# Your shop's BIGGEST mistake. How did you recover?



## MBrhythm (Mar 1, 2007)

I'm pretty new in this business. I have made my share of mistakes. I now go back and look at what I've done and how to fix it. Learn from your mistakes, right?

So.... We are all human. We all have made some mistakes printing a shirt or misquoting an order..... I would like for you fellow screen printers to tell your story. Share what you did and how you learned from your mistake. Even if its as simple as "I didn't realize I had white ink on my hand and touch 10 freshly cured black shirts....."

So! Come on, and tell us your story.


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## jeffie (Jan 30, 2008)

Hey, bought a t-jet....jeff


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## MBrhythm (Mar 1, 2007)

jeffie said:


> Hey, bought a t-jet....jeff


That hurt the wallet.......


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## stix (Feb 3, 2008)

I would say the biggest mistake was for us was to buying a new small automatic press. We lost alot of jobs because we were limited in size of print and color. I guess looking back we could have gotten a bigger used press at the same amount.. Good luck!!


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## tman07 (Nov 14, 2007)

I think the biggest mistake people make is getting too big too fast


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## tman07 (Nov 14, 2007)

I would say mis-spelings are another big problem. That's why we don't proof the artwork until the job is finished, because you can never see the mistake ahead of time. - Just kidding of course.

Don't say it won't happen to you - coz brother it will.


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## stix (Feb 3, 2008)

tman..

We printed 400 shirts and my dad realized their was word that was spelled incorrectly. He tried to blame me, saying I should have caught it!!!


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## MBrhythm (Mar 1, 2007)

I once printed 40 high-end adidas shirts with some Kanji characters. Turns out that they where reversed. 
OOps!!! Thats what i get for not studying japanese.....


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## mk162 (Sep 24, 2007)

Misspellings on large orders are killer.

Our biggest mistake was printing for the Atlanta Olympics. It turns out the people in charge were crooks, even at Hanes.  We were owed around $30,000 that we never collected from the person that contracted the work through us. He got stiffed, even took Hanes to court, but they dragged it out until he was out of money.

We pretty much cut back in our employees and sold off some extra equipment. That's how we survived.


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## stix (Feb 3, 2008)

One big jobs. Here are the rules...

1. Buyer supplies the shirts 
2. No more than 2% spoilage of shirts
3. Buyer proofs artwork by email before printing begins.

4. 50% deposit and balance before shirts are delivered.

5. Don't forget rules 1-4


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## cvreeland (Jan 31, 2008)

We had plenty of dumb misprints in the early years. My largest volume rejected job was near 2000 shirts. 

Require a press-check on anything even remotely suspicious. If client refuses to press-check, get then to sign a waiver, saying they've approved the art, and waived the press-check. If they DO press check, still get them to sign something that says they did. Swat the ball into their court when it comes to responsibility for mistakes like typos, ink colors, etc. that could cause a job to be rejected. If they approve a job, then find a typo on delivery, make them pay again to re-print it. Our second-biggest mistake was bending over too far backwards on many occasions when the client had clearly screwed up, but waned to leave us holding the bag. If you lose them as a client, then good luck to the next guy that takes them on. I always considered it good competition to send problem clients to other printers.


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## tman07 (Nov 14, 2007)

My experience is, if I make the mistake, it's my fault, if the customer makes the mistake, it's still my fault.
They expect me to catch any mistakes in spelling and do the job right. I usually reprint because I want to keep them happy. Mistakes keep you humble.


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## cvreeland (Jan 31, 2008)

tman07 said:


> My experience is, if I make the mistake, it's my fault, if the customer makes the mistake, it's still my fault.
> They expect me to catch any mistakes in spelling and do the job right. I usually reprint because I want to keep them happy. Mistakes keep you humble.


If it's a good client, there's nothing wrong with the spirit of compromise, and I have reprinted jobs out of the spirit of good customer service at my election, but there have been plenty of episodes over 15 years where someone was CLEARLY in the wrong, and attempting to take me for hundreds ,if not thousands of dollars. Sometimes, a client will quibble over the details in an attempt to get you to give up and give them the shirts for free. My point was be in a position where you can stand your ground if you need to, by having proofing and documenting procedures in place. Don't get put out of business by a jerk you didn't want to keep in the long run, anyway.

Besides, doing this rigorously will cut WAY down on the overall numbers of rejected jobs, because mistakes WILL get caught more often beforehand, when the client is made to think it's HIS responsibility to double-check things. It's a better practice all the way around, and results in happy clients who get what they want delivered on time, and happy printers, who make a profit by printing the job right the first time.


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## tim3560 (Jan 7, 2007)

tman07 said:


> I would say mis-spelings are another big problem. That's why we don't proof the artwork until the job is finished, because you can never see the mistake ahead of time. - Just kidding of course.
> 
> Don't say it won't happen to you - coz brother it will.


I was watching my cousin play roller hockey when I noticed the other team was named the Patroits instead of the Patriots. My Uncle laughed and said that the company gave the league a huge discount for accepting the bad shirts.

My personal biggest mistake was wanting to be too quick to make decisions. I bought a dye sub system on my credit card that I never really used and sold for half that. I quit my job at the family bus. cause I just made up my mind that I could make what I was being paid, then found out it was harder than I thought. I should have stayed there at least 4 more months. My wife and I have made some hasty decisions with our shop, some have worked, some could have been put off. I've learned now that it's ok if I don't have "it" tomorrow. That it's better to wait until it's the best time for the business, instead of I want it let's get it.


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## tim3560 (Jan 7, 2007)

That's a good one about the laptop, Fred. A good lesson too, that rushing only leads to mistakes!


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## Lightningraphics (Mar 21, 2008)

I think over the time we have been doing business it has been spelling mistakes. Hasn't happened in awhile but I am more careful to proof it and spell check it.


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## rrc62 (Jun 2, 2007)

I'm guilty of making decisions too quick also. #1: I bought a C8800 laser and we really haven't used it other than to print a few shirts and some samples. I also brought in too much cotton shirt inventory. #2: I bought an Epson 1400 sublimation system which overall has worked well, but it is a consumer grade printer and it has reminded me of that twice at the worse possible times. 

So basically, I spent over $2000 on the laser when a $300 laser would have worked for the little bit of laser transfer work we do...And I bought an R1400 when we really needed a 4880. I was bringing just a few of each size in sublimation clothing to shows and we would sell out the first day. I put too much money into areas of the business that did not make money and too little into areas that are making money. That is now rectified, but it cost a lot more than it would have if I had just bought the right equipment the first time. I now bring a dozen or so of each size and style sublimation clothing. We do not print laser transfers at shows anymore nor do we bring any cotton shirt inventory.

I guess that's all part of learning the business and your market. My initial impression was that sublimated clothing, due to the cost, would not be as popular as laser transfers. It was just the opposite. We are now strictly sublimation and in the process of selling the equipment that does not apply to sublimation.


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## tpitman (Jul 30, 2007)

stix said:


> tman..
> 
> We printed 400 shirts and my dad realized their was word that was spelled incorrectly. He tried to blame me, saying I should have caught it!!!


I screwed up 250 shirts. Artwork had been sent to me, but it was sort of crappy, so I redrew it at no charge, showed the customer a proof, and printed up the shirt fronts. The next night I was drinking a beer and happened to look over at the pile of shirts, and noticed that a "p" was an "f". Waited till the next morning to make sure I wasn't seeing things, ordered new shirts and reprinted them. The only reason I wasn't really pissed is because I had time to redo the shirts, and because the shirt backs were to get numbers and names, and at least I hadn't done that yet. I still made decent money on the job, but I've got 250 "pellons" and shop rags that I really didn't need. Oh well.


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## cmyk (Dec 3, 2007)

thanks everybody for the advices


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## RichardGreaves (Nov 7, 2006)

I mixed lots of left over ink into a perfect brown, under cool white florescent lamps and printed 400 flags. After they were all sewn up, in the sunlight, the iridescent green ink from the 'fish' job lit up and completely changed the printed color.

After I recovered from printing and sewing another 400 flags, I replaced all the lamps with color corrected lamps.

=====
The Hell's Angels in Los Angeles sponsor a Muscular Dystrophy motorcycle rally. They came in and asked for the same design we did last year. So we printed them exactly the same - with 1996, not the current year 1997. We spend the next day using a plastisol blow out gun and printing a tiny '7' where the 6 used to be.


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## rwshirts (Dec 5, 2007)

My biggest mistake was right after getting into business. Our first big sub order, which was for embroidery, had a word mispelled. Nobody noticed until all were done and shipped to the customer. The apparel was drop shipped to us....they were expensive fleece pull overs. We tried to correct the mistake by pulling out the stitching, but that didn't work. We had to repurchase all the shirts, and reembroider them.......at my expence. Some were "Authentic Pigment Dyed" pullovers, and most know that they aren't cheap!!

We now spell check every item before screening or embroidering.


RW


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## MBrhythm (Mar 1, 2007)

Anyone take a paint pen and try to cover up a mistake? Like fill in a hole.....


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## tpitman (Jul 30, 2007)

MBrhythm said:


> Anyone take a paint pen and try to cover up a mistake? Like fill in a hole.....


I've used a Sharpie marker on black shirts to finish the job a spot gun couldn't.


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## tman07 (Nov 14, 2007)

Who has opened the box with a box cutter and sliced through the $20.00 jacket?
Come on, fess up.


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## sunnydayz (Jun 22, 2007)

The other day, I was doing personalized onesies and tees for girls doing the march of dimes walk, and messed up all the boys ones because I didnt change the world her to his. Each one has the name and gestation the baby is born at so now I have to redo all of the boys ones and again personalize each one which is what takes the most time  I have now learned hehe.


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## brent (Nov 3, 2006)

I've kept printing shirts when the run wasn't going well, just because I'm stubborn, which is dumb. Don't be stubborn, if you need to stop the run, stop it. That's what I'm trying to teach myself now.

I've had bad dreams about bad print runs, waiting for the customer to pick up their shirts and either not notice or freak out. I've yet to make a huge mistake tho.


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## marlo45 (Oct 4, 2007)

tman07 said:


> Who has opened the box with a box cutter and sliced through the $20.00 jacket?
> Come on, fess up.


ha ha, that's funny. Or at least it is when the joke is on someone else. I've done this with other, none business related stuff.


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## scubadog (Jan 5, 2008)

I made the mistake of getting in the habit of printing on 100% cotton, and then forgetting to change ink when we printed a bunch of 80/20 and 50/50 hoodies. Had to eat them all. Did you know orange turns brown on a black hoodie.


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## cvreeland (Jan 31, 2008)

tman07 said:


> Who has opened the box with a box cutter and sliced through the $20.00 jacket?
> Come on, fess up.


*raises hand*

I lost 5 yards of 305 mesh this way once, too.


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## martinciaran (Jun 8, 2006)

My very first job for a collegue i work with 100 t-shirts with a Karate crest finished print and was folding to pack noticed i had spelt "karate" Katate had to redo the lot made no money as i was doing the job using mate rate's. that was 4 years ago and my work buddys still ask how the katate business is. 

Just opened shop and i sell a line of t-shirts called katate...... goin well to


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## midwaste (Apr 8, 2008)

martinciaran said:


> My very first job for a collegue i work with 100 t-shirts with a Karate crest finished print and was folding to pack noticed i had spelt "karate" Katate had to redo the lot made no money as i was doing the job using mate rate's. that was 4 years ago and my work buddys still ask how the katate business is.
> 
> Just opened shop and i sell a line of t-shirts called katate...... goin well to


Ha! Awesome. Can you really consider it a mistake if it named your next business?

Probably the worst mistake I have made was leaving a shirt at the bottom of the box, under some other shirts on a tiny 12-shirt run. After reclaiming.
Had to recoat, burn, tape, etc for one damn shirt. If it hadnt been for a friends softball team, I would have just given them a 15% discount and said "sorry.."


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## stickapoint (Apr 27, 2008)

to me:self employed(se) is the same as employee.(e)

*se:u completed a job u get ur payment but not secured either it is paid full or half payment
*e:either u work or not u get ur paychq.full.

*se:u is a yesman to ur customer,if u obstruct nomore job for u ahead.
*e:u get 1st warning letter if u obstruct ur boss.paychq secured.

*se:u think u is d boss,but d reality customer is ur boss
*e:for sure u have to follow ur boss

*se:any rejection u r on ur own
*e:rejection is a learning curve,d company is d training ground.

*se:feel bored on d bussiness cost u dont get as what u expect.
e:feel bored on d first day of d week.

*se:struggle d whole life just to make ur dream come thru.
*e:enjoy d life although d dream wont came thru

which is yours?
see u.

ive been in this business for 6yrs n now still stuggling to survive.with the cost of living becoming higher,i cant guess how long i could stand.


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## AustinJeff (May 12, 2007)

I bought a bunch of screen printing equipment before I found this site. I quickly found that other production methods were much better suited to my business model. Hopefully I will finally get around to listing it all on Craigslist soon.


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## cvreeland (Jan 31, 2008)

stickapoint said:


> to me:self employed(se) is the same as employee.(e)
> 
> *se:u completed a job u get ur payment but not secured either it is paid full or half payment
> *e:either u work or not u get ur paychq.full.
> ...



Maybe I'm just old & crochety, but this is almost entirely illegible. I imagine it's all SMS shorthand, but why, when you've got a full keyboard, not spell it out?


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