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One of the cool new features of our T-ShirtForums newsletter is the "Featured Member" section.
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This section is our chance to showcase some of our helpful and knowledgeable members from all over the world. Hopefully this will help the community get to know a bit more about the helpful "faces" they see here at T-ShirtForums.com
Our next Featured Member is Tyler, known on the forums as @bomber315
Do you remember when and why you originally joined T-ShirtForums.com?
I'm not sure if there was any one particular reason why I joined the forum. Besides the fact I believe that with enough research anything can be learned on the internet. I am a part of many forums including ones for, my four wheeler, my snowmobiles, and even my daily driver car. I actually managed to remove the transmission from my car, replace a bearing IN it, and drive it for another 40K miles and counting. It is things like that, that you can learn in a forum with enough reading. Joining a t-shirt forum shortly after buying equipment seemed like a no brainer. The only thing I regret was not joining sooner.
What type of t-shirt business do you run?
Right now my business is a part-time operation. I have my equipment set up in my friends finished attic, it is less than 200 sq. ft. I generally try to print 1 job per week, but sometimes have a hard time getting them all lined up.
In the future I would like to make screen printing become a full time source of income. However, at this point in the game I find it difficult to give up my full time job with benefits, 401K, and paid vacation to jump into the world of self employment and uncertainty.
I am currently looking for a shop that also has a bedroom, bathroom, and a toaster oven so that I can expand and call it home, literally. That is proving to be much easier said than done in my small town/ area.
Mainly Black Dog Ink, prints "preordered" shirts. Shirts for sports teams, clubs, special events, and business. Basically just selling to a single person. Not a clothing line, which in my opinion is nearly always a dead end street.
Do you have a website?
Currently I do not have a website, although one would very much benefit me. There is an old saying "The Cobbler's Children Have No Shoes", and I believe this is where my issue lies. After working 8 hours on computers then going home and doing whatever needs done for the screen printing business, I find it hard to get motivated to open Dreamweaver.
How long have you been in business?
Black Dog Ink started in May of 2010. So nearly 2 years. It seems like much longer. But I still get very excited to print the first shirt of a new design, and more excited when I collect checks.
What was your reason for getting into the t-shirt business?
Originally I wanted to get into printing shirts to make shirts for parties. I did some research and realized the profit potential and decided to go for it as a legit business. At the time I was working my current job as well as delivering pizzas on the weekends. This generally led to me having no life and significantly racking up the miles on my car. (deliveries averaged 4 miles round trip here in my "middle of nowhere" area) It was time for a change. Now I sell t-shirts to my old boss, haha.
What was one of your biggest obstacles and how did you overcome it?
My biggest obstacle, was and still is book keeping. Every quarter I get more organized. I have had many, many other obstacles along the way but most have been easily overcome with the help of this forum or my broad knowledge. That may come off as a little arrogant, but I don't believe a lot of people feel as comfortable with grease all over their hands as they do with ink. I am a jack of all trades, master of NONE. Sometimes this helps a person and sometime it hurts.
What's the best piece of advice you've given or been given?
The best piece of information I have been given, at least about screen printing, is how to easily register multiple screens. Before someone clued me in to taping a positive onto the platen and lining the screens up to it, it would take be FOREVER to print, flash, bump, tap, print, flash, swear, loosen, bump, print, flash, throw something...
The best advice I could give is to think outside the box. Just because something is generally done one way doesn't mean it is the easiest or the best way. Screen printing is an art, which means nothing is set in stone. If there was one way to do it, then it would be a science. I think a lot of people use those phases and never stop to think about what they are actually saying.
Anything else you'd like to add?
No Im good haha
==
Feel free to use the replies area below to say Hi to Tyler or to ask any follow up questions about his answers or his screen printing journey.
Want to be featured in an upcoming newsletter? Fill out the form here!
This section is our chance to showcase some of our helpful and knowledgeable members from all over the world. Hopefully this will help the community get to know a bit more about the helpful "faces" they see here at T-ShirtForums.com
Our next Featured Member is Tyler, known on the forums as @bomber315
8 Questions with Tyler (@bomber315) from Black Dog Ink
Do you remember when and why you originally joined T-ShirtForums.com?
I'm not sure if there was any one particular reason why I joined the forum. Besides the fact I believe that with enough research anything can be learned on the internet. I am a part of many forums including ones for, my four wheeler, my snowmobiles, and even my daily driver car. I actually managed to remove the transmission from my car, replace a bearing IN it, and drive it for another 40K miles and counting. It is things like that, that you can learn in a forum with enough reading. Joining a t-shirt forum shortly after buying equipment seemed like a no brainer. The only thing I regret was not joining sooner.
What type of t-shirt business do you run?
Right now my business is a part-time operation. I have my equipment set up in my friends finished attic, it is less than 200 sq. ft. I generally try to print 1 job per week, but sometimes have a hard time getting them all lined up.
In the future I would like to make screen printing become a full time source of income. However, at this point in the game I find it difficult to give up my full time job with benefits, 401K, and paid vacation to jump into the world of self employment and uncertainty.
I am currently looking for a shop that also has a bedroom, bathroom, and a toaster oven so that I can expand and call it home, literally. That is proving to be much easier said than done in my small town/ area.
Mainly Black Dog Ink, prints "preordered" shirts. Shirts for sports teams, clubs, special events, and business. Basically just selling to a single person. Not a clothing line, which in my opinion is nearly always a dead end street.
Do you have a website?
Currently I do not have a website, although one would very much benefit me. There is an old saying "The Cobbler's Children Have No Shoes", and I believe this is where my issue lies. After working 8 hours on computers then going home and doing whatever needs done for the screen printing business, I find it hard to get motivated to open Dreamweaver.
How long have you been in business?
Black Dog Ink started in May of 2010. So nearly 2 years. It seems like much longer. But I still get very excited to print the first shirt of a new design, and more excited when I collect checks.
What was your reason for getting into the t-shirt business?
Originally I wanted to get into printing shirts to make shirts for parties. I did some research and realized the profit potential and decided to go for it as a legit business. At the time I was working my current job as well as delivering pizzas on the weekends. This generally led to me having no life and significantly racking up the miles on my car. (deliveries averaged 4 miles round trip here in my "middle of nowhere" area) It was time for a change. Now I sell t-shirts to my old boss, haha.
What was one of your biggest obstacles and how did you overcome it?
My biggest obstacle, was and still is book keeping. Every quarter I get more organized. I have had many, many other obstacles along the way but most have been easily overcome with the help of this forum or my broad knowledge. That may come off as a little arrogant, but I don't believe a lot of people feel as comfortable with grease all over their hands as they do with ink. I am a jack of all trades, master of NONE. Sometimes this helps a person and sometime it hurts.
What's the best piece of advice you've given or been given?
The best piece of information I have been given, at least about screen printing, is how to easily register multiple screens. Before someone clued me in to taping a positive onto the platen and lining the screens up to it, it would take be FOREVER to print, flash, bump, tap, print, flash, swear, loosen, bump, print, flash, throw something...
The best advice I could give is to think outside the box. Just because something is generally done one way doesn't mean it is the easiest or the best way. Screen printing is an art, which means nothing is set in stone. If there was one way to do it, then it would be a science. I think a lot of people use those phases and never stop to think about what they are actually saying.
Anything else you'd like to add?
No Im good
haha==
Feel free to use the replies area below to say Hi to Tyler or to ask any follow up questions about his answers or his screen printing journey.
Want to be featured in an upcoming newsletter? Fill out the form here!
