Research Guides: Fashion Apparel Sourcing and Entrepreneurship: Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship: Resources for starting a fashion business

There are a number of excellent resources to get you started:

FedDev Ontario Small Business Services which contains a step-by-step guide to starting a small business including specialty tips for:
- How to start an artisan and craft business in Ontario
Business of Fashion discusses setting up your Fashion Business
TPL has a great Small Business Guide
Toronto Public Library provides access to LinkedIn Learning (formally known as Lynda.com). This is an excellent resource with lots of information on entrepreneurship.
Free and Open Resources for Entrepreneurs - University of Toronto Research Guide
Government of Canada - Starting a Business
Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) - see tips, sample plan, templates
The Government of Canada also has these great tips for Women Entrepreneurs.

These George Brown College resources provide books and websites to help you find information about starting your own business. The library research guide on Entrepreneurship is an excellent place to start. You might also wish to look at the research guides on Small Business Management or Marketing Research. Please note Library Databases are for academic use only.

Marketing Plan: Industry Profiles

FedDev Ontario - Introduction to Market Research
Step-by-step guide to conducting market research.
City of Toronto: Fashion/Apparel industry statistics
City of Toronto Industry Profiles 2018
Useful to see the size of the market in Toronto. See pages i021 (Textile Manufacturing) and i022 (Clothing Manufacturing)
Shop Toronto Design
Toronto Public Library - Small Business Resources
TPL provides access to Marketline, CBCA and FP Advisor and CARDonline

• Statistics Canada contains many types of reports and information sources. See:

The Census for raw data and reports. The census is a survey of the Canadian population, taken every 5 years. The most recent census was in 2016. You can search by geography, or by topic (for example income, education, journey to work, population and dwelling counts, etc.)
The Daily for studies, like the Evolution of clothing retail in Canada, 2004 to 2015
Statistical Tables and Publications for reports, like the Household spending by household income quintile, Canada, regions and provinces
Data Visualization Tools like the Retail Commodity Survey Data Visualization Tool
Infographics for overviews, like the Results from the Survey of Household Spending, 2017

• Canadian Industry Statistics

Type in your NAICS code, for example 315 - Clothing Manufacture

Trendex: Canadian Apparel Yearbook 2018
Call Number: TT490 GBC 2018
Publication Date: 2018

Location Plan - Demographics

Statistics Canada Census Tract Profile 2016
This will give you a detailed profile of the neighbourhood around your store.
Toronto Neighbourhood Profile

Business Costs

SME Benchmarking
Tool from Industry Canada create reports, based on broad clothing manufacturing or retail categories, on the costs of doing business in that sector.

Mission and Vision Statements

How to write a mission statement in 5 easy steps.
Berry, Tim. "How to Write a Mission Statement in 5 Easy Steps." Bplans. Palo Alto Software, 2015. Web. 5 Feb. 2015
How to Write Your Mission Statement
How to write your mission statement. Entrepreneur. 30 Oct. 2003.
What is a Vision Statement?
Arline, Katherine. "What Is a Vision Statement?" Business News Daily. 11 Dec. 2014. Web. 5 Feb. 2015.