This section of the forum is for discussing the business and finance issues of the t-shirt industry. Which business structure to use (sole proprietor, LLC, S Corp, etc), how to handle billing, where to register your business and get the proper licensing, etc.
Yes. My business plan has been accepted and they are allowing me $9000 to get started.
I want to sell shirts, hats, and decals to my 8000+ members at my websites by making my business a sponsor. I would start to go to events in the summer.
Here is my list of equipment to do it so far. Tell me what you think.
24" Roland GX24 Plotter $1,500
Vinyl $400
Application Tape $80
Okidata C8800N Printer $1,600
Hotronix STX20 16 x 20 Auto-Open Shirt Press $1,400
Hotronix Auto-Open Hat Press $800
Transfers $450
120 Shirts $480
72 Hats $432
Misc Hand Tools/Office Supplies $508
Intuit Quickbooks Pro $150
1 Year Yellowpages $1,200
Skip yellow pages, used hat press at approx $250 may be more than you need. Quick books pro is currently available at Sam's club for $97 if you are/know a member.
Now where is your marketing & branding money? Lets say everyone at your website buys a shirt & hat (that ain't gonna happen), where are you going from there?
Assume you have additional resources for your other starting expenses? Like tables to place your equipment on? Shelving for your blanks, etc.? Packaging materials for shipping? A separate all in one printer to produce your invoices, shipping labels, etc.?
I second the yellow pages. Maybe some targeted local advertising instead.
I live in a small town. There are only a few screen printers here. It is to my understanding that they do not offer low quantity runs which fall under their minimums. They get a lot of calls for these types of jobs and have nobody to refer to.
I figure that I will develop working relationship with these screen printers by having them do some of my stuff. In turn, they will send those customers that fall under their minimums to me. We have already talked about this.
By having my ad in the yellow pages and advertising that I have no minimums, this should help to deter those customers to me.
I will have to rethink the yellow pages and look more into advertising.
Good mention about the tables...I will rework the list right now.
Items (Bought Online)
1 Roland GX24 Plotter
Vinyl Media ($450 Worth)
48" Roll Application Tape (Cut To Sizes)
Big Squeegee 32" Cut Vinyl Tool (Will cut down and have a 24" and a 8")
Okidata C8800N Printer
Hotronix STX20 16 x 20 Auto-Open Shirt Press
Hotronix Auto-Open Hat Press
Transfers ($450 Worth)
108 Shirts
60 Hats
1 Year Vonage Business Line w/Fax
Items (Bought locally)
Intuit Quickbooks Pro w/Learning Pack
2 Easel Presentation Binders
2 Binder Tab Deviders
4 Packs Of Sheet Protectors
Phone Message Book
Exacto Knife Set
Exacto Replacement Blades
Post-It Despensor Value Pack
6 Sharpie Retractables (Red/Blue/Black)
24 Pack Of Marks-A-Lot Markers
25 Pack Of Oxford Folders
Fiskars 8" Non-Stick Scissor
Fiskars 8" Office Scissor
Newspaper Ad 8 Lines/Day (3 Months Paid)
Newspaper Front Page Stick-On (The launch!)
Get 5yd rolls of vinyl, only about 5 colors to start, buy it as needed fellers.com will get it to you next day in most locations.
Easy on the transfers, wanna buy some.
Less hats, they are easy to get.
I think you can save $300-$400 by going to a manual hat press. You probably won't have near the volume on hats that you will have on t's. Other than that, you're pretty much on target. I like the newspaper front page stick on idea.
__________________ www.proworldinc.com - AMAZING $99 15x15 Heat Press Special. Exclusive 30 Day Satisfaction Guarantee.1000's of Stock Transfer designs. Custom Transfers...plastisol and rhinestone.
You should be able to get shirts cheaper than $4 apiece, especially in case qty (72).
Keep in mind that even though you have a 48" plotter, you can use vinyl smaller than that to practice on. I recommend getting a couple cheaper rolls of 15" wide to do basic 4-6" stickers with. I would get a smaller roll of clear application tape too.
Damn, how many Xacto blades does 36.72 buy??
Cool idea on the newspaper sticker. I'll have to see what that costs around here.
Yellow Pages are not going to get you the feeback/response you want. We did it at first and consider it the biggest "advertising" mistake so far ! I know you already took the advice but I just wanted to put in my 2 cents !
You should be able to get shirts cheaper than $4 apiece, especially in case qty (72).
Where do you suggest to get colored Gildan's in all different sizes?
Quote:
Originally Posted by midwaste
Keep in mind that even though you have a 48" plotter, you can use vinyl smaller than that to practice on. I recommend getting a couple cheaper rolls of 15" wide to do basic 4-6" stickers with. I would get a smaller roll of clear application tape too.
A GX24 is a 24" plotter. I have some sample rolls of vinyl coming also. I will be having that 48" roll of application cut down (free) into many different sizes. As far as a clear, what kind do you use?
Quote:
Originally Posted by midwaste
Damn, how many Xacto blades does 36.72 buy??
Tell me about it. You get 100. Adjusted price ($30.99). Oops.
Quote:
Originally Posted by midwaste
These are handy. You will need some smaller squeegees, just cheapo gold/orange, whatevers. They are nice to give to customers too.
A bigger garbage can.
I will add some rolling scissors and giveaway squeegees too. Thanks for reminding me.
__________________ These are my tools:Roland GX, Epson 1100(With Cobra Ink & Refillables)
You should be able to get shirts cheaper than $4 apiece, especially in case qty (72).
Where do you suggest to get colored Gildan's in all different sizes?
The $4 was for GILDANS? I just assumed you were using American Apparel or similar.
As for where to get them cheaper... anywhere! San Mar, Broder Bros, Alpha Shirt, Virginia Ts, TSC Apparel, and all the other wholesalers I'm forgetting.
The $4 was for GILDANS? I just assumed you were using American Apparel or similar.
As for where to get them cheaper... anywhere! San Mar, Broder Bros, Alpha Shirt, Virginia Ts, TSC Apparel, and all the other wholesalers I'm forgetting.
That was a basic price I just threw in. Here is an updated (there are different sizes and colors involved also) list...
Items (Bought Online)
Roland GX24 Plotter $1,518.00
Vinyl Media $450.00
48" Roll AT-60 Clear Application Tape $107.52
Okidata C8800N Printer $1,587.00
Hotronix STX20 16 x 20 Auto-Open Shirt Press $1,309.00
SunIE Combo Press $428.00
Big Squeegee 32" Cut Vinyl Tool $78.25
Transfers $450.00
175 Gildan G2000 Tees $574.15
40 Anvil 325 Ladies Tank Tops $189.80
40 Gildan G2000L Tees $105
16 Gildan G18500 Hoodies $192.96
25 Harriton M880 Basic Hats 41.25
Signcraft Magazine Subscription $39.00
Logo Design for Small Business Book $28.67
Logo Design for Small Business 2 Book $28.67
Mastering Layout Book $33.62
Pack of 500 Poly Mailer Bags $61.00
1 Year Vonage Business Line w/Fax $600.00
Items (Bought Locally)
Intuit Quickbooks Pro w/Learning Pack $171.44
2 Easel Presentation Binders $37.44
2 Binder Tab Dividers $7.28
Phone Message Book $11.88
Exacto Knife Set $28.08
Exacto Replacement Blades $36.72
Post-It Dispenser Value Pack $27.00
Sharpie Retractable 6-Pack $12.48
Marks-A-Lot 24 Pack $20.52
25 Pack of Oxford Folders $21.06
Fiskars 8" Non-Stick Scissors $18.90
Fiskars 8" Office Scissors $7.02
4 Packs of Sheet Protectors $44.06
Carry-On 4' x 8' Trailer (Mobile Ads) $377.99
Newspaper Ad (8 Lines/Day for 3 months) $205.20
Total $8,848.96
__________________ These are my tools:Roland GX, Epson 1100(With Cobra Ink & Refillables)
I use TransferRite 1510 clear tape, but I use basic PerfecTear Maintape for big stuff. It's a waste of money usually to use clear for large stuff, its mainly nice for layering multi-colors or for selling pre-made decals, so the customer can see the color/design better.
I would be cautious about buying 175 shirts, hoodies, etc, up front, unless you plan on printing all of them right away. It makes sense to find a supplier close to you that will get to you next day with no extra charge. Almost all of those that Solmu listed above have warehouses all over the US, so you don't end up with a bunch of sizes/colors that you don't need. If it was me, I'd buy only enough to practice on to get the hang of the press and cutter, then use the money I had left over to purchase exactly what I needed later.
I take it you have additional capital to fund shirt purchases, replenish supplies, etc? If not, I would be very careful about spending every nickel of your grant on up-front costs. Just my 2 cents.
So...my business plan was accepted. 
Re: So...my business plan was accepted. 
Re: So...my business plan was accepted. 
