Where to Start?

FCSW · November 1st, 2012, 10:04 PM

Hi, everyone. I'm new to the forum. I'm currently engaged in researching what I need to do in order to start a business in the custom apparel industry.

I'm seeking the help of the community on setting an initial direction for my business. Would you comment on what technology would be best to start out with? Embroidery, heat transfer, DTG, screen printing, etc? Which technology offers the lowest initial investment with the highest profit? If you were to start out with only one technology, what would it be and why? And what technology would you add after that?

I appreciate your comments. Thank you.

Robert Young · November 2nd, 2012, 10:00 AM

Oh see...This is a very secret society and if I remember correctly at the last general meeting on-line we decided that there was no room for additional businesses to form. sorry.

Seriously though I will offer a few pieces of advice. The first would be (if possible) to actually work at a full service company that provided as many of the imprint methods you mention... either work on the floor or in sales... by doing so you will learn what the methods are as well as what common issues are. And/Or you could buy different products with different imprint methods from several places (in person) so you can learn some of the issues a client can go through..... to me this is important because you will need to find what YOUR differences are going to be to your clients.. what pain do they have? lead times? mistakes? hours of operation? etc... how are you going to differentiate yourself from your competitors...

I would attend the ISS show in your region, walk the floor and talk to as many vendors as you can... go to the classes, immerse yourself for the 3 to 4 days in the industry.. look up as many keywords you can think of on YouTube and search engines.... getting contacts and taking notes as this will help you in answering the questions you will need to put into your written business plan. All this is research to help with this business plan.. if you don't think you need a plan then you might as well just pile your money on the kitchen table and burn it to roast marshies.

This all takes time and money but what education doesn't? To me the main objective, after all this research is that YOU decide which products and imprint methods EXCITE you? I mean making money is NOT the reason most of us have been in parts of this industry for so long.. it is finding the thing that you really LOVE to do.. .the money seems to come naturally after that as your passion comes through to your clients... you are never going to tell a client that "Hi, I sell X because it was the cheapest thing I could get into and pays me the Most money!, so how many would you like to order??"

BJ24 · November 2nd, 2012, 02:12 PM

I agree, find what you love to do otherwise you won't continue to put your passion into it and the business will fizzle out.
Before you jump in, get your feet wet. I think before you own any business you need to get experience and learn each part of the business. If you decide embroidery learn the machines how to repair, how to run, learn the products and how they sew differently, learn the digitizing, learn who your customers are and what they want etc... Will you work with schools and target that business, will you target advertising companies etc... You will be much more successful learning each position in the company.

FCSW · November 4th, 2012, 09:21 AM

Thanks for the helpful comments.