# how is your business now ... ?



## LoveKillSlowly (Apr 23, 2009)

Hi everybody,
I would like to know how you guys have started your business and I would really appriciate it if you could explain me from a to now how you did it ... how you made it become succesfull.

I'm 17 years old and I would like to start this kind of business but I don't know where to start.

That would be very kind of you if you could explain me how you have made it.

thanks


----------



## Matto (Sep 28, 2007)

Gosh I wish I would have been doing this at your age! Right now If I were you I would be trying to get a job with a screen printer as a side or full time. Learn as much as you can. My next step would be to start researching equipment, supplies, fashion trends, and techniques. Next step is to take all that money you should have been saving and start purchasing your equipment and supplies.
once you have enough to get a base started I would print some shirts for friends and learn your equipment. sell some shirts at flea markets and so on. yada yada yada.

Best option in my book is to just work for a shop. save your money and buy out an exhisting business later down the road. Equipment,supplies and most of the customer base generally come packaged together. 

Either way I would get a job with a screen printing company. Atleast you will be able to see whether it is something you want to do for the rest of your life or as just a side hobby. A few make it big but the most of us live hand to mouth which in my books is ok as I dictate when I work and when I dont so I control my own money. And its not about the money for me but rather the freedom. Yeah it would be great to be a gazillionaire but then what?


----------



## LoveKillSlowly (Apr 23, 2009)

Thanks for your help !

I have another question for you ... Do you think I could buy t-shirt from company and find a printer and make some money while going at the college ...?


----------



## stuffnthingz (Oct 1, 2007)

If you have a knack for creating trendy art, or are quick to see a need for a shirt for some college events (that would not violate copyright laws) You could make some good money that way. Whatever you are involved in, be it sports etc, there are opportunities to sell apparel. I attend events quite often, as a competitor and as a vendor. In both cases I try to capitalize on the "theme" of that event, asking if I can make a design or two and sell it while I am there. I have made some great money and friends along the way. I am now being "invited" to attend various events because they love the products I make! Good luck


----------



## LoveKillSlowly (Apr 23, 2009)

If I udnerstand ... you are selling t-shirt for events ?

so what I could do is ask the director of the <<X>> event if he want me to do shirt for him ... ? and than I order t-shirt from like bareapparel and than send this shirt to a printer with my design ? if it is what you are doing what is the average price of each t-shirt ...?

thanks.


----------



## stuffnthingz (Oct 1, 2007)

My arrangement is a bit different. I started out by buying finished apparel from my shops at CafePress. That ended up being very cost prohibitive. Next, I took up the endeavor to "make" my own apparel, so I use Laser transfers combined with vinyl and rhinestones, and any combination of the three. I buy the blanks at a variety of local suppliers, I make the designs but do NOT apply them. I have them in a binder for customers to pull out (with my help) and then I press them onsite. Thus the most I waste is the printed designs. I have even tested plastisol transfers and loved them. I plan to keep them in mind for any larger venues where I need 50 or more pieces available.

I sell to a high end group, using Swarovski rhinestones, so my pricing would likely not line up with yours. (range is $25 to $65 per piece).


----------



## LoveKillSlowly (Apr 23, 2009)

Very Nice ... Could I see your website or any models  ?

thanks

Christopher

LKS


----------



## out da box (May 1, 2007)

Hmmmmm, very smart. I like your hustle.


----------



## TshirtGuru (Jul 9, 2008)

LoveKillSlowly said:


> Hi everybody,
> I would like to know how you guys have started your business and I would really appriciate it if you could explain me from a to now how you did it ... how you made it become succesfull.
> 
> I'm 17 years old and I would like to start this kind of business but I don't know where to start.
> ...


What do you want to become? A printer? A tshirt brand?


----------



## LoveKillSlowly (Apr 23, 2009)

Well I would like to start my own clothing line ...


----------



## stuffnthingz (Oct 1, 2007)

The best way to see my online "stuff" is to click on the link in my signature. You will find I sell a bunch of stuff, but the apparel items are found mainly on the horse related websites. I use CafePress as well as make my own rhinestone apparel My sites are not your traditional t-shirt sites, sorry about that, they are more "niche" type sites as you will see.


----------



## LoveKillSlowly (Apr 23, 2009)

Is your website your part time or full time job ?


----------



## raziemlutto (Feb 18, 2008)

I think the best way to start is invest in simple equipment and starting other people jobs.. which most of the time are simple 1-2 color spot colors graphics, this way you can get a taste and gradual learning. 

Fashion t-shirts always have high end color , processes with halftones, foils, special effects , waterbased, discharge, and nobody can just jump to that sort of relatively difficult printing. 

This would be my track

- save around 1-2 thousand bucks and buy equipment
- do simple jobs, keep reivensting all the money towards the business with equipment 
- gradually do more difficult jobs such as halftones, simulated, waterbased, foil
- once you learned while you made good money you can start investing on your own t-shirt line and save a lot of money since you now know how to work it, instead of outsourcing your printing. 
- you have your screen printing business to fall back on and to keep your t-shirt line alive.
- your become rich...
- The end

Thats pretty much my goal, im 21 and started my business beginning of the year, started with a 2k invested into equipment, now only after 4 months i got about 15k invested so far, and 100% debt free, looking for a shop to move to and buy even more equipment...


----------



## LoveKillSlowly (Apr 23, 2009)

I got a say this is a very good idea ... but I have a few questions

First what did you buy first ... ? garment machine ?

and it is hard to make it work ... I mean I'm 17 years old and if I buy something I wanna make sure I can run it ...

My last question is ... who was your main market when you started ? business ? normal people ... ?


thanks


----------



## knifemaker3 (Sep 8, 2006)

I would advise you to either get a job with a local printer, or take a course via one of the screenprinting equipment companies like Lawson, Silkscreeningsupplies, etc. That way you will know more about how it's done and you will have a good idea of what you will need to start your business.

To be successful in this business you will need much more than just a couple of thousand dollars worth of invested equipment. You can buy 150k worth of equipment and if you don't know how to print it isn't going to do you a bit of good. Learn all you can BEFORE investing money. Learn not only how to make the garments, but how to outsource the things you can't do, who to use to outsource, where to buy your garments at wholesale price, etc. 

Decide rather you want to do this part time, full time, etc. If you decide to go full time, find an affordable place to open up shop and then do a study to make sure it is the place you really need, i.e if you are doing retail with a retail showroom will you have the foot traffic to support your business.

Read all you can and learn, learn, learn, and then when you have it all figured out, learn some more!

And the main thing is to not get discouraged. If this is truely what you want to do there will be many, many, many things that will make you question your sanity and make you very discouraged. Keep your head up and figure out how to get through it.

And the main thing....... Have fun doing something you enjoy!

Good Luck!


----------



## raziemlutto (Feb 18, 2008)

Yeah, I definitely missed listing it, but knifemaker is totally right. I researched and practiced for a whole year before i bought my 2k equipment. 

Any source of information is good source, cuz you will know what to do, what not to do and how many ways you can do something.

definitely get orgazined, get a website started, setup your accounts, draw up a business plan, your pricing and marketing... I did all of that. and is very important.


----------



## LoveKillSlowly (Apr 23, 2009)

Thanks That was very helpful and you just show me that when you wanna do something you can do it ... anyway I'm still young ( 17 years old ) so I gotta go step by step and everything is going to be alright.

Good luck 

Christopher


----------



## TshirtGuru (Jul 9, 2008)

LoveKillSlowly said:


> I got a say this is a very good idea ... but I have a few questions
> 
> First what did you buy first ... ? garment machine ?
> 
> ...


Get a job. Save money. During the time you are saving money, design the shirts you want printed. Pay a printer to print your shirts.


----------



## LoveKillSlowly (Apr 23, 2009)

How much I should save to start ?


----------



## TshirtGuru (Jul 9, 2008)

LoveKillSlowly said:


> How much I should save to start ?


...if I say $50,000, is that going to work? 

My point is, nobody knows that answer but yourself.


----------



## LoveKillSlowly (Apr 23, 2009)

yeah that a lot of money ...

well do you really need these machine to start your own clothing line ?


----------



## nation03 (Sep 2, 2008)

Everyone gave all great, true information already, but I'll try to shed some light on this topic as well. I was in your position 2 years ago. I was close to 18 and my graphics teacher in high school saw how much I was into screen printing and designing, and he knew I didn't want to go to college. Towards graduation he gave me directions to a screen printing shop that was hiring, and let me tell you, I am so glad I went. I currently still work there and have learned SO much about the printing industry and what needs to be done to be successful. I have been saving as much as I can (I had trouble saving money because I was constantly traveling to play paintball nationally). After doing my research I set up shop in my basement. I got a lease for roughly $8 grand and it really came with everything I needed to get started printing high end shirts. Like stated above, I print jobs for local businesses to keep the money flowing since I have a couple of monthly payments to make. When I had time I'd print my own stylish designs and gave a few to my friends. It is now the most popular shirt in my town lol. I have kids E-Mailing me often asking where they can get one. I'm known as the NJ shirt guy now (As my design entails New Jersey). With great response I thought I would take some time to make some other designs using my business name and I made a business page on facebook to see how everyone liked my ideas. I must say, the response was tremendous just from word of mouth alone. Every time I looked back there was more people joining the group that I didn't even know, many from out of state even. I'm carefully investing my time and money into this clothing line now. I'm in the process of getting a professional E-Commerce site designed (These sites are dime a dozen now, but I'm willing to take a shot), I'm working on getting about 7-10 designs ready before I launch. I have some freelance designers working on a logo. These things aren't cheap, but I've become real passionate about my clothing line and we haven't even launched yet lol, but that's what it takes. I had to put the traveling on hold for a while because this has become my life. I'm almost 20, and now I'm looking back to when I was 17 and can't believe I'm turning this sketchy idea into reality. It's really self-motivating. Just be patient and keep the dream alive if you are really into it and willing to invest time and money. Don't be afraid of failure. But Definitely get a facebook made for your company and see how the response is. Best of luck.


----------



## Red5 (May 15, 2009)

raziemlutto said:


> I think the best way to start is invest in simple equipment and starting other people jobs.. which most of the time are simple 1-2 color spot colors graphics, this way you can get a taste and gradual learning.
> 
> Fashion t-shirts always have high end color , processes with halftones, foils, special effects , waterbased, discharge, and nobody can just jump to that sort of relatively difficult printing.
> 
> ...


Sorry, but I have to disagree with this completely.

I started my business back in 1973 at 17 years old to make some extra money while going to school.

The biggest mistake people make in this business is thinking that printing themselves is the best option. It is not.

You become a slave to your press and shop. Most business' do not survive this way.

I have been there and done that, and my company has always been much more profitable using contract printers. We do several millions a year in screen printed apparel and do not print even 1 T-shirt in house.

There are way too many good contract printers out there who are hungry for work in this financial climate. 

Take advantage of that and spend you time and money on marketing and building your business, instead of being a slave to a screen print press.


----------



## LoveKillSlowly (Apr 23, 2009)

Very happy to hear that I was excepting that someone write it !

I would like to know how you started ... where were you selling ... ?

That would help me so much !

thanks.


----------



## mcmartii (Aug 13, 2006)

Red5 said:


> Sorry, but I have to disagree with this completely.
> 
> I started my business back in 1973 at 17 years old to make some extra money while going to school.
> 
> ...


Completely agree - even though I'm just starting, I have done enough reading about business to know that you only do what you do best, outsource all the other stuff.
I have an interest in building a brand - not becoming a screen printer...


----------



## MVP J (Aug 29, 2007)

Maybe to you outsourcing is the best way, but if you do in house printing, at least you learn the business hands on and I believe it is very important to have that knowledge. Yes it does take away time from selling but once you get to a certain point financially, you can always hire someone on for production and you can then go out & make sales calls. You will also be making more money printing in house rather than outsourcing to other businesses who also need to be making money.


----------



## MVP J (Aug 29, 2007)

MVP J said:


> Maybe to you outsourcing is the best way, but if you do in house printing, at least you learn the business hands on and I believe it is very important to have that knowledge. Yes it does take away time from selling but once you get to a certain point financially, you can always hire someone on for production and you can then go out & make sales calls. You will also be making more money printing in house rather than outsourcing to other businesses who also need to be making money.


Oops, this was supposed to include comments by Red5.


----------



## sdroots (Jan 24, 2008)

i agree with knifemaker3...get a job with a screen printer and learn as much about the industry as possible..get the lingo down and really learn how to do a job from start to finish...believe me..this will benefit you the most when you start your own shop....once you do get your own equipement...keep another job on the side becuase business may be slow as you start out but you will know when its time to kick the 9 to 5 and work for yourself fulltime...i would say that learning to screen print and having your own equipment is a good step even if you really just want to design and sell your own label...if you do it right..you can have a two-fold business where one division is custom printing and the second division is your label...this only means more revenue for you! do some reasearch on putting together a good business plan too...this will pave the way for you and help keep you on track...good luck man!


----------



## TshirtGuru (Jul 9, 2008)

sdroots said:


> i agree with knifemaker3...get a job with a screen printer and learn as much about the industry as possible..get the lingo down and really learn how to do a job from start to finish...believe me..this will benefit you the most when you start your own shop....once you do get your own equipement...keep another job on the side becuase business may be slow as you start out but you will know when its time to kick the 9 to 5 and work for yourself fulltime...i would say that learning to screen print and having your own equipment is a good step even if you really just want to design and sell your own label...if you do it right..you can have a two-fold business where one division is custom printing and the second division is your label...this only means more revenue for you! do some reasearch on putting together a good business plan too...this will pave the way for you and help keep you on track...good luck man!


This is exactly why I am afraid to hire employees.


----------



## bebo (Aug 11, 2008)

TshirtGuru said:


> This is exactly why I am afraid to hire employees.


 
i have one employe before after learning so much abuot my screen printing business
he goes away and start his own business


----------

