Merm, Justin. How NOT to Start a T-Shirt Company Kindle
Edition. 99 Cents
There are other Amazon Kindle books coverting t shirt
business.
Author lists mistakes
he made at first.
Write a decent
business plan. Use spreadsheets for
planning.
Startup Costs
Production Costs
Monthly Expenses
Register the business
name within your the state Think
URL as same name
Hire a CPA ….sales
tax….income tax. Etc.
Keep good records.
Have a backup of for
funds….to carry you forward.
Why limit your
niche…can include it with other targeted customers.
HOW TO SELL
T-SHIRTS PEOPLE WILL WANT TO BUY nOT
IN BOOK.
Your logo defines
your shop. using Adobe Illustrator. Learn it.
Use can also use
Udemy on line learning. Also youtube tutorials.
Screen
printing vs. Digital printing. ... Digital printingis a much
newer process that involves your artwork being processed by a computer, and
then printed directly onto the surface of your product. Digital printing is
not a heat transfer or appliqu'e, as the ink is directly adhered to the fabric
of your shirt.
You can use freelancers
in that line of work bid on your project. You decide based on their sample
work, Elance is a good source. Check
references what they produced?
Top 10 Elance T Shirt Designer Freelancers For Hire...
START SMALL. Start with few
styles and sizes. Don’t pretend to be
big.. Your fans will understand. Learn
as you grow.
People need to become
fans. They need to be your legion. They need to spread the word like wildfire.
Put out a few designs, and test them.
A good printer
service is a must but most stink…..
Threadbird does an incredible job. They
are meticulous and wonderful to work with.
Plastisol or
water-based ink, which you should use because plastisol feels terrible,
just hold your shirt up to the light and look through it. If you can see
through the fibers, it’s water-based.
Pricing
Cost x 2 = wholesale
x 2 = retail. It’s not always so cut and dry, but that’s the general rule of
thumb.
Also, use Square to process your payments. Square is a
payment processing system that takes a set amount, will send you a reader to
swipe cards on (that inserts right into your phone’s/iPod’s/iPad’s/tablet’s
headphone port) for free, and won’t charge you a minimum or monthly fee. Stay FAR
away from any of those who do charge ridiculous fees. Intuit has, by far, the
worst customer service and policies in their field.
The day I discovered
WordPress was one of the greatest days of my business life. Wordpress is free
open source software that you can install on your hosting package. package. It
will give you a backend for your website and allow you to upload themes (or use
one of the themes that come stock [don’t]). Take your time and check out the
tutorials package.
If you don’t want to get that involved, but
still don’t want to pay someone, check out Squarespace. Squarespace allows you to
create a beautiful website by just dragging and dropping things where you want
them to be. It does all the coding for you. And it looks absolutely fantastic
and professional. It will run you $10 a month, ballpark. Completely worth it if
you do not want to get your hands too dirty.
Your website doesn’t
have to do a ton. It doesn’t need to be flashy and full of scripts that will
knock your customer’s socks off (and slow their computer down). It just needs
to show off your products in a way that is in line with your brand. Make sure
everything flows and matches and represents what you’re trying to come across
as.
Get yourself a
Facebook business page or a Twitter.
Use instagram , pinterest.
And Etsy.
WordPress.org Note: .org not .com
WordPress can be used
to create a website or a blog. Or both. It’s free and it’s great. There are
tons of support articles and forums to help you along. Most hosting control WordPress
can be used to create a website or a blog. Or both. It’s free and it’s great.
There are tons of support articles and forums to help you along. Most hosting
control panels will have something that will install it for you (Fantastico, in
most cases). Places
like Host Gator have it built in. You can always ask their “Live Help”
representatives. Also highly rated is Blue
Host
Get out a calendar
and list EVERY event and holiday you can think of - so you can be ready and
ahead of time to sell and take orders for screen printing. Get your shirt and
design ideas ready to sell.
SPECIAL EVENTS
Church Functions
Class Trips
Concerts
Conventions
Craft Fairs
Ethnic Festivals
Flea Markets
Fund-Raisers
Open House
Parades
Parties
Picnics
Political Campaigns
Radio & TV
Promotions
Running Marathons
HOLIDAYS
Cinco de Mayo
Company Anniversaries
Earth Day
Father's Day
Flag Day
Fourth of July
Halloween
Landmark Birthdays
Mother's Day
Saint Patrick's Day
Thanksgiving
Valentines Day
Veterans Day
Wedding Anniversaries
Xmas
List every sporting season that will need uniforms
and team support items like t-shirt, caps and pennants. Sports teams always
wait until the last minute and have trouble organizing sizes, printed images
and how team members will pay. You organize it ahead of time, deliver on time
and you will get the order now and in years to come.
SPORTS TEAMS
