Today, the international t-shirt printing market is promising ample growth. According to reports, in 2020, this market had a value of USD 3.64 billion. Hence, it is likely to grow at a compound annual growth of 9.7% between 2021 and 2028. This expansion suggests increased business scopes in this domain.
As the aspiring designers and entrepreneurs get introduced to the printing t-shirts sector, they feel they can manage everything well. However, when they start working for a new venture, they come across problems and, at times, are stuck. It is usually because they don’t have a clear idea about the audience or market. At times, they aren’t sure about the latest trends as well. Even though such hassles are small, they can occur anytime between the designing to the printing process. Also, when you are unsure about the complete particulars associated with this business, mistakes can happen.
Each designer indeed comes up with their working process. However, if your immediate objective is to start your t-shirt printing business, there are a few guidelines that can come in handy,
1. Develop a business plan
If you want a successful business, it is necessary to have a great business plan. However, when it’s about the t-shirt printing domain, you should realize that there is a vast audience, depending on the design, style, and quality. Hence, when an organization is particular about what it wants to sell, it should determine whether a web store will sell printed t-shirts. It will work as a business assisted by a bigger company where the entrepreneurs can have their store or section. To know more, you can read about wholesale t shirt printing business plans.
2. Recognize the market niche
Before you set up a business, it is essential to know how much it will cost you. And if you are someone who thinks of the future, ideally, your financial strategy must have the following aspects:
- Annual gross margin
- Projected assumptions and costs of varying and fixed costs
- Monthly loss or profit figures
- Investment cost
- Business ratios comprising accounts payable, debt ratio, and inventory turnover
- Break-even analysis
- Revenue resources and goals
3. Determine the eCommerce solution for the web store
It is necessary to learn about the eCommerce platforms you will resort to for the customized t-shirt printing e-store. You can consider two options:
- Select a hosted platform
The best advantage of using such a platform is that it comes with a reduced start-up cost. You can buy a store, get the logo of your brand uploaded, select a theme, and sell the t-shirts online. The hosted platforms are best for start-ups and will help you operate. However, the only issue that might occur is that you might not get an exclusive design that you like and other options for customizations. But you have the scope to select different plans and possess a good-looking store.
- A self-hosted platform
You can opt-in for a custom-developed eCommerce solution for the business. And this will enable you to opt-in for an exclusive design, offer the ease to make as many custom edits you want, provide limitless scopes about SEO, and will allow you to add in products and set costs when you want. Costly start-up expenses are the drawback in this case. Hence, if you have sufficient funds and are ample confident about the future of your business, you might opt-in for this option.
4. Ensure that the design tool is feature-rich
Usually, while the process of t-shirt designing; people want to experiment with designs, colors, and templates. Hence, it is necessary to add sufficient features to the tool and ensure that it’s user-friendly. That way, you can win the online t-shirt business printing game. Here you can offer texts, ready-made quotes, clipart, and fonts of multiple graphics and styles. And other f3eatures like shadows, masking effects, and overlapping can help you add an interesting touch.
One of the essential things that you should never miss is the graphics aspect. This product is mostly about providing visually appealing products that you consumers can easily create. Hence, irrespective of the budget, you need to ensure that the design tool comprises your consumers’ graphics. Additionally, you also need to determine if your consumers can design the back and front of the chosen t-shirt or not. You need to offer the facility to save designs so all the consumers can be back and work with the same design once again. Also, providing a 3D preview will enable the users to obtain a clear idea about how the designs look. And, in turn, will bring down the scope of purchase returns.
These are some crucial guidelines that you need to keep in mind when starting a wholesale t-shirt printing business.