Venture Concept 2

Putting It All Together Opportunity

Fashion is an expression of art. Historically but unfortunately, the articles of clothing produced usually benefited the “normal” body types and didn’t allow plus size women a chance to express themselves through fashion like other women were given the chance to. Fortunately, plus size women are not sitting in the shadows and allowing this to happen, they are shifting the culture. This shift in culture is bolder and more accepting. Social determinants of this shift can be contributed to women accepting their bodies and embracing the culture of self-love. The decline in insecurities and increase in disposable income, plus size women need clothing that caters to them now more than ever. Specifically, we are targeting women in need of formal evening wear. Many plus size women of ages 25-54 are in need of gowns but department stores don’t necessarily provide them with options that flatters them and please them as well.  According to CNCBC, 65% of American women are plus size and plus size sales totaled in $17.5 billion in 2015, but approximated 17-18% of total apparel sales: High Demand; Low Sales. There obviously is a market and a demand however, plus-size women feel their needs aren’t being met.

Innovation

To differentiate ourselves from other competitors and fix this unmet need, the INDUSTRY has come up with innovative technology called the Customizer. In addition to our brick and mortar stores, we will have an online presence that focuses on matching our customers with the right gowns that accentuate their body types. How we will achieve this is by working with engineers to help us build an interface and algorithm that allows to see our customer’s body type, and match them with our “pre-made” body types. These body types are different than the standard body measurement scales. We tailor ours to resemble women who we are serving. We plan on selling our gowns from the ranges of 175-300. The average gown however will cost $250. We want to make it affordable to everyone, but we are specifically targeting working women with increased disposable income.

Venture Concept

Our innovation will solve and address the need for evening wear for plus size women. Because there is a lack of beauty and lack of understanding of what these women, our solution will help bring light to that. One of the key issues plus size women have with designers and retailers today are that they are not offering fashion forward wear to them. They want to be heard and catered to just as all other women are as well. Our competitors consist of Lane Bryant, Eloqui, JCPenny, and other specialty stores. It will not be necessarily hard for our customers to switch to us being that we offer them what they are looking for. The only thing that will be hard is bringing attention and awareness to the INDUSTRY. Ways we can reach our intended audience is through online communities, social media, and Word of Mouth advertising. Because the Customizer is an interface it doesn’t really have a physical packaging but it needs to be user-friendly and pleasing to the eye. I believe that $250 is a reasonable price for higher quality evening wear especially for plus size women since the gowns require more material. I don’t believe the location will necessarily define our business concept being that we want to have a brick and mortar and online presence. What matters is that we place our brick and mortar stores where a higher number of plus size women reside.  

Minor Element

First, I believe my important resource will be my finance degree from UF and the personal relationships I have with the plethora of plus size women in my life.

Feedback:

From all the feedback I received from fellow group members and interviewees there are several aspects of my business that I would like to add to. For example, many clothing stores lose sight of what their customers are looking for, holding sessions twice a year with our customers will help us to stay on top of meeting their needs and heeding to their voices. I think another important aspect I should include in my venture concept is offer quality plus size undergarments. After a successful year of the INDUSTRY running, I will hopefully introduce undergarments. I received positive feedback from my group members. They agree that targeting plus size men next, adding undergarments are great options.

I didn’t change my venture concept being that I did receive positive feedback, I just knew what I wanted to add to my venture after a year.