A lot of emerging designers are creating for an imagined customer instead of a real one. In many cases, they’re designing for a version of themselves that doesn’t actually exist in real life. That disconnect shows up in the product.

Many emerging designers believe they need to go from zero to 55 immediately — launching a brand, producing inventory, building a website, marketing on social media, and somehow expecting designs to sell without ever going through the process of development and proof of concept.