Well john, thats what a lot of people do.They aren't stupid, just untrained in business. So maybe instead of getting shocked,(or laughing at them) try lending a hand (knowledge) Please don't be one of the "elitist" types that turn so many people off and discourage them. They may have made their choices in a different sequence and their choice may not be the best, but we should help those in need, not make them feel small. You might be surprised how little it takes to hurt feelings and turn people off.
IEP I wish I could be some help to you but I'm still trying to figure out where I can find a niche for myself and haven't gotten as far as getting a web presence yet, or even done research to know what is out there. I started to get going by a few things I found online and then found that their opinions about quality and feel and durability were different than mine and am still coming to grips with learning more,different, and hopefully more profitable things to make and offer customers. My "original" plans were to do picture transfers on T-shirts at festivals and flea markets but I'm not real happy with the quality and lasting ability of the light transfers and the feel of the dark transfers is another problem. I have since branched out into rhinestone designs and am looking to buy a vinyl cutter to make a more varied offering in the shirt end of my business and the cutter will also get me into the sign and banner business. I know this sounds like a hap hazard way of getting things started but thats the way it worked out for me. Knowing what I know now, I would have started with the vinyl sign business first and added shirts later if there was need for additional products if needed but I had to buy the heat press and large format printer to discover that the transfers hadn't come as far with quality as some other people figured. Oh well, they will work out. The heat press does great setting heat set rhinestones on shirts and I will be making name and number shirts for local children's sports teams with heat press vinyl when the cutter comes. And I will get the sign, banner, and decal business going too. Now the business plan, as far as it goes, is to still do festivals and flea markets to get known and put out a lot of business cards. One thing on the business cards. Get some good ones. Don't cheep out on them . They are the reminder of who you are and I personally don't want my reminders to scream "this guy is cheep and quality is not important".
Anyway, this is just me and I am in no way an educated person so take what you can use and maybe keep the rest in the back of your memory in case something may come up in the future. Good luck.
