# Making good money screen printing?



## Intermission

Hello,

I have recently decided that I might actually want to open a screen printing business for various reasons. I am looking at purchasing the "Low rider" package from Ryonet. It is going to run me about $13,000. However, that is besides the point, what I am asking is do business owners in the screen printing business make good money?

What is the average salary?


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## foot print

that is a tough question to answer and you may not get a straight forward answer. Some are super busy and some are sitting around waiting for the phone to ring..I guess it would depend are you a go getter ..? you would have to be able to get the orders and then you would need to produce quality work or the customers will dry up.


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## treadhead

Agree with Foot Print....it all depends on what you put into it. I'm sure there are quite a few here that make 6 figures easily but many more that are working full or part time at this making low 5 figures. If you are willing to do what it takes to succeed and build the business you can make good money in his business.....NOT easy money but good money....you'll have to earn every penny of it...lol.


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## tv23

Agree with everyone so far. The amount you are going to make is relative to the extent of your effort. Since you are going to be starting out, you will need to build rapport with the niche market you are going after. I have found that it boils down to your attitude. They are buying you if your rapport is good. They are low balling you if you don't put your foot down. Good luck.


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## binki

average net before taxes is 35%. a good outside sales person can do 100K/mo in sales for screen printing. that is a 350K net before taxes on 1 million in sales per year. now, if you can do that, that is the trick. you need to really beat the bushes to get those accounts.


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## gapipkin

Don't buy that expensive equipment just yet. Start out small. Buy a heat press like me and then purchase the plastisol transfers. Build your clients first before investing that much into a screen printing press. The messy inks, cleanup, setup, burning your screens, will all eat up your time. I've been taught in the process of setting up my business is to think like a sales person first. Outsource your orders and concentrate on making sales, and customer service. I bought a ryonet starter press a year ago and i'm glad I only spent $350 for it, because the supplies and chemicals cost another $500! When comparing the profit margins, it will take a lot of shirts to make your money back. Hope this helps.


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## Ribcage

All good comments. You might also consider in your business plan what your target market may be before purchasing equipment. The Low Rider looks like a great system. I've been tempted by it myself. It's made to take up a small amount of space and to be portable. It seems like a great machine for traveling to fairs and events.

If you don't plan on going from event to event and you're willing to shop around, you can likely get set up for less than half that price with decent equipment. If you keep your overheads low, screen printing can be very profitable. 

As mentioned, making screens, set-up and clean up all take time, but a well organized shop can keep that to a minimum. Once set-up, screen printing is very fast, which can well make up for the set-up and clean up. 

So think carefully about your initial investment and make sure you keep some money aside for marketing. I wish you success.


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## gerryppg

Just my 2 cents. If you are 150% comitted to making this business grow and work and you are aggresive and confident I would start with automatic screen printing equipment. Most will disagree but if you are looking at making big money like the post above stated you will not be doing that on a manual machine. To really do those numbers you have to go automatic.

I started like you with a manual press and quickly found out their are limitations on the amount you can do in a day. If you want to go after large 500+ piece orders and do them consistently then go automatic.


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## Celtic

That Hopkins Lowrider setup is excellent! 
All of Riley Hopkins presses are.
I've got the win 8/4 and am really happy with it. 
You'll also be very happy dealing with Ryonet. 
Excellent company and I have to say that they are well aware that their customers make their business. They know they're stuff and are quite willing to help you.
Go for it!


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## headfirst

Intermission said:


> Hello,
> 
> I have recently decided that I might actually want to open a screen printing business for various reasons. I am looking at purchasing the "Low rider" package from Ryonet. It is going to run me about $13,000. However, that is besides the point, what I am asking is do business owners in the screen printing business make good money?


There was a time in print when you could just pick a good location, put up a sign and turn on the lights. That's not the case anymore. 

You can make good money in this business, but you need a good plan and you need to position yourself as a specialty provider.

There's no faster way to lose money in print than trying to offer everything.

Think about how you will position your business in your local market. How will you differentiate yourself from your competitors? How will you market and promote the business?

All of this comes into play when you're planning to open up a shop and your potential "salary" is dependent on all of it.

BTW - Until you're established you wont have much in the way of salary. Welcome to the world of 100% commission 

Good luck, entrepreneurship isn't easy but it's extremely rewarding.


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## Intermission

The problem with screen printing is that it is a high risk business... I plan on financing the equipment so if the business somehow fails then essentially I am screwed.


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## Louie2010

Intermission said:


> The problem with screen printing is that it is a high risk business... I plan on financing the equipment so if the business somehow fails then essentially I am screwed.


That is not unique to screen printing but common for most viable businesses. Matter of fact except for that it more easily enables for greater competition, the good thing is that the cost of entry is rather low compared to many other businesses.


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## Babsy50

Excellent suggestions. Thank you.


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## gerryppg

Well lets put it like this if you listen everybody that says you are going to fail then you will.

If you do nothing what happens? Well NOTHING.

Thats why I believe if you go after it 150% and are totally comitted to making it work and not believing you will fail then you will succeed.


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## Bill Hood

Are you aware that many screenprinting businesses stay in business no more than 10-years at the most? The majority actually go out of business within one year!

Each year in the United States alone, over 800,000 people start a new business. According to statistics gathered by the United States Department of Commerce, by the end of the first year at least 40-percent of them will be out of business. Within 5-years, more than 80-percent of them, some 400,000 people, close the doors to their business and admit to failure.

If you are in business and have managed to survive for 5-years or more, don’t get too excited. Of those who do survive the first 5-years, another 80-percent will fail during the second 5-years! Yes, of the original 800,000 only 20,000 people will make it in business!

More importantly, why do so many screenprinting businesses fail at a faster rate than businesses in general? Take a poll in your community. How many screenprinting businesses in your community have been in business longer than 10-years? How many have been around longer than 20-years?

Most screenprinting businesses are started by individuals under the age of 30 and given that the retirement age is currently 66-years of age – the current life expectancy of a screenprinting business should be somewhere in the neighborhood of 36-years. Yet it is difficult to find more than a few screenprinting businesses that have been around 10-years or longer.

On the other hand, how many offset printers have been around longer than 20-years? Or, how about coffee shops, bakeries, barbershops, or automotive repair shops? It seems that some businesses are more successful than others. Why is that?

You might ask yourself, "Why do so many screenprinting businesses fail. What lessons are they not learning?" If you put "how to achieve success" in your Google search window you will get about 8,890,000 results in 0.94 seconds. I just did it and that was my result.

So, with all this advice available to so many, why is there so much failure? I believe that stagnation is the biggest reason, as most screenprinters are not adept at accepting change, nor do they attempt to improve upon their processes.

If you want to be successful, you have strive to improve. You must improve on what others have done before you in order to differentiate yourself from the competition. Only when you have accomplished this can you truly be successful - otherwise you are held in captivity by the marketplace. You must improve the process of each task in your business model, constantly striving to create change - moving forward - or accept stagnation and perhaps failure. Most certainly, if you do not improve you will find yourself barely earning a living from any business venture.

Every screenprinting business venture--whether a one-man operation, large corporation, or an in plant print shop within a business--can follow simple steps to improve. Let me point out eight things that anyone can do immediately to turn things around that were covered in my “Steps to Improve and Grow” from Solutions Journal Magazine.

If you, as a business leader, have an idea or vision of an area to improve, you can set that process in motion by following eight steps.

1. Have Character
2. Measure where you are right now,
3. Organize the business operations,
4. Create a mission statement,
5. Manage the business wisely,
6. Reduce costs,
7. Get more customers and business,
8. Measure your progress to verify the improvement.

You need to know what you consider an improvement before you can start to improve on it. Then you measure it before and after, organize, reduce costs, and satisfy your customers. That is how to improve your business and become a champion in your field.

“Steps to Improve and Grow” continues to explain how to use each of these eight steps and will give you great insight into becoming a World Class Leader, however the largest obstacle to overcome for most is having character.

The greatest business leaders have one thing in common - Character! Think about it!


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## Babsy50

Bill Hood said:


> Most screenprinting businesses are started by individuals under the age of 30 and given that the retirement age is currently 66-years of age – the current life expectancy of a screenprinting business should be somewhere in the neighborhood of 36-years.


I appreciate your informative post, and I was especially interested in your information about the age of individuals starting screenprinting businesses. Are statistics available to indicate the success rate for those over the age of 60 who are entering the business for the first time? Thank you.


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## Intermission

Very informative post, thank you very much. Statistics like that both scare me and encourage me.


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## immagic

I am in Australia but the business models are essentially the same. I am also 63 year old. We started this business in 1995 and have seen many come and go in that time, we have also made some huge mistakes along the way but in talking to other that are not going well (we are) they all say to me "why do you do that, it is too much trouble" This has to do with doing Plastisol Transfers, doing Discharge Printing, Using Plastibond to lower the curing temperature so that 100% Poly shirts don't dye migrate etc. We have a Roland for making Transfers (VP540) and a Hotronix Fusion, a good quality 6 colour as well as a 4 colour manual press and a good quality Dryer as well as 3 wave Flash Units and have just ordered an Anatol 6/8 Titan (wish they had them years ago). 30% of our work comes from supplying children's shirts and Hats to Childcare Centres all ove Australia, a market others said was too hard, and the rest is a mixture of wholesale and retail work. We did $500K last year with 2 full time and 2 Part Time staff for a profit of $100K. So I guess if you are willing to find a nich and work for at least the first year for nothing, then go for it.


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## Jmanindie93

This may or may not be of interest, but Ryonet has a used Low Rider for sale right now.


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## milpitan

this is my second attemp at starting and running a silkscreen business, what i have found the hard way is that every aspect of the business is important and can make or break you. equiptment must be up to par, sales / marketing needs alot of attention. but what i found is that a entire business plan must be prepaired with real world figures and you need to stick to it. research research research. educate yourself. and i agree with the 150% motivation mentioned earlier. think of it this way " if it were easy, everyone would be doing it" good luck.


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## DavidRobison

LOL I posted a topic called "do your Homework" about the same time you posted yours. Read mine and calculate your overhead to start and run your business. Ink should be calculated at $90 a gallon average or $40 a quart.


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## markjan1

To run a successful, profitable screen printing business, we’ve found that it’s imperative to keep a constant eye on your margins, find one or two reliable niches that will supply your shop with steady business and provide impeccable, honest service to your clients.

Regards
Mark
sticker printing


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## toleto

just go for it, baby steps my friend. Make sure you master the technique first, research your market, put together a good realistic and creative plan....listen to those that have succeed in this business, and then come up with your owne ideas, start small, kind of like a pilot type of thing, spread the news , don't quit your job....is not that you can or can't be successful, is just caution, that wont hurt....and put your 150% into it, remember the competition will be out there, but there is plenty of cake for everybody, this a country of consumers, they need to spend the money, as a matter of fact spend it on my product.....technique, creativity , marketing and sales sales sales sales.....wish you the best.....by the way am jhony and am starting a new screen printing business too.....so lets make that money!!!


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## sgsellsit

In a time when NAFTA is established and the "WAL-MART/BURGER KING MENTALITY" rules, the "GOOD MONEY" in screen printing went out the door. Most big orders went South and everybody wants cheap, fast and their way right away. I have been a printer for over 20 years. I have always had to have a sideline to cover the slow times. Granted we are busy 8-9 months out of the year but everything extra goes to pull you through those bad months and God forbid you get any surprises. You are also limited by the geography and local economics as well as the amount of competition. One thing that hurts the screen printing market is home hobby shops. Most think that since they have low overhead that they can practically give it away and make a little extra money. This in turn makes the local area "PROFESSIONAL" printers have to compete with their pricing, and mostly low quality apparel. People these days want cheap and care nothing for quality, hence Wal-Mart. However they want to complain when it is junk. Most hobbyists also have full-time jobs and don't have to feed their family from their hobby. Let's talk about illegal. No business license, no tax number, no insurance, no chemical removal. That in itself is cause for concern because there are approx. 15-20 home "HOBBY" printers in most areas. Dumping chemicals and not paying taxes. Help is impossible to find these days. Everybody wants a paycheck but not the job or responsibilities that go along with it, and trust me screen printing is not an easy job. So over my years I spend most of my time doing all the work from customer service, art, screens, printing, etc. Yes I am bitter, I agree, but ask most professional printers about this. One more note that we deal with all the time. When a customer of ours or someone that took over runs to the "CHEAPEST" route and things go sour, the uninformed end customer assumes you are the culprit. Not being told that they used Joe Blow and don't tell them different, then your name is smeared and you will look like a jerk for trying to defend yourself.


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## Marjeni4353

What an awesome informative discussion! Thank all of you members..


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## alrozac

Awesome post! The biggest problem I find is like SGSELLSIT said, too many people are price driven these days. It's like a lot of printers don't know what their costs are and give their products away leaving the real printers with no profit left if you try to compete with these guys. It also seems like customers think we have no costs involved in selling shirts, that 100% of the invoice is profit. You also hear all that talk about keeping your customers happy and they will keep dealing with you - you might want to think that one again, there is no customer loyalty these days. Most are only after price.

You need to keep in mind that your costs are not just the price of the shirt, but everything else that is involved in creating that printed masterpiece. Ryonet has a great cost analysis tool that you can download from their website. It takes in consideration all of your expenses such as hydro, insurance, misc costs, product costs, time involved and so on. Excellent tool, you should check it out. They also have a great video explaining how it works on youtube.

Many sales gurus keep saying that price should not be an excuse. How you need to make the customer understand that paying more from you is what they need to do because you use the best products, you offer the best service and so on. This may work for other industries, but screen printing is price driven. If you are not the lowest or close to it, they will go elsewhere and if you are not in a high demand area year 'round, the slow months come quickly.

Then you need to look at your set up. If you are a one person shop you need to keep in mind that you are the one bringing in the sales, doing the artwork, creating screens, setting up and so on. You also need to keep in mind that as you are doing all the non selling stuff as well, no one is keeping the sales moving. So when you price your jobs you need to be aware that when you are selling you are not producing and when you are producing you are not selling. Doesn't make for a constant flow of income.

Not trying to tell people not to get into the biz. I want to make sure people understand that it's a tough industry. 

Just my 2 cents!


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## dtek

Hi there Intermission,
For my two cents, being an experienced screen printer up north in Canada, taking care of the process from start to finish so to speak. Working independently in a manual shop on contract printing, I could win contracts estimating a charge of $50 per hour when making quotes, not including take down and reclaiming screens. Keep in mind, that wouldn't be take home after the expenses operating from a commercial warehouse.
Aside from contract printing for others, I'd say doing your "own printing" is much more profitable. I mean manufacturing your own products using screenprinting and selling those wholesale is better, if that makes sense. 
Cheers


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