If you’re a current or prospective student of our personal style course, it’s super important to consider how you wish to use the knowledge gained when it comes time to launch your business. What do you want your workday to feel like? Do you picture yourself working one on one with local clients? Do you hope to make your own website or blog and consult with style enthusiasts online? These are the kind of questions we urge you to ask yourself before you begin this exciting journey.
If you’re a student in our course, in Lesson 6.4: Starting Your Own Business, we get to talking about the most effective methods for launching a sustainable, professional business. From developing your personal mission statement and company logo to effectively marketing and networking within the bustling fashion and style field, by the end of the lesson you’ll have the know-how to take your style skills to the professional level- but what does ‘professional level’ necessarily mean to you?
The most basic distinction we recommend you make to start out is between a personal stylist and a personal shopper. So really, what’s the difference?
A Personal Shopper:
A personal shopper is, on the most basic level, someone who shops for their clients.
Sometimes personal shopping services are offered inside of more upscale department stores. For example, especially if the store offers specific designer brands, certain shoppers work in association with said brands, and are trained specifically to help high end clients shop new designer looks.
If this is the kind of personal shopping that sounds exciting to you, you’d be working in the bustling, beautiful environment of a high end store, and you’d likely be paid by commission. This is a great dynamic to incentivize your hard work – the more you sell, the more you make.
Whereas a Personal Stylist:
A stylist arguably offers clients a bit more than a personal shopper does.
Most commonly, stylists are more formally trained and educated in the field of fashion, and have graduated from a course such as ours. The stylist goes a step further than helping random clients shop when they happen to walk into the department store. They work with very specific clients, ones who have sought out the service of a stylist. These sort of clients are really relying on you to help them define and execute an overall “look” that they desire for themselves.
For example, maybe you live in metropolitan New York and you start working as a personal stylist. An example of a client could be a women with an extremely busy corporate job, who needs help putting together a more laid back, approachable sense of style for her weekends.
