the cup is full to the RIM, what do you do ?

Never, never, never, ever stop selling. Find a way to get it done. Job it out, push the smaller profit items back in your schedule, hire someone to help, but never stop selling.

As an example, we needed a shirt monogrammed. We dropped it off at our local embroidery shop and he called and said 2 weeks. I told him I would pick it up and take it someplace else because I had to ship it and he said 2 days. All that for $4.50. Now, he does a lot of overflow work for us and items we don't do ourselves but he figured a dollar is a dollar on the bottom line and if he could push us off he would, otherwise he pushed someone else off.

Take the work and find a way to get it done. You never know when you will be sitting around waiting for work and not making anything.

Yep, I would probably job it out. Although I have also turned down work before.

make sure you job it out to a quality driven biz. remember all job outs still represent your biz and how well you keep other quality producers in you rolodex.

TshirtKing said:

make sure you job it out to a quality driven biz. remember all job outs still represent your biz.

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that makes a lot of sense.

so what do you do ?

you free up production time for regular clients cause you know that they will need stuff made for the holiday season, then you're left with X amount of hours to add new clients... beyond that the cup is full.

do you take the risk of out-source or simply say sorry all booked up ?
...or raise your prices (good clients dont mind paying more cause they know you get the job done)...or do you expand and deal with the " risk " of losing control because your company is now running and dependent on your management team decisions (since you cant be everywhere at the same time).

any thoughts ?

look into hiring and intern and teaching them everything you know about running a business and printing. i'm sure there are lots of people who would be willing to work in a full set up.

plus, an extra set of hands to help do things like run to the post office, pack junk, and have good conversation to pass the time never hurts!!!

zagadka said:

look into hiring and intern and teaching them everything you know about running a business and printing. i'm sure there are lots of people who would be willing to work in a full set up.

plus, an extra set of hands to help do things like run to the post office, pack junk, and have good conversation to pass the time never hurts!!!

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haha...funny.

we do take them on, im one of them. LOL

So, are you saying expand and take on new staff and add a few more production lines ? ... and start filling a " new cup ". ?

How much filling of this " new cup " will be required in order to make the Expansion Worth IT ? ... i know if its only to cover cost its not really worth it i would think.

I don't take wholesale orders. Only do retail, where I make the most profit per shirt.

Very rarely have I turned down an order - and if I did - it was usually a two-fold problem. Sometimes you 'just know' you're gonna eat one once in awhile?? Listen to the little voice, and if it's talkin' to you: turn the order down.

Usually, but not always, the people in the biggest rush and sounding like "money is no object" are the ones who will stiff you - or make you work to collect. A LOT of my business is repeat and I cater to those people first, if I can without making myself crazy. IF I'm getting behind...the prices start to go up for new people.

I do only retail too, and I've toyed with putting up a sign: GOOD, CHEAP, FAST. Pick only two! Pretty much says it all, in my book.

quilterk8 said:

IF I'm getting behind...the prices start to go up for new people.

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good point.

so its not uncommon to let people know you are not the cheapest and that Volunteer Slavery of making 25 cents per shirt is not part of game.
That was my first instinct, raise the prices or simply say we are all booked up. This way I can take the kids to soccer too.

But then again, why not expand the biz? I do know that running multiple retail stores ( a chain ) you need A LOT of energy and 16 hr days. Not everyone can do it im sure but some do...do it.

Is it safe to say that expanding will mean more work for yourself ? if so, then its all about how much work...you as the BOSS can take on without losing it and falling off the game.

am i on track here ?

Do many people here use manufacturers to produce their t-shirts or do they do it by themselves with a printer? I'm curious about this as I get the feeling so many people work with their own printers....

Do many people here use manufacturers to produce their t-shirts or do they do it by themselves with a printer?

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There are many people that do both here at the forums Some outsource and some do it themselves (or run a business that does it).

But this topic is more about what to do with your "excess" business should you find yourself in that happy predicament

If your t-shirt business was a serious venture then taking any orders makes sense. I don't think wholesale orders would come along that often and I dont think that many small retailers would have unethical policies such as child labour for their products. Ethics vs. Business....who wins when you need money for rent and food. Although my business partner did give me the example of selling army uniforms or military style gear to kids in Africa. I'd consider it as an option but its a complex issue and for me it would depend on the type of target market. Taking a order that would take food from kids....then no. But I'm getting way too ethical here. Back to the business side topic.

hongkongdmz said:

If your t-shirt business was a serious venture then taking any orders makes sense.

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... I cant see that not being true since you still need to deliver the goods in a such manner that will NOT put you out of business.

A good example of peeps taking orders that they cant deliver are when sales people show you great full color catalogs, you place the pre-booked order only to find out down the road that they will not be able to supply because there were not enough order to make it worth it.

Now you are in the middle of that selling season, without stock, and the options to buy in-season goods at this time is SLIM. You're too late to book orders with other suppliers and you can only choose from seasonable left overs.

Thats the problem..... delivery of goods/quality need to be consistant. thats more serious than simply writing up Purchase Orders. .... i think.

LucyRoberts said:

curious to know how you peeps handle more work ?
in other words, you are set up to produce X amount of shirts/transfers per day.
You get additional orders beyond your capability etc. What do you do ?
turn away jobs or expand production lines, hire new staff etc.... what do you do ?

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Havent run into that problem but came close.... I have two presses and a Large conveyor dryer big enough to handle both presses... Usually one press is enough to handle the day to day printing but when large orders come in [3000 +]
One press is dedicated to the large order while the second press keeps the day to day orders flowing..... Side benefit is multiple orders are set up on one press and while its being used ...multiple orders are set-up on second press with no down time..... same person can move to second press when finished with orders on current one... This simple setup has seen us thru the busiest of times with no orders having to be pushed back.... It also allows us to take on contract printing for some local shops that only have one press, when they get backed up...
If the day ever comes that I can keep two presses running 8 hours a day, I would be too busy shopping for retirement condos in the bahamas to consider expanding LOL

Squirts said:

I would be too busy shopping for retirement condos in the bahamas to consider expanding LOL

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lol, these hypathetical type threads are a dream.

Rodney said:

But this topic is more about what to do with your "excess" business should you find yourself in that happy predicament

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During the Holiday season for example, the cup could overflow.
I think the question is do you start a new cup ? and how much of this new cup needs to be filled with extra sales in order to go forward.

Is a new 1/2 cup of new sales/customers etc... enough ? or too little ?

T-BOT said:

curious to know how you peeps handle more work ?
in other words, you are set up to produce X amount of shirts/transfers per day.
You get additional orders beyond your capability etc. What do you do ?
turn away jobs or expand production lines, hire new staff etc.... what do you do ?

Click to expand...

Well, I believe I saw some of your posts very late last night going into this morning so I think that's how we do it. I've gotten about 4 hours of sleep all week. My daughters aren't old enough to help yet and I can't quit my day job just yet.

I've just tried to get more organized so I can get more done in the same amount of time.

diggler - staying off the boards will help save tme whahahahaha

Fluid said:

diggler - staying off the boards will help save tme whahahahaha

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Actually, I'm mainly on the boards during my day job when I can't do my other stuff. But also, staying off the boards would not allow me to learn things from these people that will help me save time down the road.