To BE or no to BE

[slueth]

Well firstly my name is Richard and I am a retired Australian now living in the Philippines.To keep my self active I bought into the apparel business by purchasing some 30,000 shirts that for copyright purposes had the name labels removed.Having had no experience in this business I thought that it would be no big deal as people rarely look at labels anyway.Much to my surprise they actually do and despite the obvious quality of the shirts(they were made for top brand names) I am now confused as to what direction to go now,The apparel business is so competitive and I desperately want my investment outlay back.I hope through discussions through the small business forum I can receive some sound business advice and positive feedback.

[vangogh]

Welcome to the forum Richard. Sorry to hear about the trouble with the shirts. Do ask questions and hopefully we can help with some ideas.

Thanks for joining the community.

[Spider]

Welcome aboard, Richard. Seems we forgot a major step in entrepreneurship - being knowledgeable about the industry into which one will venture. Be comforted by the fact that yours is not a particularly uncommon situation. I expect that even a brief conversation with someone experienced in the apparel business would have told you about the need for labels.

But that moment has passed - spilt milk, and all that! What to do now? I'd recommend getting in touch with the person you should have spoken to before. Talk to people in-the-know and ask specific questions - that is where you will find the information you need. This is the time to put your networking skills to the test. Talk to as many people as you can reach who work in this industry and, at the end of every conversation, ask, "Who do you know that can help me?" And follow up on those leads.

That may sound like a long shot, but remember the Six Degrees of Separation - You are only six people removed from every other person in the world. (Pick even the remotest person in the world and they know someone who knows someone who knows someone ... six times ... who knows you.)

Your saviour is no more than six contacts away.

[greenoak]

welcome and i would listen to spider ...
here we have liquidation companies ....the ones who sell to the dollar store or big lots or tj maxx..... they buy out big loads of things at deep discounts.....
with that many shirts trying to sell one by one at retail sounds pretty hard...
i would worry if there was no label on a shirt..

[slueth]

Thanks Spider for that. I guess you are right the more you ask the more you will find out as there must be someone out there that can help me.