Almost everyone loves wearing t-shirts. And why don’t they? It’s a multipurpose wear and can be thrown over pajamas to worn over denim for a casual office-friendly look. The staple provides immense possibilities in custom clothing sphere.
Entrepreneurs like you have started identifying these possibilities and turning them into their favor. Starting a custom clothing business especially t-shirts is a popular choice for both beginners and experienced entrepreneurs.
If you’re planning to start your own t-shirt printing business, it’s the right time. However, you need to keep in mind that it is a competitive business in the online domain. To help you out, here are five tips that you can consider to start your t-shirt printing business.
- Consider your niche
As an online entrepreneur, you would like your t-shirt business to be successful, won’t you? For that purpose, finding a niche for your e-commerce store is mandatory. As we have already said that t-shirt printing business in the virtual world is competitive. So, finding a specific niche can help you focus on a dedicated marketplace and stay ahead of the crowd. Creating an online store that provides unique products or has excellent branding, improves the chances of attaining success by manifolds.
To create a niche-based business, you need to do some homework, research and take your time. Don’t forget to run a competitive analysis. Check other t-shirt stores in your niche and brainstorm to get successful t-shirt ideas for your business. Take note of anything that you think could be a breakthrough for you.
Take your time and brainstorm some ideas to make your store even better. Pick any niche that you find interesting. If there is an untapped market, make most out of it. Les competitive market helps you gain popularity and outshine your competitors soon. Also, it would involve less overhead.
- Legalize your business
Based on your location, you may need to get a license or a specific type of permit to start your t-shirt printing business. You wouldn’t face issues further saying that your business isn’t legal. Of course not! Hence, you need to legalize it to start operating smoothly and keeping regulatory headaches at bay.
You also require registering the name of your custom clothing business. Well, to do so you need to carry out some paperwork with the secretary of state in your locality. In case you want to run your store with a fictitious name, filing for a ‘doing business as’ or DBA would be helpful. However, only businesses with sole partnerships and proprietorships need to file for a DBA. In some special cases, corporations and LLCs are also eligible for filing it.
All this paperwork legalizes your business. When starting a t-shirt store, you need to decide what kind of entity it would be— a partnership, sole proprietor, LLC, limited partnership, S-corporation, or C-corporation.
- Design your t-shirts yourself
When you are all set to launch your t-shirt printing business, make sure to have unique t-shirt design ideas. Why? It is because unique ideas are critical for brand awareness and establishment. If you have great designs in mind to print on the t-shirts, you will stand out. Great products with unique designs are a strong factor for your business’ success.
Marketing great products is not that challenging. Also, it doesn’t need much effort. However, you need to ace this game. Be creative and don’t hesitate to think out-of-the-box. Look for different t-shirt ideas that you find relevant to your business. Pick the ones that fit your prospects’ needs. By leveraging many online design tools, you can create your own designs. Creating custom designs for a custom t-shirt is attention-grabbing.
However, if your designs aren’t exciting as per your taste, you can always take help from other designers or people. Contact local artists who are willing to sell their services. Online crowdsourcing sites and design platforms are some of the best ways to hire a great designer. Even, there are many ways by which you can source custom designs for your business. But make sure the design you choose isn’t copyrighted or trademarked.
- Print chosen designs
If you want to attain success in the online t-shirt printing business, make sure your shirts have high-quality prints. In case any of your customers find that your designs aren’t up to the mark, fading within a few washes or have cracks, your business won’t survive in the long run. Also, it will give wrong impressions about your business.
There are many options that you can leverage to print your custom designs. Contact printing businesses in your areas for the same purpose. But before signing any contract with them check if they provide premium quality prints. Keep in mind that it’s an expensive practice particularly in situations when your custom shirts business grows and need more copies.
So, do a little research to find the best quotes in the industry to lower the overheads.
- Consider your budgetary limitations
T-shirt printing business may include minimal costs, but there would come some situations where you can’t help but extend your budget. In that case, you need to create some budgetary rules and follow strictly— like don’t buy anything if you do not need it or has no usage.
There you will find many businesses that aren’t just excited but committed towards their goals. They would have employees, tools and other equipment. Their process goes well, and everything is excellent. But they can maintain this streak because they don’t invest in things they don’t need. You have to be very careful. Every penny you spend should have the right purpose. Spend your marketing budget well. If there are specific tasks that you can do it yourself, don’t hire a particular employee(s) for that. Do it on your own even if you need to spend some hours doing that. The ultimate mantras should be to save money if you can.
Not spending money is essential; there is no doubt in that. But do you have enough funds to run your business? It is equally important to have enough funds or else there would be financial storms. Capital is the main reason why many companies shut down in their early stages.
The bottom-line
Now that all the tips are clear, you will know how to kick off your t-shirt printing business. The niche is competitive, so make sure to follow all the tips we mentioned earlier. It doesn’t matter whether it is long sleeve shirt business or any other type; maintaining optimum quality is the key to success.
Author profile
Campbell Joef is a graphic designer and blogger associated with Designhill.com (http://www.designhill.com/) , a custom designs marketplace, I generally write on topics concerning design, three quarter sleeve t shirts, ecommerce, start-ups, small business, fashion and style.