# Help with market research for business plan?



## kachoo (Feb 22, 2012)

Hi, I've been around for awhile now but this is my first time posting. It has really been that every question I ever think of has been asked before so there never seems to be a need to post. But now, on the issue of market research, it seems no one has asked in a long time and the links attached to old responses are dead. 

 I am going for a loan to expand my children's t-shirt line and market research is a required step. Short of buying a report for $1,200, I cannot find solid numbers online. Does anyone know the numbers on the T Industry? (How much the indsury pulls in? Who buys? Where and when they do the most buying-like Back to School time/holidays) Or, where I can find that information without spending a fortune? Thanks so much!


----------



## thewileyone (Mar 25, 2013)

I just went through the same process. I can be daunting. I found information on the US Census website under the commercial screen printing industry link. It is from 2007, but was helpful. 2012 information should be out soon.

Also, I used the following links. They were helpful given what I was looking to set up.

http://www.emarketer.com/newsroom/index.php/apparel-drives-retail-ecommerce-sales-growth/

http://www.sfia.org/press/464_SGMA's-Wholesale-Study-Reports-$77+-Billion-In-Sales

http://www.emarketer.com/newsroom/index.php/apparel-drives-retail-ecommerce-sales-growth/

Hope that this help you out!


----------



## johnnyb57 (May 26, 2012)

I'm in the middle of the same process, and I know the banks like all that crap. What I stated was it's in the billions (with no concrete numbers) and also stated those numbers don't mean much as far as i'm concerned, just said unless your blind everywhere you shop, eat and drive you'll see imprinted apparel it's just that mainstream. How  do those numbers relate to my small business / designs is all b.s. and merely on speculation. What I showed in great detail was my market customers and how I'll approach them and make sales. All I know is when someone starts talking in percentages, as far as sales projections; present and down the road is simply guessing or hoping. Well I might have shot myself in the foot but I've never played the game of b.s. and looking pretty on paper. I'll see next week how it all plays out.. Also I stated how many corporation actually fufill on the promises that they speculated on in the beginning, some exceed that mark while most just feed the lenders more b.s. as why those numbers havn't been made in the projected time frame.. sorry about the long rant, just my two cents...


----------



## AsIsApparel (Nov 21, 2010)

still no one has any solid places to gather any market data... im still searching....


----------



## AsIsApparel (Nov 21, 2010)

i take that back. that emarketer site is actaully a good site and has graphs for their dats. thanks!


----------



## bentcycle (May 1, 2014)

this is the first thread i've found with new data. it IS hard to find numbers specific for teeshirt sales except for companies that think t-shirt startups have $1,200 to whizz away for stats, but here's some of the stats i've found along with other info good for business plans:

ane AWESOME resource i just found in another thread... shirt woot's demographics after 250,000 sales!
http://shirt.woot.com/blog/post/250-000-served-lies-damn-lies-and-shirtistics

Revenue $222m, annual growth rate 9-14 = 22.3%, 544 biz & 3,488 employed
http://www.ibisworld.com/industry/online-original-design-t-shirt-sales.html

teeshirts are a $40 billion dollar business
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20081124/1709222941.shtml
 *full article on wired:*
http://archive.wired.com/techbiz/people/magazine/16-12/st_thompson

some comments from kiosk owners about the industry
http://specialtyretail.com/issue/2008/04/retail-products/retail-product-features/tshirt_kiosk_trends/

global trade in teeshirts
http://www.textilesintelligence.com/tisgam/?pageid=3&repid=TISGAM&issueid=1&artid=1374

a graph showing logo sportswear's growth
http://www.logosoftwear.com/help_system/index.php?answer=68

custom ink's growth chart
http://www.customink.com/about/our_story









and finally, organic cotton is a growth industry too...
*organic cotton up 53% from 05/06-07/08 *
According to a report by the Organic Exchange (OE)—a USA-based charitable organisation which is committed to expanding organic agriculture—*the amount of organic cotton produced worldwide increased by 53% from 2005/06 to 2006/07. *
Furthermore, the OE has forecast global organic cotton production to soar by 25-55% in 2007/08. Growth will be driven by continued high demand for organic cotton fibre. http://www.textilesintelligence.com/tisgam/index.cfm?pageid=3&repid=TISGAM&issueid=1&artid=1377


----------



## SunEmbroidery (Oct 18, 2007)

You might want to check America?s Small Business Development Center Network | Resources – For Small Business . It contains lots of helpful information including a link for www.bizstats .


----------

