Avier

Hi people, I just suscribed to the forum.

Here's my story:
6 months ago I started a geek e-shop in Argentina.
Since the tees I found in the market were not quality enough, I decided to go on my own, choosing the fabric, model, colors, etc. The shirt are of course made and also screen printed by other people on demand.
I already selled many tees outside the e-shop, people seems to be happy with the quality.
Price for a regular printed tee in argentina is u.s. dollars 10, I 'm selling mines @ 14.

But here is the real deal: I'm a 3D animator, working right now in a movie but we will be out of job in July. My e-shop is intended just a a funny business, does not give much. The main problem I have is that I depend on making screen prints and that takes money and time, and I cannot offer many designs, and I depend on having stock of all models, all sizes. It's money and sometimes, dead stock.


Since I lurked the web to learn about the tshirt market, I learned a lot and realized that maybe it's a nice investment.

After googling a lot in Argentina I discovered that there is only 2 business that works with vinil cutting and heat press in general and make tees on demand. There are more indeed, but those are big big sellers with they own trademark and the quality is sometimes quite bad (and the have the highest prices!).

So I am asking myself...should I buy a cut plotter, a heat press, a printer and start making my own tees, plus taking orders?

I know I have the skills (artist, technical stuff, focus on details etc), but it's a lot of money for me right now.

Here are some facts:
-I calculated an investment of 3500 dollars. Importing the machines to .ar means 50% taxes!! Not good.
-Argentina suffered a devaluation and now 1 dollar = 3 pesos. That means, it's 3 times harder to me to make that money! Not good.
-I met a few tees makers and they said that in case I can heat press their tees, they will have work for me. Good.
-It's a great advantage to not be depending on having the tees printed in stock. Taking an e-order, cut, press and send the tees is a nice money saver. Good
-I have the chance to place the machines in a nice studio, in a very artistic and commercial mall. And for very little money. Good.
-The machines are expensive, and I have to sell at a low price, but it's a big market 'cause Buenos Aires have 14 millons habitants. Not so good, not so bad
-In case the business fails, I think i could re-sell the machines quite easy. Not so good, not so bad
-In case the businees succeeds, in can put a guy working for me there for little money and that way I can go on with other business. Very Good
The bottom line is that maybe I can raise that money and put it to work. It will be hard and risky for me, but I like the adrenaline of it. I think that the good side of it, is that the cost of the machines is quite stable here and if I have to sell the machines, I will not loose much.
In other hands, I have no other business in my mind to put my money in.

I would like to know your opinions and what you think about my situation.
Is it a "no-no" or a "go for it!!!" ?

 

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tamiya

umm, where are your REAL facts... like:-

production cost (material cost per T)
running costs (rent, utilities, rates, staff wages)
projected turnover (how many will you sell - on month by month basis)
+
how much cash resources total do you have available

You need all these & more to draw up a proper cashflow forecast;
from this you can judge whether its worth going into business.

(Rule #1 with business... when you run out of cash, you get run out of business.)


Being where you are, have you considered where are you going to get
your raw materials supplied from? (eg shirts, vinyl, machine spares)
Are there any local suppliers or will you have to import everything too?


Machinery isn't cheap but is only a startup (oneoff, capitalised) cost.

Actual costs of making that shirt is what will hurt you in the long run
if you cannot control costs low enough to make a decent buck
selling at the pricepoint/s your market demands.

 

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