Do you like watches? Have you ever considered creating your own watch brand? In this blog post I'll share the steps you can take to make your dream a reality..
According to Mintel.com, a whopping 81% or consumers with a household income of over £50,000 in the UK own a watch, so now is most certainly the perfect time to look into starting your own luxury watch store or business.
Watches have really made the move from being merely a functional piece of jewelry to become a must-have fashion accessory, with sales soaring.
Now is an excellent time to begin your own watch brand. During their fairly short history, watches have made a huge leap from clockwork, to vibrating quartz crystals and ultimately to digital displays. With watches evolving constantly, let me help you with 5 simple tips on how to start a watch brand.
If you need any further advice I’m always happy to help, so just get in touch.
First Things First
Before launching any new business make sure you have a clear business plan and have done some basic research before you invest into your watch idea.
1. Plan Your Business
It is essential for the success of any new entrepreneur looking to start a watch brand to make sure you have a clear plan before you begin to invest, and consider how you intend to move forward with your business in the all-important startup period. A few important topics to consider are:
What are the initial costs?
Who is your target market?
How long it will take you to break even?
Where will you market your watches?
Making sure you fix your budget is essential before you launch your watch brand. Deciding on your audience is also important - to help you choose which kind of watch styles you’ll be looking at promoting or stocking.
For instance, are you looking at a sports watch design, a special luxury watch design for women or luxury watch design for men, or maybe all of them, or perhaps another new type of luxury watch you’re considering?
Will you be looking to operate purely online or in a physical location? This will be a defining consideration of your start-up costs stage. Generally if you are selling very expensive watches you'll want to have them in a physical store, as customers will desire a more hands-on experience before agreeing to purchase them. More affordable watches are great for e-commerce and setting up your own website for your watch brand is easier then ever.
Take a look below at some top tips for your startup watch company. Compiled by me especially for you!
Make sure you apply for any licenses and registrations required when starting a new business
Your marketing should be initiated well before your business opening launch date. This will help you build up fans, get the attention of buyers and help you to build in a ‘need’ for your potential customers. Think about pre-orders and exclusive mailing lists.
Your watches should be unique, and of great quality. Offering your customers something a little different from the kinds of simple/generic watches already available is a good way to stand out and get people's attention.
Make sure you work with a watch designer who understands your brand and the kind of watch you want to create.
Once you have the basics in place, it’s time to look into your brand identity and how you appear to your target audience.
2. Define Your Brand
Finding a unique style is very important if you want to set your watch company apart from the competition. Take a look below at a few simple steps to create a compelling brand.
Create your brand’s story - perhaps there is some history linking to your idea
Decide on a name which compliments your brand’s ethos and values
Give some thought to how your watches provide customers with good value. People want to believe they are getting a fair or good deal. This will give you more respect from customers and watch critics.
Spend some time creating engaging product descriptions, they help spark your customers imagination and desire.
Use professional high-quality images to tell your brand story and present your timepieces. Perception is everything.
3. Price Point and Market Research
Deciding on your price point will be based on a number of factors and it’s important to look at your overall costs. To calculate your price point, decide on your overall revenue target, then factor in any marketing and production costs to arrive at a price point that is fair to charge your customers. Remember the luxury watch market demands quality craftsmanship and expertise and are not easily fooled by a below-par product.
Before you decide on your customer base, it’s essential you conduct market research to fully understand your audience. Here are a few tips on how to make sure you have market research covered.
Customer profiling - make sure you think clearly about your customers perspective in relation to your business idea. For instance. How old are they? Where do they live? What kind of hobbies and interests do they have?
Competitor analysis - how can you learn from other successful watch brands?
Customer surveys - the classic way to find out what you need to know about your customers. Maybe offer money off vouchers to thank them for their time
One of the most important decisions you need to make when thinking of how to start a watch brand is finding a passionate, skilled designer to bring your original watch ideas to life.
4. Bringing Your Vision to Life
At luxurywatchdesign.com i’ll help you create your dream watch brand. As a watch designer, I will support you and your watch brand - from the very first sketches, to the production and marketing of your special watches.
I'll start with sketching out some initial ideas for the watch you want to create - focusing on its shape, colours, movement and special details. When you're happy with your watch design I will build it into 2D renders on the computer which will give you a clear understanding of how the watch will look when it is made. The next step is to create the watch in a 3D CAD file that can be used by manufacturers to produce and prototype your watch before it goes into production.
Watch designers usually only work on just the watch design. I prefer to take a more involved approach and am happy to help with all aspects of your brand. These are just some of the other services I offer:
Create your brand’s story from your inspiration
Coming up with brand names that match your vision and product
Website design
Copywriting and marketing on social media
Packaging design
Proprietary watch strap design
5. How to Take Your Watch to Market
Once you’ve worked with a watch designer who can create stunning original watches to compliment your new watch brand, you need to take it to market.
Setting up Your Store
There are a number of different ways of selling watches. You can either opt for an online-only presence and sell your watches using quality close up images.
Sell from a physical location via jewellery/watch stores. Or finally, some watch brands sell only at trade shows, expos and fairs. You may decide to have more than one avenue or platform, to sell your brands watches.
Social Media
Using high-quality photography of your watches and promoting them through a variety of platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest will help grow your audience and allow them to engage with your brand.
Crowdfunding
Popular platforms like Indiegogo and Kickstarter can be fantastic springboards to help launch your watch brand. Raising the start ups costs to fund your dream watch brand has never been easier.
Conclusion
At luxurywatchdesign.com my aim is always to help you with your vision, by designing beautiful, elegant and bespoke watches perfect for your watch or jewellery brand.
I have the necessary expertise and skills to design your new, stand-out watch, and also assist you on your watch start-up journey. With many years of experience designing original and exciting watches I'm here to help your project succeed.
Send me a message about your watch idea or any of the above topics above. I'd love to hear from you and hopefully start working closely with you to develop your special watch brand and watches.
Best!
Oliver
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