Hi from Washington, DC

Hi everyone,

A few days ago I went to the Jersey Shore and was amazed by the number of tshirt shops and the speed and quality of their shirt making. Every store had a couple of heating presses so you picked out the size and color of your shirt (sweatshirt, jersey, etc.), they pressed any of their designs on it and it was ready in about 30 seconds. I've been wanting to start a small business that doesn't require a huge capital investment and I think this might be it.

I've been reading the site for the past few days and love how helpful everyone is with each other. It really makes me think this could be a good industry to get started in.

I've already researched a few of my questions and gotten good information (what brands/types of heat presses to buy and how to find one used). I was wondering if anyone has any thoughts on opening a business from home and if so what are the best ways to find customers?

It seems like the internet is already saturated with tshirt stores so that would be a hard market to crack. I don't think any stores like I described seeing at the Jersey Shore already exist in DC so my goal would be to eventually have a similar store. I figure marketing to youth or adult sports leagues might be a way to pay for a heat press till I can get into the more creative sayings on tshirts or custom logos.

The other way into the business I've noticed from reading the boards is uploading original designs to a store like cafepress where they do everything, you direct your customers there and get paid based on whatever markup you set. This seems like an easy way try out original designs.

I'm open to any advice and would love to hear from anyone in the Washington DC area especially.

Thanks in advance for all the help anyone can offer.