Medical scrubs are big business. Before the 1990s, nurses wore formal nursing uniforms, doctors -- both male and female -- wore business suits, and other personnel wore formal business attire, as well. Scrubs that were once just for surgeons are now worn by almost everyone who works in a medical setting. Making scrubs more comfortable, more personalized or even more colorful, can be an interesting and lucrative business for someone with an interest in clothing design. 1. Write up a business plan for your new medical scrubs clothing line. The plan must include your projected income and expenses, your target demographic, and your production and marketing plan. Writing a business plan gives you a way to delineate your goals and set expectations for your business. 2. Design your scrubs line or hire a designer to do so. If there are features or fabrics you wish to improve upon or want to include -- such as scrubs for nursing mothers or scrubs with stretchy tops -- you must create prototypes for your future customers to see and try on. 3. Lease or purchase a retail or manufacturing location. In some cases, you may find a place that is suitable for both. A retail medical uniform store may be successful in a hospital or in a town with a lot of medical facilities nearby. 4. Identify a manufacturer who can sew your scrubs for you in large quantities or hire your own staff to sew. In the beginning, you may not be able to manufacture a lot of scrubs at once, and hiring people to sew for you means you can take orders and make the scrubs to spec. 5. Offer the extra service of personalizing scrubs with embroidery. 6. Make up promotional materials for your scrubs line. Create business cards, brochures, flyers, posters and a website. Start an email newsletter to alert your customers and potential customers of promotional events and scrubs parties, if you choose to use network marketing as a way to sell your line. 7. Create a database full of the names and contact information for potential clients. Compile your own list by using listings in local phone books and the Internet. Make a spreadsheet or simply write the names down on a piece of paper and categorize them according to the type of medical business, where they're located and approximately how many employees they have, if this information is available. 8. Visit medical offices, hospitals, clinics, nursing homes and other offices where the staff predominantly wear scrubs. Leave samples of your fabrics and colors, promotional materials and offer to bring in examples the staff can try on over a lunch hour; this will work well if you decide to bring lunch along with you for the staff. 9. Advertise your business in local media and make contact with your customers periodically, letting them know about new designs and discounts. Start a referral program where a customer can get a discount for referring someone. A student discount is also a popular idea as medical students often need to purchase many items at once and are on a budget. Those who receive discounts are likely to become repeat customers. Source
