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dmartell1856 · June 19th, 2006

I've been thinking for about a month about starting my own screen printing business. So far, I have put $1000 in a small business checking account, bought the book Printing T-Shirts for Fun and Profit, and gotten several wholesale t-shirt catalogs. I'll be buying equipment and inventory soon, either from screenprintingsupplies.com, silkscreenbiz.com, or ebay, if I find the perfect deal. (Any input on these three equipment options is very welcome)

From the majority of the posts I've read on this site, most people that make t-shirts want to use their own designs, make a large quantity of them, and sell them one at a time. What I'm gearing up to do is more like a local print shop where little league teams, businesses, chuches, and other groups can get a custom design printed on high quality shirts for dirt cheap. I figure I can make 100% profit after operating costs this way, and I only do the work after I get the order, so I leave my shirt inventory unprinted, and ready for anything. I am a senior business major with experience in Marketing, so I know that I'll be good at a lot of the business aspects including marketing, but my question is: Has anybody in this forum had success with this sort of business plan on a small/medium scale? Thanks for your answers and any other advice/comments you might have about my plan.

Comin'OutSwingin · June 19th, 2006

Many people get into the business of screen printing shirts. I think I have found a way to make a good profit by offering screen printing services, without investing in the equipment and putting in the labor involved.

Check out my thread:

New Business Opportunity!

My printer made $200 from the transaction , and I made a little more than $400 profit. All with very little effort.

That 1 order has turned into 12 more since then, with the average order being about 200 shirts (I love family reunions!). Every customer has given me a deposit of half the total price. Also most had their own artwork, and the ones that didn’t paid extra for me to come up with something for them. I use the deposit to buy the shirts wholesale, which always leaves money left over. When my printer has the shirts finished, I pick them up and deliver them to the customer and collect the remaining balance.

I have made some very good money in just the last few weeks by offering screen printing services, without investing in the actual printing equipment. Or even investing the time it takes to learn to print. Or the time it takes to print the shirts up.

I have done very little work by contracting the printing out, and have turned a profit a lot faster than if I had equipment. Since I just stumbled into this, I now am getting a good marketing and business plan together, and hope it can flourish.

My point is unless the actual printing is something you want to learn and it’s something you want to do, it’s not the only way to approach the screen printing business.

By the way, welcome to the forums!

neato · June 19th, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by dmartell1856


	I'll be buying equipment and inventory soon, either from screenprintingsupplies.com, silkscreenbiz.com, or ebay, if I find the perfect deal. (Any input on these three equipment options is very welcome)

You'd be better off looking for used equipment. Try the classifieds at www.screenprinters.net. Look for a good, high quality, brand name press. (Hopkins, CAPS, Antec, Workhorse, etc.) If you look around, you could find a nice press for $500 - $1000. Build your own exposure unit, it's easy, and use a flash dryer to cure your shirts until you can afford a conveyor dryer.

Don't buy any cheap presses or screenprinting 'kits'. They are a waste of money. You will regret it.

Another idea is to build the press in the 'How to print...for fun and Profit' Book. It's not perfect, but will get you started and let you decide if you even like screen printing.