How to Make Your Shirt T-Shirt Printing Options

In the late 1980s, Bert and John Jacob were travelling up and down the east coast trying to sell their t-shirts to college students, with little luck. During one of their long drives, while choosing whether to get real jobs, they had a conversation about media focus on negative stories. Jake, the character giving Life Is Good (TM) t-shirts, printing was born from this conversation with a $100 million company.

Legend has it that Catesby Jones maxed his credit cards to start a t-shirt business featuring a frog with foreign-flag designs known as Peace Frogs (TM)

Today, with the Internet and digital printing tools, starting a custom printed t shirts business is easier than ever. In reality, some resources allow you to design a shirt using print-on-demand and fall shipping, so you don't have to spend much money or stock space.

Even so, a million-dollar t-shirt empire isn't a guarantee. Creating a t shirt printing and sells masses still needs a strategy — tips and tools for starting your own productive home t-shirt company.

Here are the nine options to make your t-shirt

Design your t-shirt
Test your design
Write a business plan
Create a business name
Make your business legal
Protect your design
Price your t-shirt
Select a printer
Market your t-shirt

 Design your t-shirt:

The Jacob brothers struggled with their t-shirts before they finally hit on Jake's basic premise (Life is Good). Jones picked the frog because it symbolises harmony and luck. It can be hard to know what kind of model or saying resonates with the public, so you may need to test different ideas. Also, make sure you don't use copyrighted or marked material on your t-shirts.

Be sure to create a high-quality design that looks good at the size you want on your t-shirt. While a design t shirt may look fine on your computer, it may not appear on a t-shirt. You may consider hiring a designer to create a high-quality image.

 Test your design:

Before spending time and money, do market research to determine if your t-shirt attracts buyers. Next, decide who would be the best customer for your t-shirt concept, then search for consumer participants to get input on your product. You don't just want to ask if they'd buy your t-shirt, but what cost they'd pay.

 Write a business plan:

While, like all businesses, selling t-shirts sounds easy without a strategy, you'll waste time and money. Your business plan outlines your brand, the target market, your financial and marketing targets.

 Create a business name:

You can build and start selling t-shirts online in a matter of minutes, but if you're planning to make a living, you should set up an official company. Beginning a company starts with a business name. Your name should reflect your t-shirt, but not restrict your capacity on your t-shirt line. While you can set up shop through a virtual t-shirt printing company, you may want to set up your website, and you'll want to buy the domain name.

 Make your business legal:

You need to decide your business structure (i.e. sole proprietor or LLC) with a business name and obtain appropriate licenses and permits. Your local business office issues business licenses. If you use an online t-shirt service, selling your shirt through its online portal, you may not need a sales tax permit. Nevertheless, if you sell your shirts through your website or in-person (i.e. fairs or markets), you may need to apply for a sales tax permit through the comptroller's office of your state.

 Protect your design:

Just as you don't want to infringe any company's copyright or trademark, you don't want others to benefit from your model either. Look to protect your design, logo, and slogan through copyright or trademark.

 Price your t-shirt:

Research different t-shirt production choices (i.e. online resources, local t-shirt printers) to find the price you can afford. The price you pay depends on the size and number of design colours, the type of printing you choose, and the t-shirt value you choose. Based on your size, price your t-shirt to cover your costs (not just t-shirt expenses, but other business costs like marketing and other overheads). Keep in mind what the market will pay. You don't want a price that customers won't pay.

 Select a printer:

Finally, you can find a list of devices that will print your t-shirt. Most offer an online store to sell your shirt. Another alternative is to explore local printing options.

 Market your t-shirt:

There are many ways to market your new t-shirt, but they all begin by knowing the best buyer for your t-shirt (age, gender, etc.) where you can find him/her and putting your t-shirt before them. If your goal t-shirt buyer is a zombie-friendly high school student, market your t-shirt where zombie-friendly high school students hang online and off. Marketing ideas include Facebook advertising, craft shows or bazaars, Etsy, and ecommerce site.