Goal: Increase revenue & expand the business in 6 months

The brand had regular customers and occasional new ones popping up here and there, but the business was stagnant with little to no noticeable growth. The cash flow wasn’t exactly flowing. Despite having a ton of cool business ideas, the lack of funds for expansion meant the brand needed a simple, clear plan to turn things around within months.

I took 4 steps to achieve this:

Step 1: Understand the business and its goals

I had a chat with the CEO to learn more about the business, her goals, what makes the brand special, what success means for the business, and details about competitors.

From this conversation, I learned that Dee Ateiler’s short-term goals were to buy more sewing equipments so the clothes making process will be faster, and also attract a new set of high-end customers with larger clothing budgets.

Looking ahead, they’re dreaming big — they want to grow the business and eventually set up a physical shop or store.

I also learned that the brand’s competitors were using social media and killing it on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, while Dee Ateiler’s still struggling to maintain an online presence.

Step 2: Identify Customers Needs

To come up with effective strategies, we needed to figure out what our customers — both current and potential — really want. This was just as important as my chat with Daisy, the brand owner. However, it presented a challenge as I had to make sure we were talking to the right crowd — young single and married ladies, between 18–35, either in higher education or with a stable income. So, I used a screener survey to find suitable people to have further chats with.

These chats showed that while some customers primarily look for custom-made clothes to keep up with trends and wear on day-to-day basics, others are just looking to slay at festive periods and special events.

Also, when it comes to finding new tailors, most customers rely heavily on word-of-mouth recommendations from friends. For patronising tailors they find online, they prioritise reviews. Goes to show that building trust both online and offline is a big deal for the brand.

Furthermore, the participants had some really bad stories to share. We’re taking about miscommunication with tailors, clothes that look noting like what they ordered (“what I ordered vs. what I got”), delayed deliveries, poor-quality fabrics, and even shady tailors running off with their fabrics or scamming them completely!

Step 3: Develop Effective Strategies

Alright, so at this point we’ve got a lot of info to analyse and work with. It was time to roll up my hair in a bun and get creative as this was the climax of the project. Each strategy needed to reflect not only the business’s goals but also the what the customers want, while considering what was feasible at the time.

To keep things simple, I split the proposed strategies into two (2) phases:

PHASE 1: Optimise Dee Ateiler's social media presence to reach more potential clients and set up a referral program to retain existing clients and attract new ones (remember, our research showed that word-of-mouth recommendations is how most people find tailors).

Here’s the plan:

i. Optimise Brand’s Social Media & Shoe Off Happy Customers

• Create a content calendar and flood those feeds with engaging posts of the brand’s clothes and some behind-the-scenes content to showcase expertise.

• Get our customers to record and share unboxing videos, reactions and reviews. Then, with their permission, share these all over the brand’s social media, along with images of clients wearing Dee-Ateiler’s creations, with “what they ordered vs. what they got” comparisons.

ii. Create Seasonal Discounts & Sales

• Our survey showed that most women love getting new outfits for festive seasons. So, we’ll offer a 10–15% discount during these times to take advantage of that.

iii. Introduce a Referral Program

• Set up a referral program where existing customers get a sweet discount on their next order for referring friends who place an order.
  
  

Create a luxury clothing collection that will appeal to high-paying customers.

i. Launch a Luxury Collection: Design a small collection of high-end outfits using top-notch materials and unique styles. Then, show it off on social media like it is fashion week!

ii. Participate in Fashion Exhibitions: Research and apply to upcoming fashion events and exhibitions, such as “Kaduna Buy & Sell,” and get our luxury collection in front of the right eyes.

iii. Team Up with Boutiques: Approach and talk boutiques in the city and GRA’s into showcasing pieces from the luxury collection in their stores for an agreed price or percentage of shared profit.

TIMELINE:To make sure there is continuous improvement, we’ll run these strategies for a solid 6 months. Then, we’ll hold a review to see how we’re doing and tweak things if needed before we jump to implement phase 2.

PHASE 2: Once we've succeeded with the strategies in the first phase (reaching a wider audience, targeting high paying customers) we are expecting an increase in orders and overall revenue. This will enable Dee Ateiler to invest in more sewing equipments for expansion.

Step 4: How We Know we are Killing it (Success Metrics)

Achieve 20–30 orders in 6 monthsMaintain active social media presence on Instagram and Facebook, sharing 2–3 new client testimonials (written or video) per month

• Increase sales by 20% during festive seasons with discounts, compared to the same period the previous year

• Acquire 5 new customers per month through referrals within 6 months

• Launch a luxury clothing collectionAttend at least one exhibition to showcase clothes from the new luxury collection

• Secure partnerships with at least 2 boutiques to showcase Dee-Ateiler’s ready-made clothing selection

• Sell 3 items per month through boutique partnerships within 6 months