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Adopting Entrepreneurship in the Workplace
Words Candice Nicholas
I think it’s a big misconception that the term entrepreneurship is inherent to starting your own business when one can maintain an entrepreneurial spirit within the corporate workplace. Entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial spirit is essential within fashion in growing the business.
Throughout my career, as a Buying & Merchandising Manager, continuously perpetuating innovation within your brand portfolio or business strategies is a form of entrepreneurship. Taking risks on new products for your target market/clients, taking on board new brands and small businesses, discovering talent the market hasn’t seen, is all entrepreneurship. The luxury fashion industry is incredibly fast paced and demanding, so adopting an entrepreneurial spirit comes naturally, as you work more than the usual 9 to 5 and the line where the job ends and starts is blurry. Being inspired and passionate about the industry encompasses all aspects of your life - maintaining awareness of what’s happening in the global market from getting excited about that enormous raffia bag or infusion oil at a flea market or grocery store.
My experiences of entrepreneurship within the fashion corporate world involves finding new ways to solve challenges, critically questioning the old methods to actively seek change and quite frankly being annoying and causing a bit of disruption. I’ve worked in corporate luxury environments and companies with a more start-up mentality, but it’s the same - entrepreneurship is necessary to maintain your competitive advantage or you face losing your market share.
Innovation doesn’t have to be top down. As a buyer, you have to identify and understand the needs of the consumer and adopt internal entrepreneurial activities within a department store environment that involves being part of creative campaigns and challenging financial budgets, investing in pop-ups, securing exclusives and offering personalized experiences with stores. Regularly implementing new efficiency and exit strategies for products such as managing down aged stock in a creative way became part and parcel with the job. In fashion, there are so many shifts in consumer behavior i.e. the younger demographics which no longer just seek products, they’re seeking those Instagrammable snapshots, they consider sustainability and supply chains in purchasing decisions. Currently, consumers are purchasing high-end (special) and accessible price point luxury items in more resilient categories such as leather goods, with some focus on timeless luxury but a stronger focus on a brand’s DNA. Therefore, they want a piece of a brand’s aesthetic. So, I consider these continuous shifts in my business decisions. Adopting an entrepreneurial spirit is also a daily mindset when assessing your current collection and forecasting for the future buys. I stay informed about competitors and retailers inventory plans and business changes. You learn fast to move quickly, otherwise the new opportunities you want to implement will lose their interest.
Even the buying process has changed from when I first started out - rarely are you receiving an email from umpteen brands wanting a meeting now, they tend to have already been established on Instagram with a cult following. Social media, despite its flaws, has accelerated innovation. You discover brands/products in a smaller globalized world, have access to competitor launches and consumer feedback immediately, completely changing the dynamic.
In the past, having worked in a wholesale retailer environment, being entrepreneurial minded involved seeing growth potential in underrated categories such as fine jewelry. One of the best parts of the job was sourcing small brands from the non-usual fashion areas i.e. Columbia, Middle East, Asia. The contemporary fashion market is huge. Sales are up year on year, as buyers took risks years ago obtaining brands from new markets knowing that millennials are seeking more accessible price point and trend focused special pieces - these brands are now eating away at the big luxury conglomerates.
Within a mono-brand environment, you have to have a more considered approach as your market is more localized, however risk taking and creativity is essential. Yes, you balance data and numerical analysis but this is paired with gut instinct. Taking initiative and risking ‘failure’ are all signs of an entrepreneurial spirit and whilst that can be difficult within bureaucracy, it’s achievable. Heritage is no longer enough, it’s about relevancy and that’s the spirit I adopt - launching new ranges, collaborations with unexpected partners, creative storytelling and buying product that I have no similar historic data on and buying a rare item– it’s about creating a new direction, for newer engagement and thinking about the bigger picture.
2020 and the next few years will continue to be difficult, so adopting more internal entrepreneurial activities will be even more necessary. Whilst it’s so sad to see department stores that are disappearing especially in the US, they unfortunately stuck to the same methods for decades and didn’t change alongside a globalized world and the growth of e-commerce. Tourist trade will continue to decrease and the largest spending groups i.e. Chinese will spend at home following tax cuts and government restrictions on daigou - so myself and all stakeholders in fashion will need to adapt quickly. Luxury brands will need to adopt new ways to not only retain customers but extend loyalty to new ones whilst staying true to their core values.
