By Praveen Kumar
Find an Idea
The custom t-shirt manufacturing market is expected to grow at an annual rate of 11% until 2030. With online store building platforms and print-on-demand companies, there has never been a better time to start a t-shirt manufacturing business.
By selecting a target audience, creating a brand, and designing t-shirts that delight customers, you can build a successful clothing business at a low cost.
This guide explains how to start an online t-shirt business that brings in extra monthly income. How to start a t-shirt manufacturing business, a step-by-step guide:
Choose a Specific Niche
Choosing a specific niche can help attract a target audience for your t-shirt business without significantly overspending your budget.
Successful online t-shirt businesses need to stand out, and one of the best strategies to differentiate yourself from competitors is to target a specific audience or interested group.
Generally, categories like “t-shirts for people who love funny slogans” are too broad to notice. Instead, look for a sub-niche and use keyword research tools to find words and phrases your target audience might search for. For example, subcategories within the broader trend of funny t-shirts might be “t-shirts with doctor slogans” or “funny t-shirts for dog owners.” Zooming in on subcategory details can be a useful strategy for your t-shirt manufacturing business.
Evaluating subcategories is an essential part of the guide on how to start a business. Here are some ways to estimate the value of entering a subcategory:
- Browse common hobbies lists on Wikipedia for inspiration.
- Use your personal interests and communities you belong to – sometimes you can rely on your memory.
- Visit niche communities on Reddit and check subscriber counts and engagement levels.
- Use Facebook IQ Audience Insights to estimate the size of your subcategory on social media.
Once you’ve identified your subcategory, draft a business plan for selling your custom t-shirts that covers your goals and the various opportunities for selling custom t-shirts, then figure out how to execute it.
Start, run, and grow your t-shirt manufacturing business with Shopify. Get the training, tools, and support you need to build the t-shirt business you’ve always wanted.
Get High-Quality Materials and Printing Options
The next step in starting your online t-shirt manufacturing business is to find suppliers. Not all t-shirts are created equal. Different printing methods yield different results. Since quality is essential to your brand’s reputation, educating yourself and choosing your t-shirt inventory wisely is crucial.
It may be tempting to partner with low-cost suppliers and sacrifice quality to boost profit margins. However, consider how product quality affects a customer’s decision to share your clothing brand and purchase from you again.
Selecting a high-quality t-shirt involves several factors, including size, materials, softness, and weight. Once you narrow down your options, request samples so you can make an informed final decision.
Design the T-Shirts
After selecting your t-shirt supplier, you can develop your designs. Here are some ways to get started:
Research Best-Selling Designs and Categories
If you’re struggling to come up with t-shirt design ideas, look at what’s popular and selling well right now. Check out the top-selling products on these graphic t-shirt design marketplaces: Zazzle, Redbubble, and SnorgTees.
Look at Google Trends to get an idea of the topics people are currently interested in. Use trending topics as inspiration for your designs. If you’re particularly interested in creating a logo for your business, Shopify offers a free tool to create custom logos.
Hire
Designer
Once you have a general idea for your t-shirt designs, start sketching some drafts. If you know how to use graphic design software, you will likely be able to produce great designs on your own. However, it may be best to seek help.
There are a variety of tools and marketplaces you can use to find a suitable graphic designer to assist you. Design Communities
Dribbble is a community for designers that features many unique talents. Search for the style you are looking for on Dribbble and send messages to the designers you like to see if they are available for freelance projects.
Searching for designs can help inspire you and connect you with artists.
Behance hosts portfolios from different creators around the world who specialize in illustration, graphic design, and other disciplines. If you find a designer you like on Behance, you can reach out to them for a quote on your custom t-shirts. If you find an artist you want to work with, you can contact them.
Freelance Networks
General freelance networks like Upwork also have listings for artists and illustrators. Look for a qualified t-shirt designer, then check their previous work successes and portfolio to see if they fit your project. If you like someone, you can communicate with them through the platform and hire them immediately.
Be sure to review the candidate’s portfolio and reviews before hiring them.
Buying T-Shirt Designs
You can purchase ready-made designs if you haven’t found an artist to create your t-shirt production work. If you choose this route, it is likely that other people may already be selling the design you choose, which can make it difficult for you and your business to stand out when selling t-shirts online.
Check out the following graphic marketplaces for t-shirt designs: Designious sells raster graphic packs and t-shirt designs in PNG format. Tshirt Factory offers a variety of raster images, from vintage styles to punk rock designs. Creative Market has over three million graphics and templates. Graphic River allows you to buy and sell copyright-free Photoshop vector graphics and icon packs.
Remember, you may need to purchase a commercial license for your images before selling the t-shirts that contain them.
Create Mockups for Your T-Shirts
Once you have completed your final designs, the next step in your t-shirt production business is to create mockup images. These images help you visualize the final design and how it will look when printed on the t-shirt.
There are several ways to get images for your final designs on t-shirts. You might request samples and take photographs. You can also create a digital preview using templates and t-shirt generators.
Instead of making a sample t-shirt, you can provide a digital preview for customers to see how the t-shirt will look.
Adobe Photoshop t-shirt templates are a popular type of mockup file. They allow you to preview how your designs will look when printed on the t-shirt. Most Photoshop templates come with multiple layers that allow you to change the t-shirt color and apply your design, blending it with the wrinkles, folds, and contours of the t-shirt.
Here’s a list of t-shirt mockup template providers.
If Adobe Photoshop is not suitable for you, there are also online mockup simulation programs that will let you do the same without downloading Photoshop.
Printful Mockup Generator
Printify Mockup Generator
Placeit
Another great option for such tasks is to hire someone on the Fiverr skills platform. Just search for “t-shirt mockups.”
Check Your T-Shirt Designs
Before investing in your new business idea, try testing the popularity of your designs. There are many ways to gauge the design market before selling your t-shirts online.
Common methods to check your design ideas include:
Networking
personal social
Share a preview of your designs on your social media accounts and in places that your potential customers frequent. However, be cautious when pitching your ideas to friends and family, as their opinions may have a positive bias.
Although the community is generally not open to marketing, Reddit remains one of the best places to get honest feedback on your designs (which can turn into sales after launch). With many subreddits, it’s easy to find a highly targeted category of potential customers and ask for their opinions before launch.
Crowdfunding
Crowdfunding sites have made it easy to test and gain popularity for your new business idea and raise funds upfront. Launching a crowdfunding campaign can be time-consuming and require a lot of preparation. However, the benefits can include securing funding for your project before launch. If you have an innovative idea for a t-shirt manufacturing business, crowdfunding might be the right option for you.
Print On Demand
With e-commerce platforms like Shopify, it’s never been easier to set up an online store in just hours. You can use a basic store to validate your business idea. Start a store and integrate a print on demand service to begin selling online.
Listen to the Shopify Masters Podcast
Why (and how) you should test before investing in t-shirt design
Set Up Your Online T-Shirt Store
After commissioning t-shirt designs and creating prototypes and getting feedback, it’s time to build your store.
There are a few print on demand services for t-shirts that integrate directly with your Shopify store, allowing you to start accepting orders at any time. These services will print and ship the t-shirts to your customers on your behalf when an order is received.
With dropshipping and print on demand, there’s no need to purchase inventory upfront, making it a great way to get started. If you want to use your design on other printable products like mugs and tote bags, you have that option too.
There are a variety of t-shirts available through the following print on demand companies: Printful, Teelaunch, Printify, and Gooten.
Once you set up your store, you’ll be ready to start selling t-shirts online.
5 Things to Consider When Starting a T-Shirt Manufacturing Business
Although the tools and technology available for designing, printing, and shipping custom t-shirts make starting a business easier, building a brand that stands out from the competition is more challenging. When you combine a competitive market with slim profit margins, building a successful online t-shirt manufacturing company can be a challenge, but it’s not impossible.
There are several critical elements involved in starting a successful online t-shirt selling business. Each of these elements should be carefully considered before moving on to the next step:
T-Shirt Printing Techniques
There are three common ways to print t-shirts. The choice of method is partially dependent on how much time you want to invest in creating the product and which printing partner you choose. Whether you invest in your own printer or use a local supplier, it’s beneficial to understand how each printing technique works. Screen printing is an industrial screen printing machine. Printful
Screen printing is an old technique and has stood the test of time for business owners who design and sell t-shirts online and in stores.
As one of the most common printing methods, screen printing can produce lasting and durable results. It also allows you to print on products like fabric, mugs, hats, and other things you can make and sell if you wish to expand your product range. However, the high initial setup cost in terms of labor means that screen printing is most cost-effective when printing in bulk. Screen printing also presents a problem when it comes to complex designs or designs with more than four to five colors, as each color increases costs and production time.
Transfer
You can use a heat transfer machine for fast printing. Transfer Express
Heat transfers come in several forms. For example, you may have seen basic heat transfer paper at your local office supply store.
Although this method makes it easy to print designs from your home computer and transfer them using an iron, it requires a more complicated process when running a small business. The advanced form of heat transfer is called plastisol transfer and is printed by professional printers on high-quality heat transfer paper.
Heat transfer allows you to order a quantity of prints from a local printer and transfer them to your t-shirts using a commercial heat transfer machine when you receive orders. Heat transfers can produce full-color images on t-shirts easily and quickly, making them an affordable option for small batches. While heat transfer is cost-effective in the long run, the heat transfer machine can be a significant initial expense. Additionally, your fabric approach requires more time to make the t-shirts and results in lower quality and less durability than t-shirts made using other forms of printing.
Direct to Garment (DTG) printers are common. Anajet
The direct-to-garment printing process works similarly to an inkjet printer you may have at home. It is popular in t-shirt printing companies because it prints ink directly onto the t-shirt and can produce vibrant images accurately.
DTG printing produces quality comparable to screen printing and exceeds heat transfer. Since it operates like an inkjet printer, there are no setup costs unlike screen printing. This means that printing small orders is easy and cost-effective.
The main drawback of DTG printing is the lack of bulk order discounts, as it takes the same time to print each t-shirt.
Design
The last thing a visitor wants to see in your catalog is a copy of a t-shirt design that can be found elsewhere. Your designs don’t necessarily need to be intricate — in fact, many best-selling graphic t-shirts are simple. However, your designs should connect with your audience and stand out.
To ensure quality printing for your t-shirt manufacturing business, your design files should generally be at a resolution of 300 pixels per inch (dpi or ppi), have a transparent background, and be sized adequately to cover the actual print area of the t-shirt. Just note that your specific requirements will vary depending on the printer and printing technology used.
Quality
The next most important factor in starting an online t-shirt manufacturing business that is poised for long-term success is quality. You can disappoint someone once, but they won’t let you disappoint them twice. A design that fades and cracks or a t-shirt that shrinks and breaks won’t create loyal customers coming back for more.
High-quality t-shirts may cost more to produce, but they can also command higher prices. The final quality of your t-shirt will depend on the quality of the blank t-shirt, the printing technique used, and the setup of your design file.
Branding
A strong and appealing brand is essential for starting an online t-shirt manufacturing business. The brand ties together all your choices, including your target audience, your designs, and the quality of your products. From the name of your t-shirt manufacturing business to the logo you use, building a unique and likable brand is important in a highly competitive industry.
When customers have more choices, it becomes imperative for online businesses to have a distinct presence to capture their attention. If you choose a niche for your online t-shirt manufacturing business that embodies a certain lifestyle, you can incorporate it into your marketing and website to speak to those customers.
Inventory
It can
T-shirt manufacturing companies can purchase and store inventory, taking advantage of wholesale pricing and local printers, or use a print-on-demand service to handle inventory and shipping for them. You can also choose a mix of both.
By keeping your own inventory for your online T-shirt manufacturing business, you can sell in person, which helps improve your profit margins. With print-on-demand, you take on less risk because your production is based on your orders. Weigh the pros and cons before starting. If you’re unsure, print-on-demand can be one of the best small business ideas when starting out.
Drop shipping is an easy online T-shirt manufacturing business model for small business owners. With services like Printful, it’s very easy to start testing and producing your Tee designs.
Of course, if you have the budget, you can also invest in your own printer and set up an operational base. Success stories of online T-shirt manufacturing businesses
Many entrepreneurs have successfully started T-shirt manufacturing businesses. For example, Ryan McCarthy, founder of Imouri (formerly known as Sugoi), has been using Shopify to run his anime-inspired T-shirt printing business since 2016. Imouri uses Shopify to run its online store.
Ryan decided to start a T-shirt manufacturing business when he couldn’t find anime-inspired clothing that matched his personal style. He quietly launched what he thought would be a small clothing business, which later transformed into a six-figure clothing company that prints merchandise on demand and sells clothing inspired by Japanese street culture and anime.
What is the secret to his success in starting a clothing line? Identifying winning designs early using Reddit and paid advertising to test products. Start your T-shirt manufacturing business today
It has never been easier to express your creativity and sell T-shirts online. Regardless of the niche you choose to serve or how ambitious you are with quality and designs, a T-shirt store can be a great first e-commerce business for new entrepreneurs.
Shopify can help you control your costs and start selling soon. If you already have designs you want to sell, you could be ready and operational within a few hours.
With a wealth of applications and integrations in the Shopify app store, you can also link your store to a T-shirt printer or shipping company in minutes and launch a fully operational store, with items ready to print and ship to your customers.
Illustration by Alice Molloy
Starting a T-shirt Manufacturing Business FAQ
Is a T-shirt manufacturing business profitable?
T-shirts are a staple for people around the world, with global apparel sales reaching $1.74 trillion in 2023. Starting an online T-shirt manufacturing business is profitable and has lower startup costs compared to other business opportunities. While profits from a T-shirt manufacturing business vary depending on your niche and marketing costs, you can set up a profitable revenue stream within 30 days.
How much does it cost to start a T-shirt manufacturing business?
Starting a T-shirt manufacturing business from home is a very small investment compared to opening a brick-and-mortar T-shirt store and buying your own shirt printing equipment and embroidery machines. If you use printing services
Source: https://www.shopify.com/blog/start-online-tshirt-business
Leave a Reply