How to start a clothing brand in India: how ZOJO is set up

To start a clothing brand in India you need 5 things: a buyer in mind, designs, a way to get the clothes made, a shop, and a way to take payment and deliver. You can begin small with print on demand, where nothing is made until someone orders, and that's how we run ZOJO.

We're a small tee brand from Udaipur, so this isn't a business-school answer. It's the list of decisions behind our own shop, in the order you'd hit them, with what we chose for each. Where we don't know something, we say so.

1. Decide who it's for

Start here, before the logo. A brand for everyone is a brand for nobody.

Ours is 4 styles: anime art, trippy prints, spiritual designs like Shiva and Buddha, and gym slogan tees, plus cat tees for women. That's wider than most people would advise. We wrote about why in our first Journal post.

If you're starting today, 1 clear style is easier to explain and easier to sell.

2. Decide how the clothes get made

You have 2 routes.

Bulk. You pay a manufacturer for a batch upfront. Each piece costs you less, but you carry the stock and the risk.

Print on demand. A print partner keeps blank tees and prints yours only when an order comes in. Each piece costs you more, but you don't hold stock.

We use the second one. Every ZOJO tee is printed to order in India, and we explained the mechanics in what is print on demand.

3. Pick the fabric before the designs

Your buyer can't touch the tee, so the fabric has to be easy to describe. Choose a small set of blanks and learn them properly.

We sell 3 main ones.

• Regular fit: 100% cotton, 180 GSM, Rs 699.
• Oversized: 100% cotton, 240 GSM, Rs 899.
• Terry oversized: 90% cotton and 10% polyester, 260 GSM, Rs 999.

GSM is the weight of the fabric, and it changes how a tee hangs. Our GSM guide covers that. Whatever you pick, put the fabric and GSM on every product page. It tells your buyer more than any adjective.

4. Be honest about the art

Designs are the reason anyone buys a graphic tee, so know where each one comes from and what you're allowed to do with it.

If a design uses someone else's characters or logos, selling it as official merchandise needs a licence from the rights holder. If you're unsure about a design, ask a lawyer before you print it. We're not lawyers.

5. Set prices people can do in their head

Keep the price list short. Ours has 3 numbers: Rs 699, Rs 899 and Rs 999. GST and shipping are already inside them, so the price on the page is the price at checkout.

Then give people a reason to add a second tee. On our site 2 regular tees are Rs 1,199 and 2 oversized tees are Rs 1,599, and the bag works it out for you.

6. Build the shop around the product page

Marketplaces can come later. Your own site is where you control what the buyer sees.

A product page has to answer 4 questions without a chat: what's the fabric, what's the fit, will it fit me, and what if it doesn't. On ours the fabric, GSM, fit and wash care sit in a details table. The last photo is always the size chart. You can see it on Certified Beast.

One design can be sold in more than 1 cut. Certified Beast comes as a regular, an oversized and a terry tee, so the same art reaches 3 kinds of buyer. Browse the full catalogue or the oversized tees to see how that looks.

7. Take payment in a way that protects you

Cash on delivery is how a lot of India likes to shop. It's also risky when every piece is made for 1 person, because a refused parcel is a tee you can't sell to anyone else.

So we don't offer plain cash on delivery. You can pay in full online by UPI, card or netbanking. Or you pay 20% online and the other 80% to the courier when the parcel arrives. Buyers also sign in with Google before they order, which cuts down fake orders.

8. Write your policies before your first order

Don't wait for the first complaint. Two pages matter most.

Shipping. Ours says printed and shipped within 24-48 working hours, delivered in 5-8 working days for most of India, free. It's all on the shipping page.

Returns. Ours is 7 days from delivery, full refund for any reason, a free size swap, and a free reprint if the tee turns up damaged or misprinted. Read the return policy if you want to borrow the structure.

Made-to-order brands are often tempted to refuse returns. We think that's a mistake, because a stranger is trusting you with money for something they haven't seen.

The paperwork

We'll keep this short, because it depends on your situation. Talk to a CA about GST and how to register the business before you take your first payment. Online sellers in India are also expected to show details like the country of origin, so our product pages carry a "Made in India" line and a legal information tab.

Can I start a clothing brand in India with low investment?

Yes, if you use print on demand, because you don't pay for stock upfront. You'll still spend on a website and on samples, and then on getting the word out. We won't quote a number, since it changes a lot with what you build yourself.

Do I need my own designs to start?

You need designs you have the right to sell. That means art you made, art you paid for with the rights included, or art you've licensed.

Should I start with print on demand or bulk?

Print on demand if you want to try many designs and don't know yet which will sell. Bulk makes sense once 1 design sells steadily enough to order a batch.

Do I need a website, or can I sell on Instagram?

Instagram is good for being seen. You still need a place where people can check the size chart and pay, then track the order. That's a website.