Just like starting any other kind of business you need a business plan. The business plan will guide you in developing and running your t-shirt printing business successfully.
T-shirts are claiming a reasonable share of our wardrobes because of the casual looks and flexibility it offers to the wearers. Therefore, t-shirt printing is a formidable form of business idea one can conceptualize and become a success story. Entrepreneurs have identified printed t-shirts as a clever way to market their business agenda to the masses without repeatedly incurring a lot of costs.
Until the t-shirt is worn out, the wearer will keep spreading the gospel of your business to the population. If you are looking to start a business whether you are a veteran entrepreneur or a novice one, starting an e-commerce t-shirt store is a perfect opportunity to nourish and grow to the next level. An e-commerce store is cheap and easy to start, here you only need to source for t-shirts with a universal appeal and simply start selling them to drive revenue.
Where to start
First of all, decide the kind of t-shirts you want as merchandise for your business. If you will be doing custom printed t-shirts or designer t-shirts, it’s up to you and it all depends on your market demand. Some of the customers may be fans of a specific sports team and they want their t-shirts printed with a team logo or the name of their favourite player, others have a passion for top musicians or celebrities. Again decide whether to source for plain t-shirts for printing or let the customers come with their merchandise and your work will be to provide screen printing services only.
How to successfully manage a t-shirt printing startup
Observing business management practices is fundamental in making your t-shirt printing business successful. Like any other business entity, it requires the proprietor to properly manage accounting records. If you can keep the books of accounting yourself or hire a professional accountant or try accounting software to make things easy for you. It is disastrous to mishandle funds of such a small startup at this stage. The second point is to review costs and track all the business expenses following the right accounting practices. Thirdly, make annual projections of your business growth and review and strategize in case these projections are not realized according to the timeline. Perform timely invoicing to the clients owing to avoid a cash crunch in your business where you are not able to source raw materials for smooth continuity of the business due to owing too much to your creditors and clients.
Look for funding from reliable sources such as your savings, your salary, or bank loans to boost your business. Finally, create a robust marketing plan to enable your business to make substantive sales within a short period of business operations. You can employ online marketing strategies such as social media, PPC advertising, and other methods of reaching out to clients and ensure your customers are satisfied with the final products to keep them coming back for more of your services.
Other factors to consider are where to source startup equipment like printing machines, screens, colours, and other necessary consumable supplies that you cannot do without.