FIDM

So!!!
This is my LAST QUARTER at The Fashion school in LA. We're gearing upto starting our own clothing line in April, upon completion of my school!! Yes!!

Since I got married last July (after finally receiving my parents blessings for dating an African American boy for 4-years, but that's another long story) my husband and I packed up as much as we could in our Ford F150, and drove cross country to California!~

We dropped everything that was going on in our lives in Virginia and headed for our new big dream on the west side! To set up a successful clothing company! ^^*

So here we are, right in the center of downtown LA, a block away from FIDM, with all the krazy fashion district businesses, in our palm's reach.

The school has been great, $24,000 and then some for the tuition I took out in loan hopefully will be a big payoff in the end! But so far, I have managed to stay in the "A's and A-'s" for my grades. I have been here for 9-months now, (3-quarters of classes) and starting my last quarter finally tomorrow.

This is why I am starting this blog! So many people have been curious and have been asking me about how I am doing, what I am learning in school, how I am dealing with my new situation and etc. It has been really tough trying to adjust to the new life style, but with just One quarter left of school, I wanted to share with everyone so they can hear from me, first-hand!!

I am going to try my best to post my daily updates in details. Hopefully you can quench your thirst by hearing from me, how my famous school really is (due to the show "Hills," and "Project Runway") and what it is like to attend a fashion school in Los Angeles! I will also try to write details about my past 3-quarters, for example, taking a class with Mr. Nick Verreos! ^.~

FIDM Q4 Ownership & Finance class

I came out of the class in a daze. I almost bumped myself in the elevator door, even. I guess I was still processing in my mind all the work that is required in this class. I walked home in very slow pace, still thinking with every step, about the class and the things I learned.

Ms. Pender seemed really nice, she is a CEO of a big compliance company, who dealt with GUESS's big mess with sweatshops in 1990s, then she accrued clients such as GAP, Federated, Coca-Cola, Home Depot, and etc. (as fas as I understood).

We're writing a business plan in this class! A Full Blown 50+ page Business plan with financial planning and everything! WOW.
OK, so we received a business plan software and a text that goes with it, and although they say it's just plugging in information, a LOT of research is required. Which I don't seem to enjoy very much, because I don't like to read. (which is really silly, i know) When I got home, I shared with Bryan about the class, and told him that I really need his help with this class, to write our business plan! ^^* (Bryan LOVES doing research, and that's why we work great as a team! ^^*)

A partnership agreement is required and I learned something very valuable about that today: It should never be a 50/50 partnership. Just incase there is a never-ending argument, there must be someone with a Veto-power. So a partnership always needs someone with greater value to the company, which should be spelt out before launching the compnay. The Visionary/ Creative partner has more value to the company (heart of the business), rather than a "Bean-Counter" who is replaceable at any time. (i.e. Business/ legal/ accounting person). A partnership in this case of 51/49 would work.

Target markets and Competition must be researched depending on your product and industry, and these can be found in various(thousands) website links connected to the software, especially the Census Bureau.

This is as far as we got to in the 1st class. We're to write a business plan, based on our "CA Apparel Manufacturing Company." I will decided whether I need to change that to a VA or a NY company after further discussion with Bryan. ^^