Asking Others

Asking for opinions is good…but keep in mind why you started this biz.

What about this?…start an ideas journal. Record thoughts about what you want the biz to look like, colours you choose, design your logo in this notebook, what you want from your biz …

Take this journal everywhere ‘cause who knows when you’ll be inspired! Show it to your friends and family. Know that everyone will have their own opinion and that’s OK. Know that you are developing the backbone of your biz and are the only one who really has the vision for it. This biz may take some time to evolve and why the journal will come in handy. Stay true to your original thoughts about your biz.

Asking for opinions helps to understand how others vision your biz. Is it the same as you vision it? They may also help fill in details you have not yet thought about. Let all ideas percolate over time and settle into place. Careful…don’t let others opinions divert you from your original path. Consider, then let them go if they just don’t fit your vision.

Live Chic has grown and developed over our first 5 years by accepting great suggestions from customers and our own students and allowing others to fill in some of the missed details but always staying true to our LC brand online and in store.

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Building the Live Chic brand…

If you have been reading past posts in this blog you will have noticed all of the biz decisions are made based on ideas around how the owner wants the brand to look and be experienced by the customer.

Choices about products, colours (logo, website, products, hang tags, packaging, etc.), fonts in the logo, blog, website, as well as voice and tone of any written work right down to how the phone is answered are all part of developing a biz.

Live Chic at Fanshawe College is unique in that there are several students and faculty involved in making decisions about this biz and brand. Staying with a consistent message is key in presenting all aspects of Live Chic…and it’s not about being boring either. It’s all about telling a consistent story about the biz.

Deviation from the story causes confusion to the customer so purposely making careful choices are important to the brand’s success.

Students of the Fashion Merchandising program are responsible for every aspect of running Live Chic online and in-store. Learning to deliver consistency in all areas of running a biz is extremely important. They are all involved in buying, marketing, and merchandising in store and online at livechic.ca

Takeaway here…always use the same logo proportion, colour, font, etc., etc., etc. on everything…hang tags, biz cards.

But, consistency extends beyond the logo. Think of the products offered to customers. What should they grown to expect? Trendy, colourful products or classic styling, beachwear, or bridal. Offer up similarly themed products and your customer will come to remember you.

At Live Chic, we offer a variety of products students can use in their everyday life while studying at Fanshawe College. Products such as casual clothing, jewellery, purses, nail polish, scarves, journal books, tea and accessories as well as dorm decoratives.

…a little time for me

 

…a little time for me by livechic featuring hand bags

Collared shirt
22 CAD – romwe.com

MANGO zipper shorts
26 CAD – mango.com

Betsey Johnson hand bag
115 CAD – betseyjohnson.com

Live Chic…shipping

When setting up an online store there are so many things to do…it’s more than setting up the website. That’s the easy part! So far in our blog posts have named and chosen the types of products to sell.

spring/summer 2016

Next, how to ship products to our customers?

In our eCommerce class, we discussed various shipping methods and services within Canada. Calgary, Thunder Bay and Toronto were chosen as examples to get pricing estimates.

The findings were disappointing. We discovered the costs were varied widely, ranging from $9.40 to $50.83 for the same parcel at various levels of service. Crazy right! In the end, we discovered our best rate was found within Fanshawe College’s shipping department at $5.00. Why? As it turns out, Fanshawe College ships and receives many parcels everyday. It was a good teaching moment of ‘economy of scale’. Shipping can make or break an opportunity to sell online.

Customers are looking for fast and free delivery, how this happens is all part of the merchandising and marketing of products and services online.

Advice…check out your options early because it will affect your pricing strategy.

…Choosing what to sell online

Live Chic physical store has been in operation for 5 yrs and livechic.ca has just opened. Livechic.ca was opened to compliment our current retail entity. The big retail players call it an omni-channel biz. This where a physical and online store have the same identity, operations, and marketing plan.

So…what to sell? We knew there may some limitations in our product offering due to cost of shipping large and heavy items.

Students decided small, lightweight items would be ideal to reduce the shipping costs, one size accessories and clothing would help reduce the number of SKU’s required for a small start-up biz, and non-breakables.

On a class trip to Mode Accessories trade show in Toronto; we purchased accessories, scarves, O/S dresses, and purses. Here are a few examples of the products we sell…livechic.ca

spring/summer 2016

silver arrow ring

notebooks

Live Chic…living chic

For those who have been involved with or come to know about Live Chic, may wonder about the name and just how it came to be.

Business names are often curious put together words and not everyone knows the true meaning of their relationship with the business owner, customer, and the products and services offered. A great business name provides some insight into the product or service that is being sold under its’ banner. A great business name…a brand name, piques curiosity in the viewer and holds their interest for a few moments.

Here’s my story behind the naming of our store… ‘Live Chic’ (pronounced ‘Live’…as in ‘living’ and ‘Chic’…as in ‘très chic’!) started out as ‘Lazy Chic’. Lazy Chic…these 2 little words seem to be opposites…’Lazy’ meaning lethargic and ‘Chic’ meaning beautiful…put together to mean effortless beauty. It was my idea…and seemed to fly when I first proposed the idea to our program team.

Our students for the most part are female. They are young and full of life with individual beauty. Their beauty is seen their personal confidence and individual attitude. They study and work in fashion. Beautiful fashionable things surround them. As my students, they could very well roll out of bed, pin-up their hair and slip into class within moments of waking. They are effortlessly chic! Hence Lazy Chic!

But…when choosing a business/brand name you should let it simmer and resonate for a while…try it out on a few people…especially your potential customers. So I did and the response was not good…back to the drawing board.

My next naming attempt used the word ‘live’ instead of ‘lazy’. ‘Live Chic’ (pronunciation above), stuck with everyone on the program team, students, administration (who registered it for us) and customers.

We still have some name mispronouncing…some pronounce our name ‘Live’ as in ‘live bait’ and ‘Chic’ as in ‘Chic-let gum’! We are working on that!

Mannequins in Live Chic

There is a long list of things to do when starting a business…naming is only one step on the list. The Fashion Merchandising program is thrilled to have our Live Chic store as an integral learning experience to our in-class courses. Now we have introduced a new piece of our business…selling online…livechic.ca now complements our customers in-store experience. Go visit and tell us what you think!

get classic…spring 2016

Students of the Fashion Merchandising program are newly back from their trip to Paris, France…what did they see? Classic fashion styles and colours are in! Here is a fashion ensemble that is easy to wear. Black ankle skimming skirt and crop top, grey t-shirt with a special shoulder cut out detail, wide brim hat, vegan purse and a colour pop found in the scarf and nail polish.

Altogether…classic styling, easy to wear and care for spring!

fresh look for spring 2016

About our tees…

One thing about Live Chic and livechic.ca…we love to support local. We found the Skinny Sweats brand at one of the buying shows. This week we are featuring her tees with a special price…see what it’s all about.

Skinny Sweats is a local line of loungewear founded by Adrienne Butikofer in May 2012. Over the years, her Toronto based sweats biz has grown to include pants, t-shirts and sweatshirts with the help of manufacturer Chook Bodywear in Markham and a local sewing contractor in Scarborough, Ontario.

Butikofer takes pride in the work she does with these manufacturers, overseeing every step of the process and makes all of her own patterns and samples. For made to order pieces sold on her online store, Butikofer hand sews them for her customers. Canadian made!

Since graduating from the Fashion Design Program at Fanshawe College in 2003, Adrienne has gained valuable experience working with manufacturers and ensuring her vision and joy translates into her products.

Have a look for yourself! skinnysweats.com

Teegan

Fashionable everyday routine…

Live Chic, has become a favourite fashion store at Fanshawe College. It is a wonderful source for many reasonably priced fashionable items. You can find all sorts of items for your everyday fashion routine. Here are just a few fashionable ideas…

Lip Shit is seriously the best lip moisturizer! It makes your lips so soft and it’s very good for cold dry days and those chapped lips. The coconut and basil scent is lovely! It moisturizes and protects with beeswax and vitamin E.

Nail polish is a powerful styling opportunity because it can make an outfit extraordinary. Morgan Taylor has come out with new, trendy, and exclusive Nail Lacquer infused with rare and precious elements.

moisturize

nail care

hair styling

leggings to keep you warm

A throwback to every girl’s favourite 80’s accessory! Whatever your style, get your hair looking gorgeous with our comfortable Scrunchies. These are the best. Perfect for sleeping in, putting up wet hair, and gentle on the hair.

Super soft long Leggings keep you in style from parties to the street. Instantly add a stylish touch to any outfit while keeping your legs so nice and warm…it’s been so cold this spring here in London!

Live Chic can be found beside the Info booth at Fanshawe College…or visit us online at our brand new store online livechic.ca!

Fetticha