Discuss the fun task of marketing a t-shirt shop. Where to advertise, link building, word of mouth, press releases, search engine marketing, keyword advertising, magazines, etc.
Hey, I haven't been here for a while, wow. Life changed in some ways and discussing t-shirt business wasn't on my mind.
Anyway, here's a question: to be or not to be? ))
I've started my little t-shirt venture last September. So far I have made 4 designs 2 of which I printed and sell on my site. I've sold a few dozens shirts so far. And lately I sell them for $35/ea (incl. delivery). The reason I increased my price (used to sell for $25) is because I don't have cash to print more designs or even same designs, so they sell less at $35 but it gives me time to do something about it. I have about 50-70 visits a day on my site, mostly coming from Google and Yahoo.
Anyway, since I started this thing a few things happened, including other projects. Generally I'd say I don't have energy for the t-shirt venture any more. I guess if I had more money and freedom to make more designs and spend more on marketing, I'd be spending more time on it. Now it just flows uncontrolled. So what would you recommend? Finding more money (borrow, find investor etc.) or shutting it down for good? Thing is that I even have a couple new designs in mind, with a new theme, but as I said, if I start working on them I'd have to spend more money and keep spending my time on this project. What do you think I should do? I don't know what to do, honestly, and I don't even have a desire to think about it much, 'cause I'm quite overwhelmed with my job and life in general.
. So what would you recommend? Finding more money (borrow, find investor etc.) or shutting it down for good? Thing is that I even have a couple new designs in mind, with a new theme, but as I said, if I start working on them I'd have to spend more money and keep spending my time on this project. What do you think I should do? I don't know what to do, honestly, and I don't even have a desire to think about it much, 'cause I'm quite overwhelmed with my job and life in general.
It sounds like you don't really have the time and passion for it at the moment. If you really don't want to think about it anymore, you could try closing it down or selling the business.
However, you never really know what life is going to throw at you. If you're fine with a slow trickle of sales, it might be worth it just to leave the site up and fufill the orders that you have. You may find yourself with more time and energy for the project in the future, in which case, you might kick yourself if you shut it down or sold it (since you'd have to start from scratch).
Only you know how much more you really want to put into it...
There certainly comes a point when it's better to cut your losses. Most of the time we don't see how a business fails (other than our own), and people are frequently dishonest about it or lack the proper perspective afterward. That lack of information makes it harder to make these decisions. You do have to ask yourself though... is this how it begins?
I certainly wouldn't want to encourage pessimism without knowing your situation - maybe this is just one of those temporary things you need to ride out. It's just something to consider.
I agree with Rodney that the best thing to do for now might be to just leave things as they are. If it's not causing a financial loss that's going to get you in deeper, and it's not running at a level you can't handle, then leaving it as it is allows you the time to think it over, hopefully get some perspective, etc.
It sounds like you're depressed at the moment, and have reason to be. If it's possible to put this decision off without doing any harm to your life, that might be a good idea. If putting this decision off is going to make matters worse, it might be best to have a clean break so that you can concentrate on other concerns.
In this situation I wouldn't want to push you in one direction or the other though.
personally I find a buisness needs lots of love and energy on a daily basis to make it work. Without it or the lack of it, the depressing factor starts taking over. You need to enjoy it, be it the challenge, sales or whatever....
I think you have a good thing going there with plenty potential. Could you take a short break instead of quitting cold turkey? You mentioned you don't have enough cash to fulfill any more orders - maybe you could put up a message on your site stating that for such and such (somethign neutral, not to alarm the customers) reasons the product will not be available until such date. Or that due to some other reason all the orders are backordered until such date. This would give you some time to take a little break from it. You could even make it sound as if you are "out of stock" because of the popularity of the product etc. IN the meantime still keep an eye on it, track the visitors. Ask the site visitors to email you feedback, questions, comments re: the changes that have occured. See what the reaction is - maybe there are some great fans of your line that are willing to support you and wait patiently to see more of your stuff come out.
I think you have a good thing going there with plenty potential. Could you take a short break instead of quitting cold turkey? You mentioned you don't have enough cash to fulfill any more orders - maybe you could put up a message on your site stating that for such and such (somethign neutral, not to alarm the customers) reasons the product will not be available until such date. Or that due to some other reason all the orders are backordered until such date. This would give you some time to take a little break from it. You could even make it sound as if you are "out of stock" because of the popularity of the product etc. IN the meantime still keep an eye on it, track the visitors. Ask the site visitors to email you feedback, questions, comments re: the changes that have occured. See what the reaction is - maybe there are some great fans of your line that are willing to support you and wait patiently to see more of your stuff come out.
That's exactly what I was trying to figure out how to say! If you have even the slightest thought of getting back into it, I wouldn't shut it down, cause you'll hate it later. Never give up because of some obstacles, which may be huge for you now, but once you get past them everything will fall into place. Good luck.
What I would say is you'd better keep on doing your buiness, a new business will certian meet these and those problems, that's common. What you need to do is find out where the problems came out, sales,marketing or whatever. I saw you sold some t-shirts, see, you've got an good starting. if you have financial crisis, you can get a part-time job for earning enough money to maintain your own business. I saw you said you have some good designs or ideas, why not sold your designs to others? That's worthy to do.
I encourage you not to make a hasty decission. I would wait a little while. After all tomorrow is another day..... Good luck and best wishes................ JB
You can always switch over your business model to print on demand, that would save $$ on inventory and allow you to focus on getting more designs and marketing for your site.
hey everyone, thanks for your thoughts.
Yes I guess I will try to keep this thing going until I can afford to spend more time on it. And no, there's no drama in my life, and I do have a job, it's just other things really distracted me.
By the way, it was quite interesting, when I started this t-shirt venture last September, I think I overstressed myself about it (trying to work everything out on my own - I'm the only one involved in it, except the printers). So after about a month and a half after I started, I got just got depressed and apathetic about the t-shirt line, I even refused thinking about. I know why it happened - 'cause as I said, I stressed myself out too much and I was thinking about it day and night. And yes, after a few weeks or a month my positive spirit came back.
It's easy to let the business become "all consuming".
Most of us I think got into this business for the fun, creativity, and and potential independence from our everyday jobs. - With the hopes that it will become a full-time thing.
But if you... like me have a bunch of things on the go; it's very easy to spread yourself too thin, and things become unbalanced. When this happens, I find it becomes a stressful venture, rather than a fun one.
So I guess my advice would be to not over-think it. If your site is up, and you have product to sell, keep it going. And when the time comes where you feel like working at it more... you will.
It shouldn't be a stressful thing. We're hawking t-shirts....
Closing t-shirt business? 
