Ok. My partners and I feel we are ready to hit the ground with our brand of t-shirts and other clothing. We have done basic market research, promotion, and will have an immediate local market to take advantage of. We both have full time jobs in other industries that are funding this adventure too.
Given the economy, we can't afford to quit and hit the ground with all the energy required to begin a true start up business. We are two local people that have a great idea, our market loves it, our designs appeal to the masses, and it could take off. We have a marketing and business models that are near complete. And we are finalizing our logo as we speak.
We need some advice on how to best start effeciently and within a budget. For example:
--Should we go for a full blown professionally designed web site with shopping cart etc that requires a serious investment for a product that hasn't been proven yet or should we look at fulfillment providers like CafePress to "test' the market and see where we are at before investing in a site...
--Can we still do our own web site with a portal to cafe press...
-- I am really nervous about keeping a lot of inventory on hand if this idea doesn't make it... So that is why I ask about Cafe Press and other companies to give me some confidence
--I have never screen printed a shirt in my life, if volume orders are high, does it make sense to start doing this myself or can we outsource that and still make a profit?
If you are able to find someone who can outsource for you for good price then that is a great way to start, but I could probably say 9 times out of 10 those who outsource typically end up getting into it, thats how I got into the business. CafePress seems like a good place to start, the more ways you can get out there the better, having your own website though will always be key for a mas success. Best of luck to you!
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The only one who can say you can't do something is you.
--Should we go for a full blown professionally designed web site with shopping cart etc that requires a serious investment for a product that hasn't been proven yet or should we look at fulfillment providers like CafePress to "test' the market and see where we are at before investing in a site...
Neither. Why go for either extreme? I think the mid-ground would be better: a small but professional website with a shopping cart that doesn't require a serious investment. Give your product a chance to shine, but don't spend all your money toward a product not yet proven.
It also partly depends what the plan is here. Do you have one great idea, and if that doesn't work that's it? Or do you currently have one great idea, and if that doesn't work you'll try some others? If it's the former, you'll want to try out the idea with as little investment risk as possible. If it's the latter, you can roll your website investment straight into the next product attempt if the first one fails.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SunGod
--Can we still do our own web site with a portal to cafe press...
Yes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SunGod
-- I am really nervous about keeping a lot of inventory on hand if this idea doesn't make it... So that is why I ask about Cafe Press and other companies to give me some confidence
You have a local market to take advantage of, and capital. I don't think Cafepress makes sense.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SunGod
--I have never screen printed a shirt in my life, if volume orders are high, does it make sense to start doing this myself
Not at all. Self-printing is a cost cutting exercise. It's a great way to start, but once you're at the point where volume orders are "high" you'd be looking at outsourcing printing to save time even if you knew how to print yourself.
Thanks for the info. I think we are going to try cafe press to start while we build a site. Our marketing will point to the cafe press site so hopefully we will see some hits that lead to sales. Thanks
We are almost ready... 
