| You ought to be able to get at least $100 million for this idea. Look at how well it corresponds to your typical dot-com: 1. You have absolutely no understanding of the size of your market, the frequency with which they buy shirts, the price they're willing to pay-- or even whether anyone needs a custom-made shirt on 48 hours. 2. You're not a tailor, you apparently haven't worked in the fashion, textile or manufacturing industry and probably couldn't tell me anything about how shirts are made. 3. "Custom-tailored" means "built to fit a specific, usually unique configuration." If "cuffs, collars and buttons would all be standard", you're not custom-tailored. Also you don't mention fabric, which is one of the most important issues. Also, most tailors would tell you that if you're just entering measurements in whole integers, it isn't custom-tailored. Now If I can enter "18 3/16 x 37 5/8", that's closer to custom. But a sine qua non of custom-tailoring is being measured for the garment by someone who knows how to measure. 4. I'm going to measure myself? And there is a no-questions-asked return policy? That should be fun. 5. You're planning to get product from wherever they're made to the buyer in 48 hours? You know that most of these shirts are assembled in Asia, right? They're all minor issues, though. Hey, if Outbox-- or grocery delivery services-- can get funded, I'm sure you can too. |
A quick market analysis (aka, a Google search) finds this video ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0weojd1crNQ ) which shows how manually intensive it is to make a custom dress shirt.
That comes from Deo Veritas. The cheapest shirt they offer is $50. The shirt is made in Hong Kong, and takes several weeks to deliver. The FAQ says USPS charges $15 to send a first class package to Hong Kong, so with profit I expect the shirt costs about $25 to manufacture.
Checking now, you can't make shirts in Asia and have them shipped to the US within 48 hours at that price point. FedEx International Economy (48 hour delivery) for the shirt costs $50 from Hong Kong to San Francisco.
Which means you'll need to make it in the US, or more likely Mexico. Which is why you need to get $100 million to make this idea work. You'll need to set up a maquiladora just across the border, get the building and equipment, set up a supply chain for the fabric, and plan for enough sales to be able to make the investors happy.
Minimum wage for garment workers in Mexico is about US$6/hour. Minimum wage in Hong Kong is under $4/hour. Assuming most of the $25 is in labor costs in Hong Kong, that same basic shirt would cost about $35 to make in Mexico.
This is above your price point.
More expensive shirts take more time to make. Once the labor differential between Mexico and Asia exceeds $60 (the price for FedEx international priority), your Asian competitors can undercut you.
FWIW, I have no idea if these numbers are right. I have no expertise in this field. But if you (the OP, not rufusjones) can't do this sort of back-of-the-envelope calculations, then perhaps you shouldn't enter this business.