The most immediate and realistic question faced by those preparing to launch their own brand is undoubtedly, “How much money will it actually cost?”.
If you have been torn between sweet advertisements claiming “it is possible with small capital” and intimidating stories insisting “you need tens of millions of KRW,” build a real budget plan based on cold numbers and data from actual wholesale sourcing and in-house production fields.
1. Wholesale Sourcing vs. In-House Production Brand: Starting Lines Are Different
The methods of starting an online clothing store are broadly divided into Dongdaemun or China wholesale sourcing and in-house production brands. These two approaches show a stark difference in initial capital scale.
① Wholesale Sourcing Online Store
It carries a powerful merit of being able to start with extremely minimal capital. In fact, there are successful cases where someone started Dongdaemun wholesale sourcing with just 500,000 KRW in cash and grew it into an online store with annual sales of 4 billion KRW. However, this method requires a mindset ready to endure intense solo labor in the early stages—handling modeling, photography, merchandising, and shipping all by yourself—and surviving earnings lower than minimum wage for the first 3 to 6 months.
② In-House Production Clothing Brand
Rather than simply sourcing and selling clothes, this route involves fabric selection, sampling, and factory production steps, making a minimum capital of several million KRW or more essential.
2. Launching an In-House Production Brand: What Are the Real Costs?
Specific minimum budget standards commonly applied in brand production environments are as follows:
① Minimum Cost for Pure “Garment Production”
It is around 8 million KRW. This amount includes only sample development and minimum quantity production costs based on 3 items, and completely excludes additional factors such as photography and marketing.
② Average Cost for Brand Launching
Including lookbook photography and initial marketing expenses, the average startup cost for a fashion brand is set at around 20 million KRW.
Fortunately, as factories capable of ultra-small batch production increase nowadays, cases are emerging where brands are successfully launched with a budget of about 10 million KRW through meticulous planning.
📌 Points to Keep in Mind
Occasionally, some try to launch a brand recklessly with a tiny capital of 2 million to 3 million KRW, but you must keep in mind that it is practically impossible due to minimum order quantity (MOQ) constraints.
3. Detailed Cost Sheet for Producing a Single Garment (Example)
When conducting in-house production, the items that consume the most money are raw/subsidiary material prices and factory CMT processing labor costs.
① Unit Cost for Basic Items
Basic apparel like T-shirts, sweatshirts, and hoodies incurs an average raw material cost of 15,000 KRW to 20,000 KRW per piece when factoring in packaging and delivery costs.
② Budget for Minimum Production Quantities
Even if you produce only minimum quantities per size for each color (e.g., 30 pieces per size for 3 colors = 360 garments), calculating at 20,000 KRW per piece immediately requires 6 million to 7 million KRW in production fees.
[Real Example Cost for Producing 120 One-Piece Dresses (3 Sizes, 2 Colors)]
- Fabric and pocket cost: Approx. 1.4 million KRW (1.9 yards x 120 pieces + pocket lining)
- Trims and notions cost: Approx. 380,000 KRW (Using YKK zippers and producing 1,000 main/care labels)
- Sample and pattern/grading development fee: Approx. 250,000 to 350,000 KRW
- CMT processing labor cost: Approx. 1.02 million KRW (Based on 8,500 KRW labor per piece)
- Total production cost: Approx. 3.15 million KRW (Pure manufacturing cost per piece approx. 26,250 KRW excluding tax and incidental costs)
4. Easily Overlooked Additional Budget: Photography and Marketing
Producing garments does not mean you are finished. Expenses follow to plan and promote them into attractive content.
① Studio Photography Fee
Rental fees for popular natural light studios run around 50,000 to 70,000 KRW per hour. Shooting for just 2 hours costs about 100,000 to 120,000 KRW.
② Investment in DIY Photography Equipment
If you want to shoot detail cuts for product pages yourself to save costs, you can prepare continuous lights and a cutout background set (under approx. 200,000 KRW) instead of strobe lighting to take photos and process retouching. However, unless you are proficient with professional software like Photoshop, low-quality product cut results are inevitable.
📍However, technologies enabling fast and affordable creation via AI without actual studio shoots have emerged recently. Experience budget-saving product cut creation at [All Easy Studio]!
③ Marketing and Advertising Costs
The most stable and average marketing budget recommended by agencies and industry experts is around 10% to 12% of monthly sales. If you play aggressively by pouring 20% to 30% of sales into ad spend for quick growth, there is a risk of bankruptcy in a single season unless accompanied by thorough financial control.
5. Three Capital Tips to Minimize Early Risks
① Side Hustling Is Recommended for the First 6 Months
In the early stages of startup, cash flow pressure is severe due to high sales volatility and slow cash settlement cycles. It is advantageous to secure a safety net by maintaining a day job or fixed income while putting in effort during spare time.
② Start with Minimum Reserve Capital in Hand
Instead of pouring the entire amount into product manufacturing, it is safe to start with initial capital of around 20 million KRW along with reserve funds or earning capability equivalent to 3 million to 4 million KRW per month to maintain living expenses.
③ Relentlessly Target Government Support Programs
If you are an inexperienced prospective founder, we recommend repeatedly drafting business proposals to challenge for the “Pre-Startup Package”. You can secure unsecured grant funding averaging around 50 million KRW to start much more stably. Also, actively utilize low-interest initial operating loans from Credit Guarantee Foundations or the Small Enterprise and Market Service.
Prospective founders preparing an early-stage clothing brand! Bookmark the [All Easy Studio] blog delivering essential brand startup information, and check trendy insights uploaded every day.
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