I'm glad i took the time to read through this thread. I'm young and have been dreaming over my own line for the past 5 years. I'm finally waiting for a few other things in my life to come to a close before i take the leap. Thank you's is in order to anyone who posted anything in this thread. January of 2009 will be the beginning of a new life.
My own wisdom when I first started off. Buy a professional screen printer if you plan to go in this profession to make money. I tried to make my own and lets just say I made way to many mistakes on a handmade screen printer.
I agree with one the comments that buying in bulk t shirts will save you money in the long hall instead of buying shirts when a job is requested. I normally carry a few colors 100 shirts in each color in inventory. Also if you do a job that has a shirt color you normally don't order buy extras. The last thing you want is having to pay shipping for extra shirts you may have made a mistake on.
Talk with other local screen printers. A friend of mine recommended me to do this and its actually bosted my sales because the larger screen printers dont want the smaller jobs. And knowing when to say no if its not cost effective or your not able to meet the timeline needed.
Can anyone tell me about the young entrepreneurs grant?
I have a tshirt business and have for the past two years. I'm 17 and I think that I am eledgable for the grant but I don't know anything else about it and all my research has led me nowhere.
All true & Let me tell you, I own a printing business & we do t-shirts on the side, I am 47 years old & have been involved in at least 5 ventures in my business carrier & can tell you the diversity you face in screen printing is like no other industry. You can do so much & the industry is changing so fast. I wish I was 20 again & could start it all over. (anyone has an old time machine for sale?)
Last edited by Solmu; October 18th, 2008 at 09:13 AM.
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All true & Let me tell you, I own a printing business & we do t-shirts on the side, I am 47 years old & have been involved in at least 5 ventures in my business carrier & can tell you the diversity you face in screen printing is like no other industry. You can do so much & the industry is changing so fast. I wish I was 20 again & could start it all over. (anyone has an old time machine for sale?)
only regret what you have never taken a chance on is my rule.
Great post! My buddy and I have been at this clothing business for almost 2 and a half years, and we're still trying to make ends meet. So to anyone thinking of starting their own business, just be ready for the harsh reality that it might take a bit longer then you expected. If you're ready for a harsh reality, then it's much easier to deal with then thinking it's gonna be fast and exactly the way you planned. Like so many other company's, we've got a business plan, a biz loan, registered the company with the state, got inventory, and tried to think longterm and plan plan plan. The problem with all of this in my experience, is that the core of our business got the least amount of time (meaning focusing on tee's and to whom and how to sell them) and we got caught up in focusing on all of the other things. Looking back on this very difficult but extremely rewarding experience, I would suggest to start small and grow big as you figure out how things work. We spent so much money and time into getting a bunch of shirts with different designs in our store, that once we got them in there, we had a very small audience of our friends and family members to sell to, and ended up up with lots of shirts, but had a hard time moving them. I would say if you're just starting out, print maybe 10-15 shirts of different sizes and colors of the blanks, and see what people respond to best. When you move those shirts, print a bit more, and try to figure out what works and what doesn't, without having to cash out $500-$100 for 50 shirts. Once you get going, and start building a customers base, then you can take more chances with what and how much you print. This is the core of any t-shirt business, and no matter how much money you have, if you're not selling what you print, it'll be impossible to keep up with the bills. When you have a strong core of your business set, then I would worry about all of the rest of the things. There is enough to figure out as far as starting a business, so keep it small and simple at first, and let the growth of your business expand what and how much you do. When you're a small company just starting out, nobody's is really paying attention to you. So get some dope shirts out first, then worry about all of the logistics. Hope this helps.
Great post! My buddy and I have been at this clothing business for almost 2 and a half years, and we're still trying to make ends meet. So to anyone thinking of starting their own business, just be ready for the harsh reality that it might take a bit longer then you expected. If you're ready for a harsh reality, then it's much easier to deal with then thinking it's gonna be fast and exactly the way you planned. Like so many other company's, we've got a business plan, a biz loan, registered the company with the state, got inventory, and tried to think longterm and plan plan plan. The problem with all of this in my experience, is that the core of our business got the least amount of time (meaning focusing on tee's and to whom and how to sell them) and we got caught up in focusing on all of the other things. Looking back on this very difficult but extremely rewarding experience, I would suggest to start small and grow big as you figure out how things work. We spent so much money and time into getting a bunch of shirts with different designs in our store, that once we got them in there, we had a very small audience of our friends and family members to sell to, and ended up up with lots of shirts, but had a hard time moving them. I would say if you're just starting out, print maybe 10-15 shirts of different sizes and colors of the blanks, and see what people respond to best. When you move those shirts, print a bit more, and try to figure out what works and what doesn't, without having to cash out $500-$100 for 50 shirts. Once you get going, and start building a customers base, then you can take more chances with what and how much you print. This is the core of any t-shirt business, and no matter how much money you have, if you're not selling what you print, it'll be impossible to keep up with the bills. When you have a strong core of your business set, then I would worry about all of the rest of the things. There is enough to figure out as far as starting a business, so keep it small and simple at first, and let the growth of your business expand what and how much you do. When you're a small company just starting out, nobody's is really paying attention to you. So get some dope shirts out first, then worry about all of the logistics. Hope this helps.
WOW thanks-
This is so me. I have no time to make the shirts and advertise. I spent way too much money up front on tags, and shipping packages, etc. w/no customers. Spent a ton of money trying to get all different style shirts of one design -my dream to fit every woman's figure-just spent all morning on phone-because I was ripped off by the merchant who was selling the manual credit card equipment-and to top that off their site is still up and running, and it comes up as https But the "s" ain't working-I called the company that handles their SSL and it is not active-so how many times have I thought getting a real job might pay me something-been going at this for 2 1/2 years- Got a trademark and someone unknowing infringed and it would be nice if I didn't have these problems. Sorry for venting-but I appreciate this e-mail very much, now, on the back end of all my mistakes
-Anyway question for the experienced: Do you recommend just sticking to white unisex to try out the designs? I am killing myself over shirt selection- Also when to know when to give up? I can't explain why I want to do this crazy business but I haven't made money yet, and spent quite alot
As Candyfloss and TracyT have experienced, Sales is probably the most important aspect of this whole business. Too many people get caught up in the artistic side of it thinking that since they have a great design it'll sell. As great as the design may be if you can't get it in front of the right people it'll go nowhere!
Do you have a website? I'd love to check it out. As far as giving up, when i read about that giants that made blockbuster business, all you hear is that it gets really bad before it gets better. So i would give up jsut yet. What I would recommend is that when something doesn't work, don't keep doing the same thing. That's insanity, right? So as long as you keep trying different things, you'll find something that works. I am no expert on womens clothing, but if you have a social network page for your biz, like myspace or facebook, I would ask the people on there. What would they like to see your designs printing on? See if there are any blogs of your target market, like people that you are trying to sell to, and ask around on there. I would pick one shirt selection that would work really great with your graphic, and just see how that goes. Get it made in small quantities, and see how it does. Gather all of the feedback, and try to do better next time. Best wishes...
__________________ Candy Floss: sweetest textile treats on the planet! www.richandfluffy.com
Oh yeah, forgot. Read some of the marketing threads on here, and try sending some samples to the blogs and reviews online. Getting reviewed is a great way to get some attention.
__________________ Candy Floss: sweetest textile treats on the planet! www.richandfluffy.com
Re: Things I wish I'd known from the start. 
Re: Things I wish I'd known from the start. 
