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.
Ask mom, dad, grandma, grandpa or friends but make sure you pay them back or best of all SAVE. Do you really need 10k? now? all right away???? Have you spent the time to create a professional business plan to really determine what you need and when you need it..... good luck
It all depends on how soon you need the money, there are a couple of things you can do.
a) Create a business plan
1) Apply for a loan - Go to a bank (with your business plan) and show them you have a plan. Why you need the money and how you plan to get it back with their interest.
(Don't be discouraged if you are turned down, usually they will send a reason or you can ask why. Take what they say not to heart but as a helpful fuel and look into getting over each hurdle one at a time. And just because you get turned down from one bank doesn't mean every single one will, so be diligent.)
2) Seek Investors - look around and see who around you friends, family, local store owners, etc. Sit down with them explain your situation, show them the business plan.
(Be careful with investors as they bring questions like: how they get there money back, timeframes to getting the money and they may seek interest or shares into the business)
3) Start small and work your way up - "Rome wasn't built in a day" neither are many new businesses. Try to buy budgeted or value products that can assist you in bringing more profit to the business. Sure we may all strive for the Rolands & the DTG printers but many of us can't get there from the start, so find some lower models and work your way up. Many companies will continue to have even lower model equipment for backups or side-work as it can't hurt.
(Even doing it this way I would agree with Nick create a business plan it will help you stay on track and organize what you want to do.)
Times are tough but with the right plan you be surprised what kind of financial help is out there
Start small is the best advice so far. First banks are not lending especially on high risk loans which describes a start up, they are sending everyone to the SBA. SBA wants to see the Business plan but also wants to see proof that you have experience running this sort of business and can be successful which is hard to provide because you are
a start up.
Even Investors have lost their shirt so it will also be hard going that route.
If you have some money use what you have an build on it.
Create a solid business plan, presentation and product.
Find people with money to invest and present your ideas too them. By incorporating you can sell x amount of shares for say .10 cents a piece. So if you create a million shares in your company you would sell 100,000 shares at .10 cents a piece to raise 10k. You get to keep all the profits and reinvest. They have shares hoping that your company will grow and they can make ridiculous profits.
....And, if you have no family, only poor friends, at part time job, and not enough credit history?
A bank.... no those that would had loaned are no longer in business. You could ask the government for a stimulus.... sorry but thats only for big companies and not the average American. The SBA only guarentees loans but even if you have a business plan with what you stated you need to ask yourself why would they loan you the money.
Best advice is to save, and start small. A business plan would be a great start and figure out how to do it with the funds you have.
Or you can find a rich girl friend, sugar moma, or a long lost rich uncle.....lol
If you're going to try and get a loan from a bank, or other financial institution, you're not only going to need a solid business plan.. But, you'll also have to be willing to put some of your own money into the business. And, your business plan must show this. Banks won't take a risk on you, if you're not willing to risk something yourself.
Either that, or you'll need collateral. A car, a house, or something of equal value. You can try the Small Business Association (sba.gov), or Google "small business loans". There are plenty of organizations that specialize in granting loans under 25k.
Again, you'll need a solid business plan. Google "business plan software" for more resources in that arena.
If you're going to try and get a loan from a bank, or other financial institution, you're not only going to need a solid business plan.. But, you'll also have to be willing to put some of your own money into the business. And, your business plan must show this. Banks won't take a risk on you, if you're not willing to risk something yourself.
Either that, or you'll need collateral. A car, a house, or something of equal value. You can try the Small Business Association (sba.gov), or Google "small business loans". There are plenty of organizations that specialize in granting loans under 25k.
Again, you'll need a solid business plan. Google "business plan software" for more resources in that arena.
I strongly agree. If you don't have the money, collateral will do. Also check with your local small buisness development center, they are very helpful and will help you write a business plan.
Another option is to go to your local junior college and take a class on small business entrepreneur. They show step by step on how to achieve this. Goodluck
I would suggest looking over the way you have your business set up to generate profit. One valuable lesson I learned is you don't use money to make money, you use it to generate something that creates money out of thin air. For example, say you're an artist and you need $100,000 to buy a Printer, ink, t shirts, etc. to start your business. If you don't have that much money you need to tweak the way you do things for now until you get it saved up. Instead of trying to get the printer, hire someone who has one to do the printing for you. If you develop something they'll do for $5 a t-shirt that you can sell for $20 to your customers go that route first. Take the order and get your money up front, now you have the money you need to pay for it to be produced and another $15 in your pocket. Say you have your templates set so it only takes you 1 minute to open one, type a name/word and save it. That means you can do 60 designs in an hour multiplied by $15 averages out to $900 an hour. On a full 40 hour work week that would be $36,000 a week with 2,400 designs being done. If that's a little far fetched for you look at just 10 shirts a day, which is $150 for the day and $750 for the week for not even a whole hour worth of work. You have to think along those lines and push for that to happen to make your business successful. Without focusing on that you can get a billion dollar loan and be ten trillion dollars in debt tomorrow morning. Set things up like that so you're making a living off of running your own business, rather than trying to maintain it on the side of a job that will never pay you enough to save all that money any time soon. If there's the potential to make $36,000 of profit every week by hiring someone else, GO FOR IT!!! Make sure you're targeting a market you can charge whatever it is you wind up having to charge to make a profit. In reality you don't need a loan, they just offer those services to make a profit off of us. It would be one thing if you were up and running making $36,000 a week and you have customers from all over the country. Then getting a big loan to set up shop in multiple cities would be something you might want to utilize because the power is already there so it's not the money making you more powerful, it's just helping you expand your power beyond what your current profit is allowing you to do. Business is about timing so the opportunity may come to pass by the time you save up enough from what you do in that one shop, which is why loans come in handy. If you jump right on it and suck it all up it's nothing to pay it back. That's what a lot of banks look for in people they give loans to, they want to see that you can create money out of thin air with the tools, machinery etc. you're going to utilize that money on. Think and do big, that's the only way big things will come in return.
I need 10K...where can i get it from? 
