The Business

OK, this could get ugly...

This information is directed towards the business of garment decorators using heat applied graphics. You can also offer direct screen printing, Direct to garment and embroidery. None of which is covered in TBIZ101  It may be later when we have an expert that can handle that for us. Now that I have APPAREL DECORATORS FORUM up and running those area will be covered.

I see this a lot.. especially on the other forums and from people that email me. It starts this way, "Hi, I am new here and I want to have my own tee shirt business. Can you tell me everything I want to know." Now I am not kidding about this. And bless them I know they want to get into the garment decorators world. But they do not make it clear what part of the business they want to get into. It is also obvious they have not done one lick of research about the business.. And then there is that.. The business? What business? So lets not talk about the business but lets talk about the types of business. I have a list below and I am not even sure I have it covered.

1. Tee shirts for groups, clubs,, organizations, schools.

2. Branded tee shirts. Your own design sold to stores and wholesalers

3.Branded tee shirts on the internet. Your own website. How is that working for you?

4. Branded tee shirts made by fulfillment companies like Cafepress and Printmojo and others. like Zazzle.

5. Team sports. Soccer, swim teams, basketball, etc. Not all sports are played in schools.

6. Custom apparel. Local businesses want logo wear.

6. Children clothing. Lots of companies offer cute stock transfers for these type of apparel

7. Tourist trade. They come, they buy.. someone has to make them. why not you.

Ok, I know I can go on. But I will stop here.. The idea is to get you thinking about the direction you wish to follow.

You can wind up doing more then one of these and you may in fact change direction completely when you get request to do certain types of items. I started doing tote bags on eBay, same bag  different design. I had a nurse bag, teacher bag, knitting bag for grandma. Then someone wanted tee shirts for their tourist shop. Oh, oh, I need a bigger press.. What type of design.. Oh oh, I need software to do the design. How is it going to look.. what type of paper should I use? Oh, oh, I need a printer to do the printing.. You want me to do what? Screen printing. I don't do screen printing.. Well I lost that sale.. That was before I didn't know a lot of things about this business.  But now I say yes I can do that for you. We use heat applied graphics that are screen printed. I would love to show you my samples.

Open your mind..

What you don't know is that it is all easy to learn. The one thing you do not want to do is sell yourself short. because you have this great design idea in your head does not mean it will formulate into a business. Lots of people jump in and buy very expensive equipment only to find it sitting all alone in the darkest part of the room untouched. Open your mind. look at that list on the left and see if there is something you can do other then that "Branded shirt" you were going to do but no one wanted. It could still be part of your business but you need to operate a business. Do you have a press. Do you have software? Do you have a printer and paper? Do you know how to have plastisol transfers made? Do you have a vinyl cutter? If you do then you then have everything you need to do all the stuff on the left side. You are in the business. Read this list, make your own and then look into your community where your service can be used. Don't be afraid to knock on a few doors..

Can I answer any questions?