Last month I had to work evenings and weekends to get everything done towards the end of the month. I was working more than I wanted, but it is better than now. I've only done 10% so far this month of what I did last month. It's disappointing because I thought I was going to be able to hire an assistant, the way things were going.
I spoke with Neato from these forums a couple days ago. He was swamped when I was, and now it's slow for him, and for me.
Is it real slow for anyone else? I'm still getting a lot of interest, phone calls and emails, but not many solid orders. I've only had two this month! last month I had 20+.
Is this generally a slow time of the year? Schools are letting out, so I'm not getting any work from the university here that was giving me a good amount of work from different organizations.
What generally are the slowest and busiest times for screen printers?
Also, I heard that for some reason election years are off years. Anyone agree with that?
I just hope this slow period for me is a fluke, and will pass, and is not a reflection upon what may become a shaky economy where people skip an order of custom shirts to go with their event because they have tighter budgets, etc.
I think this will vary according to who your customer base is.
I do several Vacation Bible Schools during the summer, and those can be big jobs.
Summer sports camps can be big orders. Spring and fall are my biggest months.
But that could be different for others.
I would be patient, it takes time to build relationships with customers and for the word to get out. If you do good work, and provide good service, you will not have a problem.
If you are slow, and want more work, I would call one of your customers and ask if they know of anyone that needs shirts printed. That has worked for me many times.
It does depend on who your clients are and what you can print on. Our most challengeing time is from November to January where I print on wrestling uniforms for schools. It's non stop printing during that time and I feel like my hand falls off. It will not slow down till Febuary.
Sandy, you found a real niche there didn't you. Not many people can/or want to print on those singlets. You must do a good job, I know how these coaches talk to each other, and ask who printed their stuff, well, that's how the word gets around - quick
I've got lot's of bids out, but there is a lot of competition in the SP field. Buyers will go with another company for .05 cents a shirt less. I'm in this business to make a profit, not do favors.
Eric it was not easy getting to this stage. It took alot of ink tests and heat test to find the right combination. Since then our company has been off and running with the wrestling uniforms. T-shirts thu not so much. I'm having issues with that side of the house. I only had a few coaches ask us to do t-shirts for them. Even when we are in the slow time I get a steady order for wrestling uniforms to be printed on.
Well, we've been in business for 2 years this June, and April was our busiest month so far. May is only a little slower so far, but it's only half over. Post-Christmas thru February was the slowest we had experienced so far.
I've only been on my own for a little over a year. I was slow right before school started last year, but once that hit I was pretty busy thru Nov., then picked back up thru Jan. March was slow, April seemed really busy, but month I did more in 10 days than the whole month of April. VBS's, Landscapers, roofers (recent hailstorm brought them in!) reunions, etc. keep me busy through the spring & summer.
election years probably are off, overall higher cost of living might be hindering sales somewhat.
What may be "busy" may not be busy to others. You have to make sure you put it to scale. 20 orders a month could be busy for an individual, 2000 orders a month could be a none busy season to a larger shop.
But overall, it seems like it's slowing down due to several things: Schools letting out, people are planning vacations and not thinking of work, money could be tight and they are using it on other things. It should pick up again to normal rates after 4th of July. (That is...if everyone doesn't dish out money on their vacation!!!!)
Slow times of the year for screen printing 
