I have a question. I have multiple designs ready to print. I really need to take the plunge and I'm a bit nervous. Should I have my website before I have tangible products? Or should I start with the product and work on the website later? Help!
Hi Penny,
I think you need to do both at the same time! With no product, what would you put on your website? With no website, where would you market your product? I'd get at least a few finished shirts to post on your new site. Good luck!
Absolutely print your shirts first. Especially if your new to the screenprinting thing. Whats the use of someone buying your product when you don't even have the skills to print it. Even if you do know how to print, you should still have product inventoried just in case you have a "big rush" in sales when you post your site.
I totally agree with KAS. have a small inventory on hand even if its just a few shirts per design. if you happen to put up a real nice site and people start ordering you may get a little flustered if you dont have complete control on your supply methods. if you run into some problems when people are waiting for shirts itll be hell.
on the other hand if you got your shirts and no website you can still find ways to sell. and once your comfortable then you can work on your site simultaneously and once your comfortable just launch it.
Thanks for the input. I have 15 to 30 designs ready to print. I will not be printing myself but outsourcing to a printer. I don't know how much inventory to house if I have my website up simultaneously. This is a huge worry in the event that there is a demand for a particular design. It is also a cost issue. Most printers have minimums, the lowest I have found is 100. How many shirts would you recommend starting with?
I appreciate all your help John.
launch the website, create buzz, get visitors, get at least 10 orders and then make the shirts. For making customers wait long, throw in free shipping or some gift so that afterward when you have the shirts to sell you can still get those customers back.
Hi Penny
it depends on your market/marketing - are you going to pay for click advertising, or some local press to get people/traffic to your site, or are you relying on Google to index and get your site listed?
If you are doing PPC or more traditional marketing, then if you dont have any stock, at the very least make sure the printer is fully aware of your situation - ie you may contact him at short notice to get your designs printed.
If you are waiting for google to index your website, this can take anything from 1-6 months before you will start seeing google traffic coming to your site, which means you probably wont get any sales until you get listed.
Thanks for the input. I have 15 to 30 designs ready to print. I will not be printing myself but outsourcing to a printer. I don't know how much inventory to house if I have my website up simultaneously. This is a huge worry in the event that there is a demand for a particular design. It is also a cost issue. Most printers have minimums, the lowest I have found is 100. How many shirts would you recommend starting with?
I appreciate all your help John.
Penny
With 15-30 it would be difficult to keep that in inventory because there are too many designs and sizes to keep up with. If you got the money and space go for it, otherwise id say keep an inventory of your best designs and purchase inventory on an need basis until you get a feel for how your products are selling. Eventually get a JIT inventory going for all my business majors out there (i just wanted to use some business jargon i learned in college to make me feel better)
I have a question. I have multiple designs ready to print. I really need to take the plunge and I'm a bit nervous. Should I have my website before I have tangible products? Or should I start with the product and work on the website later? Help!
Penny
If you have the budget, you should do both. Many of my clients asked if you had a Web when my sales rep called to make a appointment.
Website or shirts first? 
