Some "great ideas" do take "great plans"....And so many of those "great ideas" never launch because they spend way too much time "planning" and not enough time "getting it done"......Good luck to all!....
Once you're done planning, then do what you planned!
Planning is the hard part. So many people just want to jump right in that they don't have a clue as to what they're getting into.
Then when they're confronted with something they never thought about, because they didn't plan, they're stuck. Their business stalls, or worse fails, because they got to a point where they encounter something and don't know how to deal with it properly.
A well though out business plan isn't to get financing and help draw investors, it's there to help the business owner state their goals/missions, and is laid out on paper to help them stay focused on those things.
It's simply a plan of how things are going to work, how your business is going to grow, and what you're going to do to make sure it happens.
It doesn't have to take you weeks to write it either. It can be as simple or detailed as you need it to be. It can also change over time.
But, if you're serious about entering certain segments of t-shirt selling without one, you're severely limiting your chances of success.
I want everyone here to succeed. That's why I've been here so long. I've gotten help along the way and now I'm here to continue to help others. I've seen MANY times over what it takes to make it and what has driven people to failure. I've talked to successful people on the phone from this forum, and counseled those struggling. I'm not just throwing stuff out there for the sake of it.
Planning is the single most common thread between failure and success for segments of the t-shirt market. And with today's tools, coming up with a plan is much simpler and easier than it's ever been.
To the OP, if you're serious about your success, I would encourage you to take a step back. You can be successful by starting with 2 designs. I've seen it happen with people that joined this forum.
But, you've got find your niche market and learn how to market to them. That's part of a good plan. Then once you do that, you can plan on how you're going to introduce new designs, and where that money is going to come from.
But, agreeing with Royce, don't let the planning stop you from acting. The planning is there just so that you can act smarter.
Along with planning the secondmost thing that is a common thread that separates successes from failures is marketing. Just putting up a website and connecting it to social media isn't going to cut it, I don't care how good your designs are.
Some people want to tell you to "just do it" without really knowing the challenges and pitfalls of your particular niche in the marketplace. They do something completely different than you, then think they have what it takes to tell you how to make your business work. The truth is they don't have a clue, because they don't deal with the same challenges that you do. They don't sell to the same people, they don't sell the same type of clothing, or even sell the same way that you do. They wouldn't know how to build a brand if someone gave them a blueprint on it.
Do some research on why most businesses fail in the first year. Take a look at why different people say that businesses fail. I guarantee you that most of those reasons will be because of lack of planning or closely related to not planning properly.
This is especially true in a market that is saturated like the t-shirt market is.
Plan how you're going to market your 2 designs, and then market and sell the crap out of them. Then figure out how you're going to get more. And this works whether you have 2 designs or 2 hundred.
There are some great marketing tips and strategies on this forum. Read through those and try to apply some of what you think might work to your business.
