# starting a heat press business -> what do i need?



## fireeyes14

Hey all, 

first time in a forum and first time post. I am interested in starting up a heat press business from home. I have a few good ideas and am currently in retail, so i have a good understanding of marketing and money management.

my problem is i don't have any of the equipment yet and i don't know where to start. Alot of sites have combo packages but i'm not sure who to go with. also, if i am doing this from home, i am not sure where i can get a good price on materials with out having to buy 5000 shirts.

so, my question to you is what do i need to get started? Everything, assuming that i have nothing.

Thanks!


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## fireeyes14

oh ya, one more thing. i was looking at starting out with a 12x12 press, that comes with mug and hat attachments, so if i do go with something like that, i would need supplies for that too!

thanks again,


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## IYFGraphics

fireeyes14 said:


> oh ya, one more thing. i was looking at starting out with a 12x12 press, that comes with mug and hat attachments, so if i do go with something like that, i would need supplies for that too!
> 
> thanks again,


Pass on the "swiss army knife" heat press probably not a quality item...that said you will need a press and you need to buy the biggest press you can afford, look at it this way the size of the press is the limit of your design size, 12x12 on a 2x shirt will look like a postage stamp.

You need to step back for a moment and decide what type of business you want, plastisol transfer, ink jet transfers, dye-sub, there are many ways to decorate a shirt, figure out which direction you want to go before buying any equipment...

Best thing to do is search and read here in the forums, lots of great info on every aspect.

Hope this helps.


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## fireeyes14

alright, thanks

i was thinking of ink jet transfers to start. i would mostly be promoting events and making bar staff shirts initially. 

then after i was thinking of sublimation for higher quality shirts.

with this in mind, what do you suggest?


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## Nick Horvath

I would start off with at least a 15 X 15 press. Purchase the largest one you can afford to give yourself room to grow.


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## IYFGraphics

fireeyes14 said:


> alright, thanks
> 
> i was thinking of ink jet transfers to start. i would mostly be promoting events and making bar staff shirts initially.
> 
> then after i was thinking of sublimation for higher quality shirts.
> 
> with this in mind, what do you suggest?


That's a great place to start, as far as a heat press I guess I differ from most,I'd buy a 16x20 right off the bat, I know it's a lot of money for a name brand press but you'll never have to buy another, the reliability is great, warranty & service is top notch. We have a Hotronics (Stahls) it's a work horse, runs every day, never a problem, if I had the money or need I'd buy one of the new Fusion heat presses...LOL!

Sounds like a good plan.....be sure to read, read, read before you jump into sublimation, it's a great process that produces very high quality prints, but has a substantial learning curve.

Hope this helps.


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## jiarby

A heat press is just a tool.... NOT a business. 

Focus on your business plan:
WHAT are you going to sell?
WHO are you going to sell it to?
HOW are you going to get & retain customers?
WHY should they buy from YOU instead of your competition?
WHERE will you get raw materials & equipment at favorable pricing so you can sell profitably?
WHAT is the best process to efficiently manufacture the product so you can sell profitably?
WHAT are the daily, weekly, monthly cash flow requirements?
WHICH of my competitors is the most successful?
WHAT are they doing? 
HOW are they doing it?
WHAT is MY competitve advantage over them that will compel their customers to buy from me instead of them?



When you can answer THOSE questions then you can determine whether or not building a business around a heat press is a good idea. 

Think about it as if this was a restaurant/chef forum....

"I am thinking of buying a microwave oven and selling cheeseburgers out of my house, later I might add a grill if people want a better tasting burger and maybe french fries too if that takes off"

Sounds crazy, right?



> i would mostly be promoting events and making bar staff shirts initially


THIS is the most important part... it describes what your product is and who might be buying them (bar owners).

BUT, what is missing is a little market research. WHY would a bar owners want inkjet transfer shirts over silkscreened or DTG shirts? Are they cheaper to produce? Is the quality better? Are they more durable? Where do they get these products now? What is the advantage to the customer if he buys your products versus whatever he buys now? Will they buy 100% polyester sublimated shirts over 100% cotton screened ones?

Let's say that Billy Bar-Owner wants 100 shirts to promote the upcoming Battle-of-the-Bands. What do you have to charge to make it worth your time using an inkjet transfer & heat press process? You then have to add up all your cost-of goods-sold, overhead, taxes, & profit divided by how many shirts to get the price. 

My suggestion is to learn what product the market wants to buy and what price it will bear.... THEN determine what is the best method is to manufacture them to meet the demand at a price you can make a profit on! You do not want to find that your costs to manufacture is more than the customer already pays for a finished shirt because you are using the wrong process.


A heat press is a good tool to have, but (like a microwave in the kitchen) it will be very hard building a profitable business only making inkjet heat pressed transfer shirts. You are going to get your teeth kicked in by silk screeners, and not do enough volume on short run & one-off jobs to make the profit add up fast enough.

It is easier to make money selling what people want to buy than it is to find people to buy what you want to make. Make what they want to buy. 


Even so... if you HAVE to do it the way you are thinking:

1. Do not pay retail for any of your equipment. You can buy a good quality, name brand press on Craigslist. I bought my 16x20 Auto-Opening, Digital Phoenix Phire for $500. 

2. Look at getting a vinyl plotter also. You can do cad cut thermoflex vinyl for schools and sports team jerseys... Also Rhinestone shirts. Vehicle window decals, storefront vinyl, plus banners and coroplast signs. Product Diversity Rocks!

3. Maybe add sublimation... but only maybe. polyester blanks costs more and the ink is crazy expensive. If you do add sublimation, do not do just shirts.... look at adding all the other sublimation things you can make: Plaques, Awards, Name Badges, Coffee Mugs, mousepads, coasters, tile murals, license plates. Photos sell that stuff. Kids & pets.

4. You have to be able to print big. A 12x12 on a 4x shirt looks stupid. There are several 13x19 printers...especially the Ricoh GX7000. 

So, overall I'd say you need:
Press: 16x20 $500-750 Used
Printer: GX7000, 5050, or the other new one...3030? $500-1200
Plotter: Roland GX24 or Graphtec CE5000-60
$1000 (used) to $1600 new. 
Substrates, Mugs, Vinyl, Transfer Paper, Shirt Blanks $300-750
Marketing: Website, Sell Sheets, Business Cards $150-$1000
Legal Stuff: Dba, LLC, Tax ID, EIN#, Insurance $100-250
Open wholesale accounts with vendors (hence legal stuff above) so you can get best pricing 

(don't burn your house down and let your insurance investigator find out that you were operating a commercial manufacturing business from a residence...you claim will be denied. Get business insurance) 

Then when things get going... as quickly as possible... get into screen printing. Even a homemade 1-color table top press can make you money doing 1-color cotton 100pc jobs for your bar customers. I would do this before doing sublimation. 

Good Luck!!


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## Cloak

That is a very useful post. Well laid out and explained very accurately where to focus your efforts.


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## TeesbyT

Thanks for posting this. My family and I are in the planning stages and researching equipment right now.


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## Markk

Thank you for the lengthy insight on this subject. This was an eye opener for me & I had not looked at this "Is It Profitable" and doable jump of start up.


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## njemtmike

WOW!! jiarby posted some good stuff i just printed to us as a guide. Great info since I am going from first responder training to t-shirts with only a heat press for the moment. I am hoping to get a lot of education at this years ISS convention


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## Willuknight

If I could hijack the thread slightly,

as far as I understand to do sublimination on say mugs, you need the following: 

# printer that will print onto sublimination paper (apparently easy to find, but you need special ink)
# sublimination paper
# blank mugs
# heat press 
(or could you use one of those oven type things that you put the stuff in with a clamp on it?)

Am I missing anything there?


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## binki

So a heat press and rhinestones would be a good start. Rhinestones are a premium product. Your margins are higher so you can sell less for the same money. 

Add plastisol transfers and you are now a screen printer. 

This is a winning combination for a low entry cost. 

Just get sales and you will be all set. 

Good luck.


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## Kirasmith1982

I am a bar owner and i spend about 5,000 a year on shirts for different events. What all would i need to buy to make my own shirts? I dont want to run a business with shirts I just want to be able to make my own shirts. I know i need the heat press but what do I need to make the transfers? I dont want to have to replace ink all the time that is for sure.


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## henryhowse

In your situation I would recommend purchasing a vinyl cutter and a heat press smallest 12 x 12 or you can go larger. Get a beginner vinyl cutter like a Cameo and watch youtube how to videos


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## Kreative Press

I like the Roland BN20 myself, or some type of print and cut system.
great for transfers as well and decals. you can print on a number of different materials.
and all you would need is a 15x15 heat press and a little design experience and you are in business.


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## sinGN

which printing method you want to start?.if you want to do mug printing and cap printing then its better to buy a multipurpose printing machine.


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## mgparrish

Kirasmith1982 said:


> I am a bar owner and i spend about 5,000 a year on shirts for different events. What all would i need to buy to make my own shirts? I dont want to run a business with shirts I just want to be able to make my own shirts. I know i need the heat press but what do I need to make the transfers? I dont want to have to replace ink all the time that is for sure.


I would suggest if you are doing that much volume, and you don't have too many unique designs, then you should look into plastisol transfers being made for you.

There are many vendors here that do that.

You can "press on demand" ... just press on the t-shirt when you need then you can archive the transfers.

_No worry about inks and such_, just press the finished transfer as provided to you based on your design or specification.


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