p22,23 Market Focus:Layout 1 16/07/2009 09:36 Page 22
FOCUS ON NEW MARKETS
Growing your own
Growing your business in a recession is not easy, but it’s not impossible either. Paul Clapham
has some advice for those wanting to branch out in a new direction.
L
et’s start with one of those glib statements. marketing teams’ ideas. They should have success sportswear manufacturer that the key to success in
‘You have to think creatively’. It’s true at all stories to share and it’s mutually beneficial to that market is to stop being a shopkeeper. That’s
times but especially in a recession. The increase sales. If your suppliers can’t help, have good advice for any printwear business owners
problem is that thinking both laterally and outside you got the right ones? who have become tied to their premises. Get out
the box is a skill that few of us have. Incidentally, The sports retail business is close to printwear. I there and develop contacts with potential buyers.
that’s not a bad thing – if everybody was busy was told last month by the MD of a major Where do you look for new contacts? For those
being creative the world would cease to function. who want to have a local focus scour your local
Next comes an important reminder. newspapers. I’ve written recently about clubs
People like printwear – it’s distinctive and and societies and the potential business from
comfortable. More than that the quality is them. Your local paper will feature
good – compared to high street offerings what a number of them are doing or
it’s usually significantly better. planning. The sports pages will be full
The choice of colours is far of lists of league tables. Contact the
more extensive as is the range of leagues themselves for details of clubs
sizes. Ask anyone who is XXL or and contacts. Some of those leagues will
above how easy it is to find a polo be pretty informal – 5 a side leagues as a
shirt in a shop. Hence the underlying case. They can often be reached via the
product proposition is good before you add sports centre where the league operates.
creativity. Golf clubs offer great potential. Most of them
As I wrote here recently a visit to a business park run regular tournaments across the age ranges
will demonstrate that a majority of businesses and they are always concerned that players
don’t buy printwear and that the key reason for maintain appropriate standards of dress. This is a
this is that they don’t competitive
know the reasons why they should. Putting that niche but the
right is down to old fashioned selling but add collection of polo shirts my golfing brother-in-
in the creative buzz and the result improves law has built by this means would get any
significantly. printwear business excited.
But (see above) you may not have the The key point with sports clubs is to
creative ideas. In which case, copy others – remember that for every player there are
without infringing copyright or blatant dozens, perhaps hundreds of spectators,
plagiarism you can re-use ideas seen family, staff and sponsors’ employees. The
elsewhere. Plug into your suppliers’ latter in particular can be an excellent
| 22 | August 2009
www.printwearandpromotion.co.uk
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