Impact of Innovation and Entrepreneurship on Boutique Clothing Stores

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of innovation and entrepreneurship within the boutique clothing industry. It explores the dynamic nature of the market, highlighting characteristics such as short product life cycles, high volatility, and impulse purchasing behavior. The report delves into the significance of innovation, including disruptive innovation, and examines technological sustainability issues like pollution prevention and sustainable technology. It discusses innovation aspects such as recycling, e-commerce, and marketing strategies, while also outlining the benefits of innovation and entrepreneurship to the clothing and boutique industry. Furthermore, the report addresses technological setback factors, including economic, social, technological, legal, and inventory management challenges. The paper concludes by emphasizing the importance of strategic planning and action plans for entrepreneurs to gain a competitive edge in this ever-evolving industry.

Running Head: INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP 1
Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Name
Date

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Executive Summary
Creativity and entrepreneurship are the key drivers in business today. The success of firms to
outsmart other players in the market is determined by their ability to stay innovative. Currently,
innovation gives companies a competitive advantage over others in the market through increased
profitability and sustainability. This paper focuses on the boutique clothing store. The report
discusses the various aspects of creativity and innovation in the industry. Therefore, the paper is
significant in unveiling the essential innovation and entrepreneurship issues that must be
considered in the industry.

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................5
Nature of Boutique clothing store................................................................................................5
Short life-cycles........................................................................................................................5
High volatility...........................................................................................................................5
Low predictability....................................................................................................................5
High impulse purchasing..........................................................................................................5
Innovation in the Boutique Clothing store industry........................................................................6
Technological sustainability issues in the fashion industry.............................................................6
Pollution prevention.....................................................................................................................7
Sustainable technology................................................................................................................7
Innovation aspects of Boutique and clothing industry....................................................................7
Recycling.....................................................................................................................................7
E-commerce and marketing.........................................................................................................8
Benefits of Innovation and Entrepreneurship to Clothing and Boutique Industry..........................8
Technological setback factors to the Clothing Industry..................................................................9
Economics....................................................................................................................................9

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Social Factors...............................................................................................................................9
Technological factors.................................................................................................................10
Legal factors...............................................................................................................................10
Inventory Intelligence and business uncertainty............................................................................10
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................11
References......................................................................................................................................12

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Introduction
Innovation and entrepreneurship have gained critical importance in economic
globalization with the fashion industry, not an exception. The emergence of enterprise has
stimulated a heated competition in the clothing and boutique industry changing the landscape of
businesses significantly with the firm seeking to outwit their competitors through competitive
advantage (Friday, 2007). This study investigates the relationship and impact of innovation and
entrepreneurship to the boutique clothing stores.
Nature of Boutique clothing store business
The clothing industry is a highly volatile market with its uniqueness and the element of
style featuring prominently which is short-lived. This market has the following characteristics,
but not limited to:
Short life-cycles – the product in line with current trend and designed to capture the
mood of the moment, consequently, it has a short-lived lifespan.
High volatility – The demand for the product in the market is rarely stable depending on
several factors like celebrity endorsement, weather, and films extra (Gilsoo, 2010).

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Low predictability – It is virtually impossible to forecast the total demand of these
products in the market due to their volatility and other factors sharply impacting them.
High impulse purchasing – Many consumers make buying decisions based on
stimulation at the point of purchase. In other words, the shopper makes a quick and unplanned
purchase, hence the critical need for availability of the stock.
Innovation in the boutique clothing business
Innovation is an important aspect in any business growth and development with the
fashion and clothing, not an exception. The market environment is characterized by uncertainties
and dynamism which makes business landscapes to be tricky needing uniqueness from what the
competitors offer. The clothing industry has globally become sophisticated thus requiring high
levels of creativity and innovation to develop appropriate business strategies and counter the
competitor rivalry.
Disruptive innovation is particularly applicable in the boutique and clothing business. It
is much interesting because this type of change focuses on short term or immediate goal to
impact on the business processes. Disruptive innovation helps create a new market consequently
disrupting the existing one through setting different values. Further, the change skips standard
routine and knowledge disengaging the past and irreversible (Parmar, 2014).
Technological sustainability issues in the boutique and clothing business

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The viability of innovation and entrepreneurial activities is a critical matter that impacts
on the reputation of the business and its smooth operations. These concepts dictate that
companies confine to meeting the current needs without compromising the quality of life of the
future generation. Sustainability aspects of innovation tend to focus on the impact of this activity
on the environmental, human and social factors (Grant, Hackney & Edgar, 2010).
The clothing industry has an extended supply chain tied to the risk of mass environmental
and social impacts. Therefore, Sustainable innovations examine the whole supply chain and
ensure the material inputs through to the final products does not cause disturbance, depletion or
other harm to the environment than conservation. Further, innovations and entrepreneurship
activities needs are constrained to sustainability demands so that resources and environment are
preserved for posterity. Otherwise, resources stand the risk to depletion and further damages to
the reputation of the concerned companies. Some of the sustainability issues are discussed
below, which includes but not limited to:
Pollution prevention
This entails resource productivity and environmental management. The business
activities including wastes and output should not have an adverse impact on the environment.
Conclusively, the process of acquiring raw materials and utilizing should not present any
environmental hazards or leads to depletion of natural resources (Boons & Lüdeke-Freund,
2013).

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Sustainable technology
Since innovation aspect involves the investment of technological equipment,
sustainability dictates that the technology involved does not cause harm to the environment or
introduce features in the product that will harm the end users or natural resources (Perkmann &
Spicer, 2010).
Innovation aspects of Boutique clothing store business
Recycling
The clothing business has an innovative way of recycling products to achieve creativity
and thus making sales (Muthu, 2014). Clothes can be reused to design even better trendy outfits.
E-commerce and marketing
The clothing industry has invented ways to market their products both online and through
other media. Example, many entrepreneurs have set up online cloth stores and successfully
operated their businesses. The technology factor boosts their target market and improves the
business efficiency, knowledge and feedback management. Further, this industry has invested
marketing through models. Nevertheless, innovations are also being carried out in the process,
logistics, recycling, and upcycling (Osterwalder & Pigneur, 2010). Tied to this, some of the
limitations of current sustainability initiatives as follows.
A significant change and revamping of dominant business models is therefore needed to
achieve systemic changes in the process of attaining sustainability. Instead of viewing
sustainability in the lenses of compliance and risk management, companies should recognize the
value-creating potential of sustainable business models (Martin, 2013). This work explains the

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possibilities for building business models for sustainability by use of innovation by using
applying the analysis of the case called the IOU Project, which was made by the young business
entrepreneur Kavita Parmar, which was e-commerce initiative that offers fashion-conscious
consumers a very distinct platform.
Benefits of Innovation and Entrepreneurship to Boutique Clothing Business
Disruptive technologies have the potential to to introduce into the market a very different
value proposition than previously available, and also, most importantly, some products innovated
as a result of disruptive technologies can be cheaper in price, simpler, and also smaller and are
more frequently made and very convenient to use (Aneja, 2010). Innovation increases the firm's
performance by contributing to competitive advantage.
Regarding the fashion companies and fashion designers, the clothing industry has
numerous examples of the individuals who are in simultaneous terms, investors, owners, and also
managers of fashion business firms. These emerged as a product of commercialized fashion ideas
and design, manufacture, business or marketing methods that caused a revolutionary or an
incremental change in clothing industry. Their impact as elements of the competitive advantage
in the general clothing industry is also highlighted. Focusing on the last part of the study,
innovation management in the boutiquue and clothing industry is evaluated. Despite the high
influence of fashion in modern society, its analysis from a management perspective has not been
sufficiently conducted, and hence "fashion creativity and business intellect" have been
categorically viewed separately (Adam, Wim & Micheline, 2011).

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Technological setback factors to Boutique Clothing Business
Setbacks including PESTLE factors discussed below
Economics
Funds and capital required to invest in innovation and boosting the business. In most
cases, change consumes resources which ultimately translates into funds. Therefore, an
inadequate fund is an impediment to the growth of innovation.
Social Factors
Some specific communities perceive some cloth designs and style innovation negate their
values and culture. Example, seductive and revealing fashion are perceived by some
communities as disrespecting and resulting to them not supporting the businesses of those
entrepreneurs. This caliber of people will cease from buying such fashion clothes and proceed to
condemn the activity leading to a dented reputation (Fletcher & Grose, 2012).
Technological factors
Entrepreneurship and innovation are directly impacted by the technology in place.
Legal factors
Innovation and entrepreneurship are globally checked by the legal regulations. Examples
entrepreneurs innovate cloth lines and own the clotheslines.
Inventory Intelligence and business uncertainty

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Boutique clothing retailers regularly contest with the volatile issue of seasonality having
to stock up inventories and then deplete them at the appropriate times. There are certain factors
outside human control like weather which will impact on the inventory of these entrepreneurs.
On worst case scenario, the business will slash prices and dilute profit margins trying to get rid
of stock that is not selling and consequently bringing on the apparel that was not available on
shelves. Stock visibility, the inventory intelligence, and the operational agility to quickly change
tack promptly are necessities in today's fashion supply chain (Brahe, 2007).
This model does not only apply to the clothing industry but also emphases on the supply chain
development in the industry and the relationship created between the initiative and its customers
in the organization. It was also explained that if within the framework of the canvas the initiative
created the relationship between the client and the artisans who were part of the supply chain.
There are different types of innovation, namely sustaining, evolutionary, revolutionary, and
finally disruptive innovation (Innovation in India, 2007).
Firms have an uphill task to reduce the environmental and social impacts caused by the
operations of their businesses.Rather than mitigating these impacts, the firms have a better option
of solving the menace through internal development or acquisition of new capabilities that
address the sustainability challenge. It has also been defined as moving from thought to action.
Conclusion

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This paper has provided a conceptual focus on the impact of innovation and
entrepreneurial activities in the cloth boutique industry. The business is affected by several
factors, PESTLE that impacts on the business landscape and determines the fate of the business
success. Despite, the business being excellent avenues for good returns, entrepreneurs in this
industry face a couple of challenges which include sustainability issues, labor, technological and
environmental factors. Further, the paper discusses the peculiar nature of the industry capturing
its volatility, complexity, and dynamism. It is with these factors that prompt entrepreneurs to be
strategic and action plans that will enable them to gain a competitive edge.
References