wetkiwi

Ok, so I've noticed that a lot of people in the T-shirt industry are really jaded with new comers. The feeling I get is they're sick of people who haven't got the designs/business plan/$$ to properly start up a business.....

I've also noticed a lot of people on here have a lot of advice to give but not much experience to back it up.

What I'm interested to know is why did you or do you want to start up a clothing business (im talking mainly retail) did you have a good idea? did you find a niche? did you see someone else doing it and want to be like them or are you good at creating designs....

 

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Jason's_Place

none of the above...... My brother has a sign business that started as a hobby and he was getting calls about short run shirts. A new small business doesn't want to buy 5 doz shirts , so I tried to talk him into the heat press. He wasn't interested so I made a go at it.

 

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wetkiwi

cool. not meaning the above as an attack i have huge respect for anyone who starts a business.

 

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kimura-mma

Quote: Originally Posted by wetkiwi Ok, so I've noticed that a lot of people in the T-shirt industry are really jaded with new comers. The feeling I get is they're sick of people who haven't got the designs/business plan/$$ to properly start up a business.....

This is the type of business where it's easier to get started than to actually follow through and execute a business plan well enough to be successful. Everyone is starry-eyed in the beginning. So for people who have been there and done that, perhaps they do come off as jaded. But I've found most people in this forum to be very creative, professional and helpful to others. Many times the jaded attitude you are referring to, is just people being honest and realistic.

Quote: Originally Posted by wetkiwi I've also noticed a lot of people on here have a lot of advice to give but not much experience to back it up.

That is the nature of the beast with free public internet forums. Anyone and everyone are allowed to join in to give and receive advice regardless of experience and level of success achieved in the industry. It's not like this is a forum that claims the advice is being given exclusively by approved industry experts. That said, there are many people here who offer great advice based on many years of experience and success.

Quote: Originally Posted by wetkiwi What I'm interested to know is why did you or do you want to start up a clothing business (im talking mainly retail) did you have a good idea? did you find a niche? did you see someone else doing it and want to be like them or are you good at creating designs....

I voted for finding a niche, but the answer for me is really a combination of choices A, B and C. I've been design t-shirts for several years now and wanted to branch out and launch my own brands.

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OriginalShortees

I can understand why some hard working people in the industry may be frustrated with new business popping up. The reality is the barrier to entry is not high. If you have a design you can buy shirts and find a screen printer and be in business. As for myself, I finished business school and then spent two years evaluating ideas before settling on my business. I picked it because it serves a very specialized niche that was not being served (short men) and no one else was doing it. Since I have to design and manufacture the shirts it takes a good deal of capital, lots of patience and a real appreciation for the pain that my fellow short guys go through.

I would never discourage anyone from entering this business but it is not as easy to succeed as it seems. No one is getting rich on one good design idea.

 

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ShirlandDesign

I was a fine arts major in college. The instructors there (most with 8 year degrees, MFA's) assured us that you could make a living in the arts. However they all lived off of teaching. So applied arts seemed more realistic than fine art. I worked for a hand full of companies in composition (art dept.) and pre press, but the money was in the print run.

I worked for a guy who made enough money for me to live for a solid decade off of one design, and it was a knock off. For all the warnings about law suits, I saw a lot of out right plagiarism, let alone "quilts" as I called them, a look from one famous design, a tag line similar to another and so on. And this on national accounts, if there were repercussions it didn't show. Of course the owner himself sued a bit.

Anyway I did enough designs to know I could make people happy. It's a real thrill to see your design work out on the public. But a lot of the time what we produced was sales driven vanity work allowing the buyer to play artist, some really amateurish stuff that was an embarrassment to be involved with, in unimaginably large numbers. I can remember an order in excess of a thousand pieces, custom manufactured polos, (this was embroidery), and it was what looked to be a paragraph of 1/4" type sewn in black thread on a tight black and white herring bone pattern. It simply wasn't readable in any way. They took the order even after we showed them a sample, but it wasn't a repeat that's for sure.

Anyway, long story...well long at this point is that I knew if I had my chance, that I could make those people dance, and maybe they'd be happy for a while. lol. It took me a solid decade to tool up, lots of roadblocks and stuff happens along the way. I've been organized (LLC) for about a half year now, and I'm starting to get the bills paid with my own tools. I retail my designs, (small time stuff) and do some custom work, (hard to get) but it sure pays well when it does hit, depending on the setup I can generate a couple of hundred dollars an hour when my press runs. Which is no where near as often as I'd like. Currently I am setting up a direct response promotion that is scalable. It tested well a while back, we'll see. If just one promotion hits well, well... we'll see. I've got most of my life (and a little of my relatives money) invested in something that will be my retirement and remembrance, for better or for worse.

The business side is a darn site tougher than I would have thought. So many skill sets I thought I knew about, but you just don't know until your out there doing it. I have nothing but the greatest respect for those of you who have made a place for yourselves in this highly competitive field.

But here's the real kicker, to work up a client from a cold call, design a shirt for them that they literally dance with happiness when you deliver, to work all the steps in between and then get paid really well for doing something you would do for free is the best feeling in the world for me. Once all the business BS is handled and it is just me doing my job...

 

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ISC

Quote: Originally Posted by OriginalShortees No one is getting rich on one good design idea.

Ehh, they are out there. You know those "I love NY" shirts? Or "Jesus is my homeboy"... there's more. It's not likely, but if you are creative enough and with a bit of luck it could happen.

 

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jayarrsteiner

Wow @shirland.

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Solmu

I think in the end I started it to challenge myself, to get better at something I wasn't very good at but had always wanted to be (visual art).

I've always needed to create, and this was another outlet.

I didn't start because I was good at designing shirts, I started because I wanted to be good at designing shirts.

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Solmu

Quote: Originally Posted by ISC Quote: Originally Posted by OriginalShortees No one is getting rich on one good design idea. Ehh, they are out there. You know those "I love NY" shirts? Or "Jesus is my homeboy"... there's more.

I love NY was designed by Milton Glaser pro bono, and 'Jesus is my homeboy' is so copied that I seriously doubt the original designer is the one making bank off it.

Kind of proves ShirlandDesign's point - a lot of the money is in controlling production (whether it be of your own designs or someone else's), not merely coming up with a good idea.

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24hrvinyl

I came at it from a different angle. I started a sticker/decal business about 2 years ago, then got into making banners. I thought tshirts were cool and had been asked if I did them a few times, but I needed to raise some capital to get a press. I just ordered a DK20 yesterday, so I am pretty excited about starting a new branch of my business. I already have a few people who will want to place some orders, so I am looking forward to the process.

 

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bornover

I have always been t-shirt wearer and into what I think are really good t-shirts (tees with impressive artwork that are also about something I have a passion for). I started out as a hobby business for fun, not worrying about if it would make it big producing t-shirts, in a niche I know well. I love doing this and my business has branched out into more than just a line of clothing and is growing slowly in this very tough economic times.

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ShirlandDesign

Quote: Originally Posted by Solmu I love NY was designed by Milton Glaser pro bono, and 'Jesus is my homeboy' is so copied that I seriously doubt the original designer is the one making bank off it. Kind of proves ShirlandDesign's point - a lot of the money is in controlling production (whether it be of your own designs or someone else's), not merely coming up with a good idea.

I look at it this way, Paul McCartney didn't make a penny writing songs. But he made a bloody fortune packaging and selling them.

p.s. How does one go about acquiring minions?

 

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TreeGod

Quite simply... I'm getting into it to make money.

A friend and I are starting the business from the ground up. He is an incredible artist and has a mind for the design and the market... I'm handling the business end of it. We're not up and running yet, simply because we are trying to ensure that the foundation is built for success. We have designs and could have a website up and running tonight. But, we want to ensure that we are targeting the right market, producing properly so that we can hit a certain price point and turn over a profit, establishing the company, building a cash position, etc, etc, etc... then we launch.

Best of luck to everyone in here! You've all been a great help so far! I'll let ya know how it goes.

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