DS Forums

 
 

Digital Spy's Virtual Apprentice - Team Mercury Thread


Reply
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 03-04-2013, 14:31
puppylove7
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 65,728
Hey Eliza, I've just been looking at the costs, and apparently clothing usually sells for about ten times what it cost to make. It is made very cheaply because most clothing companies use close to slave labour, and pay very little wages to the workers, who are often in poor countries like India and other Asian countries.

We need to decide how big our mark-ups are going to be. Are we going to do ten times the mark-up like most clothing companies do, or should we make it a bit less - say, five or six times the cost of production? If we charge less we as a company will make less money and are less likely to survive, but if we charge more the clothing will be out of many people's price range. Either way, our products will be considerably more expensive than existing clothing companies, but we can't avoid that without completely changing our ethical policies, and that would mean going back to square one, which we're not doing.
I think if they believe in our brand they will pay whatever cost for good quality clothes.
puppylove7 is offline   Reply With Quote
Please sign in or register to remove this advertisement.
Old 03-04-2013, 15:10
george.millman
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 7,587
Hi, just got back! Done the clothes! Hope they're ok! The green circle is where the logo will be. http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/9697/24339681.jpg
Am I doing the store layout on Paint as well? Why don't we do it together?
I like them, but can we have the logo up a bit? Perhaps near the shoulder?

I can direct you on the store layout, but I don't have the program, so you'll have to be the one physically creating the images. I'll give you some instruction on how I want it though.

My initial thoughts are that because our range currently includes predominantly garments that go on the top half of people, we won't need a store that large for different sections - definitely all on one floor. I was thinking that we could have a section for T-shirts on the far left, hoodies in the centre and polo shirts on the far right. The door can be in the middle, so people see the hoodies straight away when they come in. The counters can be at the sides.

I think if they believe in our brand they will pay whatever cost for good quality clothes.
I'm going to make a compromise and say a mark-up of seven times the cost of production. That's close to the ten mark, but there is a limit on cost to the consumer.
george.millman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-04-2013, 15:12
Stuart25
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 11,806
Please remember you should not be snooping in on the other teams thread, or copying their ideas.
Stuart25 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-04-2013, 15:13
puppylove7
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 65,728
I like them, but can we have the logo up a bit? Perhaps near the shoulder?

I can direct you on the store layout, but I don't have the program, so you'll have to be the one physically creating the images. I'll give you some instruction on how I want it though.

My initial thoughts are that because our range currently includes predominantly garments that go on the top half of people, we won't need a store that large for different sections - definitely all on one floor. I was thinking that we could have a section for T-shirts on the far left, hoodies in the centre and polo shirts on the far right. The door can be in the middle, so people see the hoodies straight away when they come in. The counters can be at the sides.



I'm going to make a compromise and say a mark-up of seven times the cost of production. That's close to the ten mark, but there is a limit on cost to the consumer.
Tbh Geoorge, the clothes took me quite a while to design. Could we just leave them and tell Lord Stuart the logos are going to be higher? How do I do the layout for the shop? On Paint? And I don't mean to be rude, but what are you doing?
puppylove7 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-04-2013, 15:13
puppylove7
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 65,728
Please remember you should not be snooping in on the other teams thread, or copying their ideas.
I wasn't planning on doing that.
puppylove7 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-04-2013, 15:22
george.millman
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 7,587
Please remember you should not be snooping in on the other teams thread, or copying their ideas.
I wasn't intending to copy them, I just thought showing Eliza what they've done on the shop design to give her an idea of the sort of format of it. It was the best one I could find, just consider it part of our research.

Tbh Geoorge, the clothes took me quite a while to design. Could we just leave them and tell Lord Stuart the logos are going to be higher? How do I do the layout for the shop? On Paint? And I don't mean to be rude, but what are you doing?
Yeah, I suppose we could do that, if it saves you time.

Yeah, you do it on Paint. I am doing some research into pricing (like the mark-ups clothing companies usually add, as I was saying) and also writing the pitch. I understand how it may feel like I'm lumping everything onto you, and I'm trying hard not to do that. The problem is that I don't have the program that we're supposed to use to design all this stuff and you're the only other person here. I am trying to spread the workload, and I really do appreciate what you're doing. I am aware that you're not benefitting from this and that you are here helping me, and I'm not trying to make you do everything - but when there is something that needs a specific program and one person doesn't have that program, it obviously makes sense for the other person to do it.
george.millman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-04-2013, 15:31
puppylove7
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 65,728
Here's the layout. http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/6901/63783895.jpg
puppylove7 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-04-2013, 15:37
puppylove7
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 65,728
What do you think?
puppylove7 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-04-2013, 15:43
george.millman
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 7,587
Yay! I like it... it's a bit crude, but things always are on Paint... I can certainly see that it could work well in a real shop, hopefully Lord Stuart will be able to as well.

I'm just working out the prices at the moment, I'll explain it all shortly. (It's difficult as I'm rubbish at figures, but I think I'm managing all right.)
george.millman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-04-2013, 15:45
puppylove7
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 65,728
I'm sorry but why do you say you like it but then say it's crude?
puppylove7 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-04-2013, 15:52
george.millman
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 7,587
I'm sorry but why do you say you like it but then say it's crude?
Designing things on Paint is always crude, it goes with the program. I think it's pretty impossible to create something on Paint and make it look totally professional. I've never known anyone that could do it. It's not a reflection on you, I think you've done a splendid job, and I can really see our shop being set up like that.


Okay, here are the prices I've worked out. Each worker is paid £2.50 for every type of shirt, and £5 for every hoodie. Assuming in an eight-hour working day, each worker creates one garment per hour, and two of each of our four products, they will earn £25 per day. This equals £125 per week (assuming they are not working weekends) and £6,500 per year.

If the business receives the equivalent amount of money as the workers, that will make the cost of making a hoodie £10 and the cost of making any type of shirt £5. This will make the cost of a hoodie roughly £70, and the cost of any shirt or polo shirt roughly £35. However, this is a rough figure, as there are other costs involved such as the price of the fabric and shipping, so this will mark the price up a bit.
george.millman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-04-2013, 15:58
puppylove7
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 65,728
Designing things on Paint is always crude, it goes with the program. I think it's pretty impossible to create something on Paint and make it look totally professional. I've never known anyone that could do it. It's not a reflection on you, I think you've done a splendid job, and I can really see our shop being set up like that.


Okay, here are the prices I've worked out. Each worker is paid £2.50 for every type of shirt, and £5 for every hoodie. Assuming in an eight-hour working day, each worker creates one garment per hour, and two of each of our four products, they will earn £25 per day. This equals £125 per week (assuming they are not working weekends) and £6,500 per year.

If the business receives the equivalent amount of money as the workers, that will make the cost of making a hoodie £10 and the cost of making any type of shirt £5. This will make the cost of a hoodie roughly £70, and the cost of any shirt or polo shirt roughly £35. However, this is a rough figure, as there are other costs involved such as the price of the fabric and shipping, so this will mark the price up a bit.
I think £70 and £35 is a bit high.
puppylove7 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-04-2013, 16:04
george.millman
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 7,587
I think £70 and £35 is a bit high.
To be honest, I don't think we have a choice. That's the absolute minimum we can go to, and it doesn't even take into account factors such as shipping and cost of fabric. Any lower and we'd have nothing to pay our workers, and we'd have to resort to cheap labour like the other clothing companies. If we want to be ethical, we'll have to resort to really high prices.

We should find a way of encouraging people to use our brand though. How about getting some volunteers to run free workshops to show what life is like for clothing designers in poor countries?
george.millman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-04-2013, 16:05
puppylove7
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 65,728
To be honest, I don't think we have a choice. That's the absolute minimum we can go to, and it doesn't even take into account factors such as shipping and cost of fabric. Any lower and we'd have nothing to pay our workers, and we'd have to resort to cheap labour like the other clothing companies. If we want to be ethical, we'll have to resort to really high prices.

We should find a way of encouraging people to use our brand though. How about getting some volunteers to run free workshops to show what life is like for clothing designers in poor countries?
I suppose.
puppylove7 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-04-2013, 16:07
Stuart25
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 11,806
Boardroom will take place at 9pm tonight.
Stuart25 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-04-2013, 16:12
george.millman
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 7,587
Boardroom will take place at 9pm tonight.
Thanks. That's quite useful actually, it gives me more time to write the pitch.
george.millman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-04-2013, 16:25
puppylove7
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 65,728
Good luck with the pitch.
puppylove7 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-04-2013, 16:26
winter99
Forum Member
 
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 14,419
Deleted
winter99 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-04-2013, 20:10
george.millman
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 7,587
Hey Eliza, I've just emailed you what I've done on our pitch. Let me know if you have any suggestions of how to improve.
george.millman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-04-2013, 20:26
puppylove7
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 65,728
It's good.
puppylove7 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-04-2013, 20:37
george.millman
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 7,587
Thanks. So you think I should keep it as it is?

It's been great working with you, Eliza. You're a good team mate, and it's a shame you can't be in my position. You'll do well though, I hope that we can stay in touch with each other and with Nick after this is over, regardless of anything that happens tonight.
george.millman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-04-2013, 20:41
puppylove7
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 65,728
Yes keep it how it is. You're welcome.
puppylove7 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-04-2013, 20:55
Stuart25
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 11,806
Please have your pitches ready to copy and paste into the boardroom thread when I ask them to be produced.
Stuart25 is offline   Reply With Quote
 
Reply




 
Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 06:19.