A client asked us a fair question recently. If nobody in this industry knows it all, why work with Global Fashion Management? Why work with Thierry? What can he bring me that I don't already have?
It is a good question, and it deserves an honest answer rather than a polished one.
The honest starting point
We will never tell a client we know it all. Nobody does, in any industry, and anyone who claims otherwise is usually the person to be most careful of.
What we will tell you is this: we know what we know, and we know what we don't know.
If we only hold sixty per cent of the truth on something, and we haven't got the case studies to prove that a solution works at eighty per cent confidence, we say so. We don't pretend a partial answer is a complete one.
"Unless you tell me who you are, where you are today, and where you want to go, I cannot give you a (long term) solution."
That is the whole method, in one sentence. Diagnose before you prescribe. It sounds obvious. In practice, it is the single most skipped step in fashion business advice - and the reason so many brands pay for guidance that never quite fits their situation.
It is like you buying a shiny object or going on an ego trip. Do you recognise that feeling?
Where the real value sits
If knowledge alone were the differentiator, every experienced person in this industry would produce the same results. They don't.
The difference is not in having more ideas than the next advisor - it is in the execution of the idea, and in knowing, before you start, how a project is likely to fail.
Take a live example many of our clients (doing in excess of £1 million) are working through right now: agent representation, at home or abroad.
More agents today are asking for a season fee, showroomm participation - there is a logic behind it and ask us why if you do not know the reason. If they do, they should be able to prove which boutiques they will actually approach, which brands they already represent that connect logically with yours, what their process is, what feedback you will receive, and who is personally managing your account.
Most brands never ask. They assume that because someone carries the title of agent, they carry the knowledge to match it. That assumption is exactly where the thousand-pound mistakes begin - not the hundred-pound ones.
The questions that protect you
This is where the green flag and red flag habit earns its keep. Clients often tell us we see the green flag where they see red, and the red flag where they assumed green.
An agent who cannot answer a direct question about process is a red flag dressed as confidence. A brand willing to sit with uncomfortable questions before committing is showing a green flag most people mistake for hesitation.
Before any agreement - agent, partner, or supplier - ask: what is your specific plan for my brand, not your general pitch? Check how their answers are aligned on your goals! What have you done for a brand at my stage before? What happens if the first season underperforms? Who exactly is accountable to me, day to day?
If you are in any doubt at all, ask before you sign. That single habit, applied consistently, is worth more than most strategy documents.
The takeaway
Nobody knows it all - not us, not the agent asking for your fee, not the brand three doors down that looks like it has it all worked out. The businesses that grow steadily are the ones who ask sharper questions before they commit, not the ones who wait for someone to hand them certainty. Remember that execution beats strategy or the big idea you have.
If you are weighing up a representation, partnership, recruitmet, a new strategy or agency decision right now and want a second, independent set of eyes on it, get in touch. We would rather help you ask the right question today than help you recover from the wrong answer in six months.
We've also just released several cheat sheets on Agents and the ten questions to ask any agent before you pay a season fee or on Trade Shows and the top 10 actions to take before, during and after a show. They are available now on www.globalfashionmanagement.com.
Call or email us.
Committed to your success, Thierry Bayle, founder, Global Fashion Management
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