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HOW TO CREATE YOUR OWN APPAREL PLAN

If you prefer to make your own apparel plan without a phone call, in this post, I will walk you through how to do it with some suggestions.

Download the plan to follow along: Apparel Plan Template

Let’s start with “Ideal Order Size”.

Ideal order size- We put this on the plan because many clients like to ask “is this a good size order”?

The answer is: I don’t know and it is relative to the size of your gym. So, to be more informed with a “good” or “bad” order, let’s set a goal. A basic way to do this is simply take 25-30% of the gym membership. If you have 100 members, your goal for every apparel order is to have 30 preorders. You can order extras on top of that, but the goal should be 30 preorders. 

It is important to figure out a number that works for you because it allows us to ask better questions when things go right or wrong. Did you have 50 preorders? Great! Why was it so successful? Timing? Design? New marketing message? We want to figure out why it was so successful and really figure out a repeatable process for you.

Vice versa, if you have a “bad” order, why did it flop? Timing? Design? Poor marketing? Setting this number builds in a tool to work with so we can troubleshoot things with you if you have a flop order.

Order frequency- How often would you like to order? Most gyms order 5-6 times a year. If that sounds like a lot, it’s not. Without any expertise you can figure out 5-6 themes or ideas to offer for the year. If 5-6 makes you nervous, start with 4 times per year. 

Success checklist- I’ve talked about this in several blogs and I’ll link you to them.

Preordering apparel: Preorder overview

Margin goals: Simply, do you sell these for a profit. Believe it or not, some owners do not. You should sell apparel for a profit. Check out this article: How To Price Apparel At Your Gym

Focusing on one item: Limited Edition Mindset

Newsletter: Our newsletter goes out once or twice a month with new ideas. If you’re the type of person who “has no creative bones in their body” or “can’t think of anything cool” you need to be on this list. It is the only resource out there with team constantly churning out new ideas.  You can sign up for it here: http://eepurl.com/bRAVun

Here is a basic template for apparel orders for the year:

January- Open or Drop in tees

March- St. Patrick’s Day

April- Patriotic Design (to get ready for the Summer holidays and other memorial WODs)

June- Summer design or Drop in tee restock

September- Longsleeve or Baseball tee

October- Pullover or Zips

November/December- Holiday party 

That’s 8 ideas without even getting into hats or other items. Other ideas:

Hats (winter, baseball, trucker, etc…)

Coach packages

Competitive athlete package

Quarter zips

Crewneck sweatshirts

Joggers

Tank only orders

Speciality programs (barbell club, bootcamp, powerlifting, etc)

Need help? Not sure if you did it right? No sweat. Simply e-mail matt@foreverfierce.com and we’ll check this out and make sure you did it correctly.