Background Information of The T-Shirt Business
 Staring a T-Shirt business is an excellent way to sell your creativity. A typical day may start with brainstorming new designs and logos. Afterwards, you may transfer these ideas to a computer and prep you shirts for printing. You may also need to fill an order for business T-Shirts and jerseys for the local little league.
T-Shirt Business Considerations:
There are a couple of things to consider before starting a t-shirt business. First, decide if you want to make only your shirts or shirts for organizations. Creating your own
brand and marketing the T-Shirts can be very successful but it may take time to get name recognition. Also, decide if you want to print your own shirts or outsource the printing. Outsourcing can be expensive but some tasks, such as screen-printing, can be difficult to master. If you decide to print the T-Shirts yourself, decide what style of printing to use. Screen-printing is difficult but is a better quality than heat pressing. Finally, decide if you want to franchise.
Franchises such as Instant Imprints gives you name recognition but, you have to look at the total investment for owning your own franchise.
Tasks And Skills Needed:
Business Specific Tasks:
If you are planning to do all the business tasks or hiring or subcontracting tasks, here's a list of tasks that need to be attended to when it comes to the business side of running this business:
- Keeping track of invoices and expenses
- Advertising/Marketing
- Sales
- Website design and maintenance
- Ordering supplies
- Organizing shipping/deliveries
- Order taking
Industry Specific Tasks:
Same as above if you plan to do everything yourself or get help, here are some of the tasks necessary:
- Operate t-shirt press/printer
- Use printing software
- Graphic designs skills
Approximate Daily Hours Needed:
 General Hours of Operation: If you have a storefront, expect to spend eight to ten hours at your shop. These hours may be 9 to 5 or 10 to 7 and expect to work weekends. If you have an online store, you may need to fill orders at various times of the day.
Hours Needed to Prepare: Generally speaking, a t-shirt business takes about 1-2 hours to prepare and display your t-shirts. After hours include about an hour of closing up and/or packing.
Employees Needed:
During the start up phase, you can run this business single-handedly. Once Your Business is up and running successfully, you may need to hire for the following tasks:
- Website maintenance
- Printing
- Inventory Supply (T-Shirts)
- Ordering of printing supplies
- Equipment upkeep and cleaning
- Customer service
- Retail sales
- Order fulfillment (online and/or offline)
Skill Requirements for This Business:
Here some of the skills necessary to run this type of business:
- Familiarity with printing and transfer processes
- Fabric care
- Color and design experience
- Clothing design
Licenses:
 You will need a business license, Federal Employee Identification Number (EIN), insurance and possibly incorporation paperwork such as an LLC.
Depending on where you live, you may need a retail license and sales tax license.
You may also want to consider applying for copyrights for your unique designs.
Approximate Minimum Startup Cost:
The t-shirt business can be easily started as a small-scale operation since it does not require a huge sum of capital to start up.
It would cost under $100 to buy the materials to screen print T-Shirts, for example. The absolute minimum stuff you would need would be a frame, photo emulsion, a cheap light, ink, a squeegee, masking tape, and T-Shirts. For another hundred, you could buy a single shirt screen printing press, or you can build your own press.
Since your product is something to worn it is easy to get free marketing by wearing an eye catching t-shirt. You can also go door to door to small retail shops showing you design to the owners or getting tables at fairs and events.
If you decide to open an online store, you may want to buy some advertising through Google or websites that relates to your design.
Necessary Equipment to Run this Business:
Necessary Start-Up Equipment & Supplies:
- Work space, ample table room
- Computer
- Screen printing (silkscreen) press
- Squeegees
- Screen printing ink
- Regular screens (silk)
- Screen exposure unit
- 4-6 color manual press
- Spot dryer
- Small conveyor dryer
- Emulsion
- T-Shirts
Supplementary Equipment: - Equipment and products that you can acquire to once your business is off and running:
- Trademarks/copyrights
- Design software
- Finance software
- Camera
- Airbrush gun
- Embellishments: rhinestones, lace, etc.
Monthly Expenses To Consider:
- Printing supplies
- Transfer supplies
- Development/emulsion tools and products
- Answering and/or cell phone service
- Rent or Lease
- Wages
- Utilities
- Packaging
- Advertising/Marketing
- Shipping
Pros And Cons:
The Pros of Running a T-Shirt Business:
- A T-shirt business is one of the easiest to start
 You have the advantage of being your own boss and setting your own hours- Great part-time business that can grow to full-time
- Startup costs are relatively low
- This business is completely expandable
- T-Shirts sell in any economic climate
The Cons of Running a T-Shirt Business:
- Coming up with a unique and marketable idea can take some time
- There is a lot of competition
- As trends emerge, your designs will need to change accordingly
- Depending on the services you provide, you may have to handle substances that may be toxic or you are allergic to
- Trademarks, copyrights and exclusive licensing can be very costly
Types of Customers You Need to Attract:
Your clients can range greatly. Different organizations, groups, families and businesses order special occasion T-Shirts, such as reunions, company pick-nicks and more. In addition, people from all lifestyles wear T-Shirts with an array of designs.
T-Shirt Business Statistics:
An estimated 1.4 billion T-Shirts are sold annually in the US. That equates to about $20 billion USD in sales. T-Shirts may cost anywhere from $1 USD to $10 USD and can sell from $5 USD to beyond $50 USD for large name brands.
Revenue:
Revenue will vary depending on the quality of material, the process and the demand for the design. Johnny Earle of Johnny Cupcake T-shirt started making T-Shirts on the side.
Each t-shirt costs somewhere between $4 USD to $5 USD to make and he would sell them for $8 USD to $10 USD. As the shirts became more popular and quality increased so did his profits. Now, according to an Inc. Magazine article, Johnny Cupcake T-Shirts sell for an average of $35 USD all the way to $75 USD.
Resources:
 T-Shirt Apps: These web pages offer apps designed for those who want to stay up to date with the t-shirt industry.
 T-Shirt Articles: A variety of articles that provide readers with insight into starting and running a t-shirt business, as well as tips for creating unique apparel.
 T-Shirt Providers: A list of websites that offer customers the chance to design and purchase custom t-shirts, as well as purchase apparel at wholesale prices.
 T-Shirt Blogs: A group of blogs dedicated to bringing readers the latest news and information on current trends in t-shirt design and creation.
 T-Shirt Business Plans: These websites sell business plan templates and services to entrepreneurs interested in creating a customised business plan for their company.
 T-Shirt Design: A collection of websites that inspire creativity in t-shirt design. Some of these sites allow users to design original t-shirts for purchase.
 T-Shirt Equipment: These websites are dedicated to providing business owners with all of the equipment and supplies necessary to run a successful custom t-shirt business.
 T-Shirt Forums: Forums created to bring individuals in the t-shirt industry together to ask questions, get answers, and share ideas.
 T-Shirt Franchise: A selection of web pages that provide information on various franchise opportunities in the t-shirt screen printing industry.
 T-Shirt Software: An assortment of web pages that offer t-shirt design programs and other services for those interested in running a custom t-shirt design business.
 T-Shirt Training: A collection of web pages that provide training for individuals with a desire to learn more about t-shirt screen printing business ideas and techniques.
 T-Shirt Videos: A variety of videos that provide vital information, tips, and techniques that relate to the custom t-shirt industry.
Related Businesses:
See Also:
 Starting A Business Checklist: This section helps you cover all bases when you are getting in to your own business.
 Complete List of Business Ideas - A list of all our business ideas that you can use to stimulate your entrepreneurial spirit. Choose from over a hundred detailed pages.
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