How to Start a T-shirt Printing Business | Complete Guide

It is evident that you need to know how to start a t-shirt printing business. And we assume that you are also conscious of the incredible demand for same-day printing service in London. The customers keep us so busy that we couldn’t help but share this!

However, you may find a similar demand in any part of Europe, Asia, or America. So as a start-up or entrepreneur, it would help best if you secured sound knowledge on this. It seems that you are a great enthusiast. Then we better move on, what do you say?

How to Start a T-shirt Printing Business

Whether you look for starting the desired t-shirt printing business at home or by setting up a shop, we have covered you! Moreover, this post will give you some excellent ideas so that you can think from different points of view. Now want to know the best part? Then please go through the points below!

Look Back to the History

As an enthusiast, a historical touch of t-shirt would be a source of inspiration for you. T-shirts became trendy in the 1950s for the first time. However, its birth dates back to the 1980s. In that period, laborers used to cut their jumpsuits to cope with the summer. Then the U.S. Navy started using this as ‘standard undershirts’ in 1913. Afterward, it began to get popular from the mid-’50s throughout the world.

Plan Before You Proceed

Do you believe there are only a few kinds of customer needs? Do you think customers only crave a same-day printing solution? The fact is, you will find a variety of customers. So you will need different types of printing methods as well. You will have to find out the apt niche and evaluate it end-to-end. Then set up your mission, vision, and objectives, including a confident financial plan. Also, you have to decide on inventory, garment sourcing, products’ price, etc. Overall, you have to have a terrific plan for the sake of a good start.

Also Check: Offshore Book Printing

Select a Niche Market

Concerning this, identifying the target people and the problems of the targeted people are the foremost things to do. It would help if you separated the niche market on the basis of two criteria- the needs of your target customer and the age of the target customer. Regarding this, deep keyword research can be handy. And gradually, you have to –

• Input the selected niche related keywords, add targeted areas to discover which words and phrases are recommended
• Scale down the suggestions through monthly search volume, competition level, and suggested bid
• Go for 1K-10K per month for search volume

There are toddlers, youth, teens, and adults in every demographic. It is essential to decide how you would meet a specific group’s demand to start a t-shirt printing business. At the same time, you will have to think about whether the chosen designs can meet the current market trends.

Decide on the Design Tools

You can develop a design tool of your own. Also, you can leverage your customers to customize their own designs with various colors and templates. It would be best to include a variety of luxurious texts and fonts, graphics, ready-made quotes, clipart, etc. Want to add more interest in it? Please consider the following features:

• Masking effects
• Shadows and
• Overlapping

However, developing a design tool can be costly. As an entrepreneur, you may not feel comfortable in the beginning. So alternatively, you can consider the tools available in the market. Here we present the most reliable T-shirt design software for you:

• GraffixPro Studio: Dependable for a long run
• Designhill T-Shirt Maker: Ideal for the beginners
• Adobe Illustrator: Best for the professionals
• InkScape: Free to use
• Placeit: A fantastic one for mock-ups
• Rush Order Tee: Ideal for providing same-day service
• InkXE: Able to deal with all devices
• Printful: Ideal For Free Mock-ups
• Snaptee: Ideal For Mobile
• Customily: The most customer-friendly
• Design ‘N’ Buy: A great one for the beginners
• CorelDraw Graphic Suite: Ideal for the new graphic designers

Learn about Printing Methods and Probable Cost

In the next phase, you have to choose a printing method. You may incorporate one or more techniques in your t-shirt printing hub. Particularly you may need to alter a technique to meet someone’s same-day printing order. And whether you run the business in London, Washington, or any part of the Middle East, you will see the following methods are trendy. Let us focus on those printing methods!

Screen Printing

Screen printing is the ideal technique for dealing with large orders and simple designs. If you want to provide your customers with a durable printing solution, you should prioritize this. Let us share the cost of a screen printing machine.

If you want to have a High Volume Auto Production Screen Printing Machine, it will cost between £20K – £80K, depending on the brand and configuration. On the other hand, a standard auto production machine will cost between £7K – £15K. And to get an idea of the average running cost, go through the points below:

• The wholesale cost would be around £17 to £20 per doz to produce 100% heavyweight white cotton t-shirts
• To get a pre-stretched mesh screen, you will have to pay approximately £18 to £20
• A top-notch screen printing plastisol ink will cost £0.036 for each piece of shirt

DTG Printing

The direct-to-garment (DTG) is a favorite technique for printing unlimited color options and designs. This is the best means of custom tee shirt production. You may consider having this in your hub to provide your customers with brilliant on-demand printing solutions. However, we cannot recommend this for printing in bulk since it takes too much time! The cost of a starter DTG printer may vary from £7k to £25k. And an industrial-grade DTG printing machine can cost between £7k to £50.

Heat Press Printing

Often people ask how to start a t-shirt printing business from home. Well, the heat press printing method can be an apt choice for that. It is easy to use, less messy, and quite an affordable solution. Depending on the performance and source of collection, the cost of a heat press may vary from £200 to £2k.

Consider All the Possibilities

You can start the desired T-shirt printing business either through one mode or by combining the three. These are – online, offline, and door-shopping. However, this is the era of the online revolution; it would help best if you chose any of the best online platforms. And the best e-commerce platform for doing business online are –

• Shopify
• BIGCOMMERCE
• Magento
• PrestaShop
• Woocommerce

Market Your T-shirts Strategically

It will be wise to rely on some excellent marketing strategies from the very beginning. Here we will talk about two crucial means of marketing. These are as follows:

Instagram Marketing

It would help best if you utilized this social media platform. Instagram is an apt platform for fashion marketing where you will have a number of influencers widely popular throughout the country and even beyond the territory. They will wear your t-shirt and do the marketing exceeding your expectations. Even if you can’t afford to approach a mega-influencer with millions of followers, you can benefit from a nano-influencer with 1,000-10,000 followers.

Yes, it works. Moreover, as a start-up, you must have a target audience. So, in this case, a nano-influencer would be more suitable. Such an influencer comparatively has fewer followers, but they have an incredible influence ALL OVER their followers! So this can be a sheer scope to maximize your tee-shirt sales.

Facebook Advertising

Facebook advertising can simultaneously be most effective and affordable for any t-shirt printer. You can start advertising at £0.57. Moreover, Facebook analytics allows you to see in detail whether and to what extent an ad is worthwhile. Apart from these, it facilitates you to understand the behavior of the target audience. It leverages you to observe that through some criteria such as their –

• Location
• Age
• Sex
• Income
• Marital
• Status
• Interests

Form a Legal Entity

Being a legal entity is inevitable. You will have to choose any of the business structures to start the business legally. These are as follows:

• Sole proprietorship
• Partnership
• Corporation
• Limited liability company (LLC)

To Sum Up

Now you have a sound concept on how to start a t-shirt printing business. It’s fantastic to learn the best means in a few minutes! Thanks to the online revolution. This has made many things easier for us. Stay good, stay safe!

FAQ

Question: Can I start an online store with no inventory?

Answer: Undoubtedly, you can start your desired t-shirt printing business without any inventory. Even many established printing companies allow the start-ups to use their equipment and ship printed products to the customers’ door!

Question: What is the resolution for t-shirt printing?

Answer: Though it depends on the printer, there is a standard called the golden ticket to t-shirt printing! And the resolution figure is 300 dpi (dots per inch). You won’t have to compromise quality in case of resizing or altering if you ensure this. On the contrary, if you go for 72 dpi or 150, chances are low to provide your customers with a pleasurable service!

Question:  How do you put a logo on a shirt?

Answer: There are three popular ways of inserting a logo while printing. These are called- Breast-pocket logo, Main feature logo, and Label Logo.