A Guide to start a t-shirt printing business

Maria Susan
Jul 28, 2017 · 3 min read

If you are looking for a pleasant, profitable business, and you have some artistic talents, the world of t-shirt is for you. The designs and printing of t-shirts is done at home, and you can even sell them on the internet from home.

Why choose the t-shirt?

Firstly it is a product that allows making a large margin of sale. Manufacturing costs less than 2 euros, and the selling price is between $12 and $45. There are few products that provide as much benefit.

Second argument is a product that is easily bought by Internet users. They take them for themselves or to give gifts to their friends. This argument may seem slight, but know that some products are shunned by Internet users because they prefer to buy them in stores rather than order them online. Would you buy sausage on the internet? Not me. On the other hand I will be able to go online to order a tshirt for Father’s Day, especially since I can do this from my desk and that the gift will be delivered and packed in gift wrapping.

Create a print pattern

No need to be Picasso to find a photo to print on a t-shirt. A simple funny phrase will do the trick.

You do not have a funny phrase idea? There are websites specialized in original quotes, so you do not even have to think. Here you can get help with t-shirt design software.

The 3 techniques to print a t-shirt

You can choose between three printing techniques:

Stencil: the simplest, provided you limit yourself in format and reproduce a simple visual, as well as make only a small series, in two colors maximum. Fairly durable printing (depending on the specific paint used).

Digital transfer: you can find transfer sheets for inkjet printers and also for color laser printers and also black laser. The result can vary greatly depending on the quality of the sheets, the printer used, and the image to be printed. The durability of the printing is variable as much, and generally rather short.

Silkscreen printing: requires special equipment and know-how. Durable printing.

Choose from 100% cotton t-shirts with a grammage of at least 200 g / cm. Otherwise, you will have serious problems when printing, since the fabric is not stiff enough, it will wrinkle when printing.

To start your business, choose the digital transfer technique. The result is professional. Subsequently when you have more means you can make silkscreen printing by investing in a machine.

Find your customers

There is no need to overflow imagination to find customers. Indeed, t-shirts are sold and bought everywhere. Here are some examples, which you can cumulate:

- In the market downstairs every Saturday morning

- On your blog or merchant site

- On specialized sites that offer Internet users the opportunity to receive money for each creation

- To your friends in the evening

You can print on each t-shirt the name of your website, so your friends’ friends will also be able to buy from you. And above all, do not forget that originality is the secret of success in this field.

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