so new I haven't even started

122 Views 7 Replies 4 Participants Last post by MAXDesign, Mar 9, 2014

demonfauria

Discussion Starter · Mar 9, 2014

Hello,
I am looking into starting a small t shirt operation. I want to be able to make t shirts for my softball teams and other things I get myself into that would be cool if we had shirts of our own. I want to start screen printing and also sublimation.

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treefox2118

· #2 · Mar 9, 2014

Learn how to design first! Seriously, that's the biggest step.

Then, you can buy a heat press. I suggest a quality heat press -- check out @proworlded on here, their support is insanely good.

Once you have design skills and a quality heat press, you can buy plastisol transfers from a vendor here. They'll do the hard work, you just order garments and press the plastisol right into the garment.

The quality is amazing, and your customers will come back again.

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calhtech

· #3 · Mar 9, 2014

demonfauria said:
Hello,
I am looking into starting a small t shirt operation. I want to be able to make t shirts for my softball teams and other things I get myself into that would be cool if we had shirts of our own. I want to start screen printing and also sublimation.

I started with a heat press, a small vinyl cutter an Epson 7010 (for transfers) and later added a cap press and a single color screen printing press. Corel Draw is a great piece of designing software. I create designs for Vinyl and Screen Printing with Corel. You'd be surprised how quickly you can be making money with some software, a heat press ( buy quality first or you'll be buying again real soon), and a vinyl cutter. I bought a Silhouette Cameo and that's the best money I ever spent. I may get a little larger cutter for Signs and Window decals, but I like the small footprint and portability of the Cameo. I have paid for this jewel about about once a week for the last 2 years

Welcome and good luck.

CalhTech>

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MAXDesign

· #4 · Mar 9, 2014

calhtech said:
I started with a heat press, a small vinyl cutter an Epson 7010 (for transfers) and later added a cap press and a single color screen printing press. Corel Draw is a great piece of designing software. I create designs for Vinyl and Screen Printing with Corel. You'd be surprised how quickly you can be making money with some software, a heat press ( buy quality first or you'll be buying again real soon), and a vinyl cutter. I bought a Silhouette Cameo and that's the best money I ever spent. I may get a little larger cutter for Signs and Window decals, but I like the small footprint and portability of the Cameo. I have paid for this jewel about about once a week for the last 2 years
Welcome and good luck.

CalhTech>

WOAH!...pretty much exactly how I have started out. I have a Silhouette Cameo, an Epson WF7015 and a Stahls Clam Basic heat press. I also use Coreldraw. Great and inexpensive setup for starting out. Only thing I'm struggling with is a business name! 😅

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calhtech

· #5 · Mar 9, 2014

MAXDesign said:
WOAH!...pretty much exactly how I have started out. I have a Silhouette Cameo, an Epson WF7015 and a Stahls Clam Basic heat press. I also use Coreldraw. Great and inexpensive setup for starting out. Only thing I'm struggling with is a business name! 😅

Yup, that's funny right there

I really just started as a hobby but its turned into a part time (sometimes full time) job. I own a computer repair shop (for 23 years now) that I have 4 employees working. I go in when they have a tough service call or I need to take care of something they can't. Mostly work on t-shirts, caps (or visors like I'm doing today), decals, fleece, etc. (Vinyl, Screen Print, Transfers) I work at home 7 days a week. Anyways I call myself CalhTech Interprises my last name is Calhoun

cause I do so many different things. I have had a hard time coming up with a name too.

CalhTech>

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MAXDesign

· #6 · Mar 9, 2014

calhtech said:
Yup, that's funny right there I really just started as a hobby but its turned into a part time (sometimes full time) job. I own a computer repair shop (for 23 years now) that I have 4 employees working. I go in when they have a tough service call or I need to take care of something they can't. Mostly work on t-shirts, caps (or visors like I'm doing today), decals, fleece, etc. (Vinyl, Screen Print, Transfers) I work at home 7 days a week. Anyways I call myself CalhTech Interprises my last name is Calhoun cause I do so many different things. I have had a hard time coming up with a name too.

CalhTech>

I finish my full time job at the end of this month and will be leaping into the business head first! Still not 100% on what I'm going to be concentrating on, but am thinking babies/ toddlers/ kids at the moment, as well as approaching local businesses. May well be investing in a cap press but mostly for doing sleeves, logos etc. Nice to see there are people out there doing well with a similar setup to me. Any valuable advice you can offer?!...

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calhtech

· #7 · Mar 9, 2014

MAXDesign said:
I finish my full time job at the end of this month and will be leaping into the business head first! Still not 100% on what I'm going to be concentrating on, but am thinking babies/ toddlers/ kids at the moment, as well as approaching local businesses. May well be investing in a cap press but mostly for doing sleeves, logos etc. Nice to see there are people out there doing well with a similar setup to me. Any valuable advice you can offer?!...

Good luck, I have had the luxury of having another business to LEAN on for income if necessary, but for the most part I am able to pay my salary with what I earn in my little "thsirtville". As for the cap press, I actually use it more for POLO pocket logos, dress shirts and then caps and visors. So it get used quite a bit either way. Glad I bought it. As for tips, try not to turn any job down. If you can't do it, sif if you can out source it. A dime on a dollar is better than giving it to a competitor and then losing the customer for ever. I realize sometimes that no always possible. But don't let 'em go with out a fight even if it means convincing them to do it another way

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MAXDesign

· #8 · Mar 9, 2014

calhtech said:
Good luck, I have had the luxury of having another business to LEAN on for income if necessary, but for the most part I am able to pay my salary with what I earn in my little "thsirtville". As for the cap press, I actually use it more for POLO pocket logos, dress shirts and then caps and visors. So it get used quite a bit either way. Glad I bought it. As for tips, try not to turn any job down. If you can't do it, sif if you can out source it. A dime on a dollar is better than giving it to a competitor and then losing the customer for ever. I realize sometimes that no always possible. But don't let 'em go with out a fight even if it means convincing them to do it another way

Cool...thanks for the advice😃. And good luck to you too...hopefully I will be in a similar position to you within the next few months.

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