How to Start a Tee Shirt Printing Business

You can start a business printing tee shirts in your home. Here are some suggestions on what you will need to get it going.

Instructions

1. First you will want to set up the essentials for conducting any business. You will want a name for your business, a bank account, space to work, basic equipment and a plan as to what you will be producing, who your clients will be and how you will price and sell your work.

2. 

   Tee shirts are being produced by a lot of companies at remarkably low prices. Unless you have a lot space and financing to buy printing presses, inks, screens and other equipment, you'd probably do best to buy a small heat press and an ink jet printer. You will be able to print designs on transfer paper and heat press them onto your shirts.

3. You will also need a source for tee shirts and you may want to start by offering limited sizes, styles and colors so you can buy the largest quantity possible at the best prices. (The larger the number you order, the lower the price.)

4. 

   If you are involved in a particular sport or business, that might be the best place to advertise for clients. Try newsletters, emailing and personal contacts to get your first jobs off the ground. If you are being given camera-ready art you will have to know how to make it print well with your transfers. If you are doing your own art,you will need to learn to use a graphics program like Corel Draw.

5. The best way to make a success of a new tee shirt business is to have your own niche. If, for example, you are involved in showing cats, or canoeing or some other specific area, you can start a line of tees that will apply to that specific demand. This will target your marketing and give you a focus that will set you apart from all the other tee shirt printers.

6. 

   These are just the basic steps to getting a home-based printing business started. Take time to organize your thoughts, plans, expenses and materials on paper and be realistic about your financial involvement and goals. Start small, a few jobs at a time, to get the experience and handle the learning curve. Before too long, you should be able to start a small tee shirt printing business that you can enjoy.