How To Start A Successful T-Shirt Brand, Find Out How To Not Fail

Everybody wears a t-shirt and owns at least one. There is a big demand for this, especially with good and high-quality ones. This should immediately answer the question, is t-shirt printing a good business? And I am here to help you if you are planning to launch a startup t-shirt printing business.

How do you start a successful t-shirt brand?

Determine your market niche.

Create designs that will cater to the target market.

Establishing your brand.

Set up shop.

Promote your brand.

These assignments would have to be included in your business plan. I will now discuss the steps mentioned in detail.

What Is Your Brands Target Market Niche?

Selling t-shirts to the public will be made easier if you understand the market niche that you would like to target. It would definitely help if you are familiar with this chosen niche so that you can understand what the people here are looking for in t-shirts. However, this niche familiarity is not a primary need.

There are many t-shirt business success stories and one common denominator in these scenarios is they have selected the right niche. This chosen niche also permitted them to stand out from this ultra-competitive online t-shirt market. Also, this niche will drive any decision that you will make for this business.

I suggest that you devote time for research here in terms of what is your target niche. Look at these successful online entrepreneurs for ideas that you can use for your t-shirt printing business startup. See what things you like about their sites, improve on these things, and apply them to your shop.

A niche that does not have much competition inside of it would be a good one to check out since it may be an untapped market. You can easily be a sales leader in this niche and it will be cheaper for you to become one. Be careful here though because the reason as to why there is not a lot of competition present is that there is no market to cater to.

You will have to be quite specific with this chosen niche so that you can stand out. It will also permit you to attract and market to this target audience without much overspending.

An example would be t-shirts with dogs and cats since there are quite many animal lovers out there. You will definitely have to narrow this choice because the market is just too broad. An option here is to target the niche for Labrador dog lovers and owners.

Always remember that you can easily switch to another niche if you find yourself not making progress with the initial one chosen. And it could be also that you can venture into another niche once you find yourself getting to the limit of success with the first one.

How To Create T-Shirt Designs For The Target Market Niche

It is now time to make use of your creative ideas. If you are somebody who likes to think things outside of the box, then this is perfect for you.

Remember that the marketing work that you will be undertaking later in this process would be a lot easier if you have excellent designs.

Two correct adjectives that must be incorporated in your designs are simplicity and originality.

These designs should not be complex. They need to be something that this target audience will definitely relate to and can outshine other designs. Also, your designs should be your own and not copycats. You will definitely lose your pull if you are just copying designs from somebody else’s brand.

Since you have managed to identify a particular market niche for your t-shirts, you will have to create the designs for your intended customers. There will be trial and error situations here because you will have to check that these designs are liked within your target market. Be prepared to scrap the initial designs and start designing from scratch.

The good news here is that you can also hire a freelance t-shirt designer in case you feel that designing the artwork is something you want to outsource. You can check out this link for my article on what’s the Best Way to Find And Hire A Freelance T-Shirt Designer for added information.

T-shirt designs can also be purchased from designers who are selling their artwork. This will definitely save you time in creating t-shirt designs. Some of these online sites selling these items are:

General graphic design marketplaces like Creative Market and Graphic River are also excellent sources of t-shirt designs.

You will also have to make sure that your final designs have not violated any copyright or trademark infringements. You can easily check this with the USPTO or the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Also, check that the licenses that you are getting with these purchases are extended licenses. This will permit you to use these purchased images for your own commercial purposes since you are intending to sell the t-shirt for profit.

Once you have your design conceptualized, you may want to use a mockup tool to see how it will look on a t-shirt. There are plenty of online mockup tools that will greatly assist you here. You may refer to this link to my article discussing the best free and premium t-shirt templates and mockup generators.

What Are Ways To Validate Your T-Shirt Designs?

By this time, these t-shirt designs should have been completed and it is now time to run them by your prospective customers.

Validating them through these people will be an advantage for you since you would know what needs to be improved before you produce or upload these designs. You will be saving time and money here and you can easily start or modify these designs if needed.

I would start by running these t-shirt designs by my own friends and family, especially if they belong to the target market that I would like to reach. I would then go to the community that is part of this same target market. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Reddit can be worthwhile sources of creative feedback for these same designs.

You can also consider posting these same designs on various online forums for constructive feedback. Please ensure that you indicate a unique watermark on these same designs so that they will not be copied from you.

If you would get positive feedback from these sources, you may have a ready market waiting for your t-shirts when they become available.

Checking my competition again would be worth pursuing. The good thing about this is that if you really have existing competition here then this means that this niche is worth targeting since the market is quite receptive to the t-shirts being promoted here. Have the mindset that your design should definitely be an improvement on what your competitors have so that their customers will switch over to your brand.

Establishing Your Brand Identity

The t-shirt brand that you will be building here is the one that will tie in the target niche, designs, and quality that you will work on later. That is why this brand has to be unique and provide a sense of comfort to your customers especially in this ultra-competitive industry. You have to learn to distinguish your brand so that you can stand out from your rivals.

With that in mind, you will now have to decide on the business model right away for this will determine the makeup of your business. Your t-shirt business plan will be based on this model.

If you are keen on starting your own retail line, I suggest that you start small.

First, you can establish your own boutique. This will cater to the market within your immediate area but you can also set up an online store that will definitely increase your reach.

Why Your Brand Should Have An Online Presence

Having an online store gives you time to understand online marketing. The experience you will gain from the setting up of an online shop will be more valuable than any articles, podcasts, blogs, and books that you will be using for research.

You do not need much time to establish your own online shop. You just have to ensure that you are partnering with a reliable e-commerce platform such as Shopify who can assist you with 24/7 customer support.

Once you have gained an idea with this concept, then you can allocate more of these valuable resources in growing your business. Your t-shirt business marketing plan should really include the presence of an online store.

Consider also the fact that you may just be starting with t-shirts, but there will be ample room for you to sell other products. You will need these different products such as bags, stationery, art prints, and others to give your clients other items to buy.

The good news is that if these same people are your loyal fans and they are happy with your t-shirts. Theis a good probability they will buy the other items in your catalog. Also, it would be easier for you to add these additional products to your own online shop.

Setting Up Your Brand Shop

We are now going to the part where you will have to decide on how you want to produce your t-shirts.

You will first have to get the appropriate business license before you start producing and selling these t-shirts. This will definitely save you headaches later if you take care of this first.

Consider the type of ownership for this business whether this is a sole proprietorship, partnership, or corporation. This will be necessary when you register the business name you will be using. I suggest that you consult with an accountant for this step.

These are the costs that will have to be considered when you are getting your own shop for t-shirt production. They are the following:

Rent
Utilities
Insurance
Labor
Blank t-shirts for inventory which can be obtained from a wholesaler

Don’t take any chances with lower quality t-shirt blanks.

Bad quality will immediately show in terms of threads coming apart, ripping and shrinking instances. You will eventually pay for this since you will definitely lose your clients. I will recommend choosing among these brands for your choices on blank t-shirts since they have the right fit, price, comfort, and quality:

Bella Canvas Unisex Jerseys Tee
Alternative Short Sleeve Tee
Next Level Premium Fit Suede
American Apparel Tee
Anvil Lightweight Fashion Tee

I recommend that you join a membership club like Specialty Graphic Imaging Association or (SGIA), Advertising Specialty Institute or (ASI), and Promotional Products Association International or (PPAI). These clubs can provide you with additional resources like tutoring and mentoring for operations, marketing, distribution, and even product sourcing.

You can also make use of these same clubs to network your final products.

We go next to the printing method you will be using for these t-shirts.

All of them would be requiring their own specialized inks for use with the equipment. You will also need a computer with specialized software for working with the designs.

Screen Printing Your Product Line

Screen prints are durable and can stand the test of time.

It demands plenty of setup work and you will need to get help here. Either outsourced or in-house it will allow you to mass produce printed t-shirts here though. You will also have to consider that complex designs with a need of more than five colors will be costlier to produce.

Please click on this link for the equipment list needed to use this printing method.

To save you money, you can refer to this link for my article on the tips to consider when buying used screen printing equipment.

Heat Transferring Your New Line

There are several forms of this printing method but all of them require heat and pressure to transfer the design onto the t-shirt.

You can even make use of a simple iron to handle the design transfer.

The sublimation printing method is also considered a type of heat transfer method. Click on this link to learn more about this style of printing.

If you are considering using heat transfer vinyl, please read my article on how to use this method by clicking on this link. In case you encounter peeling problems with this vinyl transfer process, you can click on this particular link for advice on how to prevent this issue from happening.

There is an advanced heat transfer method called plastisol transfer that uses high-quality paper. You can take advantage of this by ordering a stack of prints with your design and using this paper. When an order comes in, you can then perform the heat transfer to the t-shirts.

Compared to the screen printing style, print quality using this method is of lower quality and not as durable.

Direct To Garment Or (DTG) Method For Your Shop

This style of printing allows you to print your design directly on the t-shirt itself. It also permits you to print full-color images with precision and accuracy.

Compared to screen printing, there is not a lot of setup work needed so you will save money here in printing especially with a small batch.

A distinct disadvantage of this printing method is when you are handling a large order. Each t-shirt handled would need the same time for printing, therefore, it will be difficult for you to give volume discounts.

It is important that you pretreat your t-shirts especially when you are using dark colored garments. This will benefit you because you will get more vibrant colors. Please click on this link for tips on how to perform the pretreating process.

There are also printers who complain about printing problems such as white ink. I recommend that you read my article about maintaining your DTG printer to avoid problems by clicking on this link.

As you can see from the previous sections, having your own printing shop is not easy. You might now even be asking is t-shirt printing a good business?

There is however another way that you can still be on your way to becoming one of the t-shirt business success stories. This way is through POD or print on demand.

Print On Demand Or POD To Fulfill Order From Your Brand

Print on demand is where you are contracting a POD provider that will handle order fulfillment for your customers. All you need to do here is upload your designs that will be printed on these t-shirts under your own name brand.

When these customers place an order through your online store, this same order will be sent to your POD provider who will handle the printing, packaging, and shipping to your customer’s intended destination.

One good thing for this setup is that it will permit you to just focus on design creation and marketing. You need not to handle the actual order processing for these orders and there is also no need for you to maintain inventory in a warehouse.

This link will list the best POD providers currently undertaking this business for customers like you.

You can monitor through these POD’s facilities your sales and order fulfillment times.

I would suggest that before you sign up with these POD providers that you order a sample of your printed design. You can immediately check on the quality of these finished products and delivery handling and time by doing this.

One thing for sure that in this setup you will need to maintain an online shop.

In case you are looking for another option here aside from POD, private label can be considered. This is where you are contracting a manufacturer to produce t-shirts under your own brand. You will have more control with your product pricing and profitability through private label.

If you would like to learn more about the comparison between private label and POD, please click on this link.

There is also another option where you can set this same online store in Shopify, Etsy, or other e-commerce platforms. There are POD providers who have an interface set up with these platforms. If you already a Shopify store, you can click on this link for POD providers who have their own Shopify app.

For entrepreneurs who wish to use Amazon, POD provider Printful has an existing interface already with this retail giant. Printful can provide seamless integration, a greater selection of t-shirts, and reasonable pricing. They can also print on canvas which can increase your shop’s product selection.

You can learn more about Printful’s interface with Amazon by clicking on this link.

Merch By Amazon or (MBA) is Amazon’s own POD service. You can upload your t-shirt designs here. Once Amazon’s customers order a t-shirt with your design, they will handle order fulfillment and you will get paid on a per shirt basis.

These links will help you further if you would like to know more regarding this MBA order fulfillment program.

How to sign up for MBA and get approved faster, click on this link.
How to perform keyword research in MBA for increased sales, click on this link.
How to look MBA profitable niches research for probable t-shirt ideas, click on this link.
Using the Over and Vintage Designs Apps with MBA, click on this link.
Using third-party Merch Informer for increased sales in MBA, click on this link.
Using Photoshop with your MBA account, click on this link.

Promoting Your Brand

Now comes the part where you will have to execute your t-shirt business marketing plan. By this time, you already have your t-shirt line available or ready to be ordered in your online store. It is time to create a buzz around them.

If you are utilizing an e-commerce platform, you can leverage the huge number of customers who are checking out these sites. Use the built-in sales programs available within these platforms to promote your shop and your products.

One old-fashioned way to do these sales and marketing tasks is to do cold calling. Using your own telephone, you can call individuals and companies to promote your products constantly. You will probably be turned down more often than being successful but if you gain a client, then this will be well worth it.

You can definitely make smart use of these social media facilities to promote your online store and products. Send a message to your FB friends and ask them to push your t-shirts to their own friends.

Other ways are purchasing advertisements on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and others. You can easily monitor the success of these ad campaigns once you have bought them.

One sophisticated way of using this widespread social media to your advertising campaign and assuming you have a budget for this task is to use influencers. Just make sure to contact influencers who have plenty of followers and are known in the niche that you are targeting. Click on this link for my article on searching for the best Instagram influencers.

I have my own suggestions here to promote your own brand. You can also click on this link to learn more regarding these successful promotion ideas that your customers will not get tired of.