There are more ways than ever to start a business that gives you a creative outlet. Selling t-shirts printed with your art, words, or anything else is a great way to exercise your creativity and make money. A t-shirt business can make a small profit on each unit you sell, which can add up to the best source of extra income. Learn how to start a T-shirt business in general with our easy guide. We’ll help you start your new side gig & full-time t-shirt career in just a few easy steps.
Before selling T-shirts, you must make a plan to guide your actions toward success. Follow these seven steps to sketch out a path forward for your business, but feel free to contact us if you still need to get all the details. It would help if you had an idea of where you’re headed so that everything flows smoothly once you get started.
First and foremost, you’ll need to pick a name for your business. Whether it’s just your name or something else, that name will guide your process of creating a logo, business cards, a website, and other branded assets. Once you’ve chosen a name, you can register a domain so that when you set up your website, you’ll be all set to link it with your brand.
Whether you intend for your new venture to be a side hustle & full-time, you should register your business as a sole proprietorship or a limited liability company (LLC). Registering an (LLC) as a limited liability company will give your business more tax benefits. You’ll also be able to buy blank T-shirts at cost with your EIN (as opposed to your personal Social Security number).
Registering in your state can cost anywhere from $50 – $100. You should also familiarize yourself with your legal requirements for small businesses and make sure everything’s in order. If setting up your business is too large a time commitment, you can pay an LLC service to do it for you. Investing in this service and saving your time will allow you to focus on the creative aspects of your business.
There are a variety of ways to produce printed T-shirts for people of all skill and knowledge levels. If you’re committed to working with materials yourself, you can purchase screen printing equipment for your home or office. This gives you a great measure of control over the quality of the art & designs printed on the shirts, & if you enjoy creating social media content, people love to see your creations on TikTok and Instagram. The upfront cost of these machines will be high, but then you will have higher profit margins since you’ll only have to pay upkeep costs.
It’s also straightforward to find local businesses that provide screen printing services for you. This means you’d have to take on the cost of paying these vendors as a part of your initial budget. However, a local service or a company that’s far away but with whom you have a great relationship will also be good for keeping an eye on quality control.
If you want to get started immediately, there are also very reliable print-on-demand services. Services like Printful and Printify have fast turnaround times and allow you to sell as many products as possible without estimating the cost of any unsold products. However, the profit margins for these products are smaller because of the cost of individual printing.
Before going to print, you need a design that reflects your brand goals. If you’re starting a T-shirt business to highlight your drawings, paintings, or digital designs, you’ll need to ensure they are saved as the correct digital files (usually vector files, such as .eps) that your printing service of choice can use.
If you make highly intricate designs, you’ll want to do test printing to see if everything prints clearly on the shirts. If you’re starting with design, there are tons of free tutorials on using Adobe Photoshop and Canva to create designs. There are also thousands of talented artists whose work you can commission through websites like Fiverr, Creative Market, and more.
Upwork When you find an artist, you can purchase their work outright, but if you have the best relationship with the artist & want to continue working with them, a profit-sharing relationship may be more sustainable in the future. Finally, if you have the time and connections, you can hire a local photographer and get some models for more dynamic action shots. This depends on your budget and the number of shirts you’re producing.
When you’re ready to sell, you’ll need to choose a sales channel. You can host sales on your website, but online marketplaces are also easy ways to market. If you select a third-party seller, you’ll have to start an account & set up your store. Services like Etsy, Zazzle, & Redbubble are known to sell a lot of clothing and attract a lot of customers. You can also sell through Amazon or on social media. Before choosing, check the prices of these services and see which one will be the most sustainable for the long term.
Even if you’re selling on a third-party marketplace, you need a website to promote your T-shirt business. Here are the best e-commerce platforms for building an online store:
All of these services can be integrated with a print-on-demand service if that’s how you’re producing your T-shirts. These make it easy to sell and promote however you choose, and you can even ship the merchandise directly to your customers so that you can focus on the creative side of things.
Marketing a fledgling business can be difficult, but there are low-cost ways to do it. If you’re targeting a specific niche, you can look into communities online, like subreddits & Facebook groups where you can post your T-shirts to bolster interest.
It depends on which metric you want to save money on. Printify has lower production costs than Printful. However, Printful has better international shipping rates.
Most sellers set their profit margin around 50%. If your cost for the shirt + printing is $10, you might sell your shirt for $20. Setting a higher profit margin may enable you to offer free shipping.
While you don’t need a business plan to start a T-shirt business, it’s a good idea to create one. A strong business plan will help you stay true to your original vision. Planning out your suppliers, goals, and general growth plan will set you up for success in the future.
It depends on which metric you want to save money on. Printify has lower production costs than Printful. However, Printful has better international shipping rates.
Read also: How to Find an Online Business for Sale.
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