owning your own company, especially a fashion company would get me a lot of attention (yes, from the women), as well as make me some crazy-awesome hot-shot. Boy was I wrong! Being a partner in a startup really doesn’t mean anything to other people. But to me, it means the world. I suppose it’s all relative. But it’s all good this way.
In other words, Danny and his partners seem to be building the kind of business they want to own – and that they would buy from. That enthusiasm for what they’re doing, and the process of doing it, come across well.
Big idea? Check. Well-executed? Check. With personality? Check.
Site: www.blank-label.com
(Thanks to Danny for taking the time out to answer our questions.)
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