Many people assume that all that’s needed to become a fashion stylist is the knowledge of fashion and its trends. But that’s just a small part of running a fashion styling business. While this career looks fascinating at the outset, a fashion stylist requires single-handedly managing a lot of responsibilities.
In this article, we will talk about the challenges that fashion stylists experience and ways to overcome them skillfully. Read on.Â
Meeting Clients’ ExpectationsÂ
Fashion styling isn’t just about styling clients as per the ongoing fashion trends. It requires a great deal of knowledge about everything from body types to complexions, wherein a fashion stylist must decide what would best suit a client’s overall personality. And this can be a problem for self-taught fashion stylists who do not excel at image management.
Therefore, most fashion stylists may require acquiring the additional image consulting skills that can help them ensure that even the tiniest of styling and grooming elements are on point. Moreover, the knowledge of image is extremely important to exude that confidence that would convince your clients that you are an expert at your craft and a lot more than just fashion trends.
Working Within a BudgetÂ
Sometimes, committing to a styling job with the specified budget can land you in a complex situation. After all, it’s the responsibility of the stylist to make sure that their clients project the best versions of themselves irrespective of the kind of budget. On top of it, the budget may also include charges for everything from shoes and other accessories to the stylist’s time and advice.
Therefore, fashion stylists must possess a strong sense of the market that helps them with accurate budgeting. They must also have the quality of flexibly shifting plans according to the budget.
Lack of Business AcumenÂ
As their own bosses, fashion stylists require taking care of everything, including finance, market change, competition analysis, business threats, brand building, etc. And one of the biggest challenges for fashion stylists is the lack of business acumen.
At ICBI, we recognised this challenge and decided to provide business enablement support with our image consulting courses to make fashion stylists and image consultants self-sufficient when it comes to entrepreneurial intelligence. Moreover, from firm registration to marketing, we offer handholding support even after the completion of the course so that our alumni can reach the new heights of their careers.
Competitive PricesÂ
Just like in any other business, challenges for fashion stylists also include competitive prices. There are always people in the industry who attract customers with their low prices. So, you may be left with no choice but to lower the price of your services. However, what you must do is analyse your competition and position yourself in a better way and offer exemplary services. Those who want nothing but the best will not think twice about paying you more.
Finding and Retaining CustomersÂ
The key to finding customers is great marketing. Yet, many fashion stylists get so busy with upskilling themselves that they treat marketing as an afterthought. Fashion stylists may require constantly marketing themselves, establishing a profitable network, and investing in marketing to be able to find clients. And all it takes to retain clients is delivering quality work. Once you start getting customers, make sure to go above and beyond to style them in the best way possible, so they keep coming back and even become your brand advocates.
Taking Your Fashion Styling Business Online
Because of the limited in-person interactions during the pandemic, many fashion stylists have struggled to keep their businesses afloat. Therefore, it is time to take your skills and services online. With people doing everything from shopping to taking classes through web meetings, offering fashion styling services online is a brilliant way to catch up with the latest changes and make it to the top.
Here are some super useful tips that would help you make your fashion styling business an online success.
- Almost everyone today is active on social media. So, make sure to stay consistent when posting to be able to expand your follower base. Post fashion styling tips, transformation videos, and glimpses of your work to get people interested in your online fashion consulting
- Create fashion-related content and post it on YouTube. Make sure everything is connected to your website that showcases the work you do.
- Hire a professional to make your website search engine optimised so that potential clients can find you when looking for fashion styling experts online.
- Create a strong portfolio and display your work on all the online platforms that you use to grow your brand. Also, make sure to make necessary changes to your website to position yourself as a virtual stylist.
- Stay in line with the latest trends, but do not be completely led by them. Create your own unique style and focus only on making your clients look and feel their best.
Whether you’re offering fashion styling services online or in-person, the only way to be successful is by putting in the effort consistently. So, deliver your most exceptional work with every client and let them spread positive word-of-mouth. Your satisfied customers will not only become permanent clients, but they will also attract many new ones.
