No1: Do you want this?
This is essential for starting anything that will take lots of time and effort.
You will initially put in a load of effort that will show NO gain and that can be tough to live with.
If you are truly passionate about something, then this will give you the motivation to power on through even when there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel.
If you are simply starting a T-shirt brand because you saw a shopify advert on how to make a quick profit… then there is no point reading the rest of the article because you simply will NOT last.
- You have to be passionate.
- You have to believe.
- You have to be hungry for it.
No2: YOU NEED A GOOD WEBSITE.
There are literally billions of websites on the internet, there is no excuse for a poor website.
The first thing people do after hearing about your brand is google it.
Hopefully you have set up your website properly and will find you.
It should tell them what you are about and what you stand for.
As with meeting anyone for the first time, first impressions are a big deal.
If you have a free trial for Wix or WordPress with a free URL no one will even click on the link – this is such an essential tip.
Would you buy from a store that hasn’t paid for their own website?
Would you be happy to buy off of someone, knowing full well that they are looking for a quick buck and you are about to give it to them?
NO.
With big names like Shopify, Lemonstand, Bigcommerce and loads more there is no way to wiggle out of putting down a small amount…
…it will take you from looking like a highschool project to a serious start up.
No3: Printing.
This is what you are going to sell.
You will not be able to sell anything you don’t fully believe in yourself.
Your customers are not stupid, with so much content out there it is easy to tell when someone is faking it.
This is a no brainer.
The product needs to be the best possible quality it can be for the price point you are selling at.
It is a good idea to get a sample product from the printer or supplier you are looking to use BEFORE you buy the bulk order.
You don’t want to order a load of Tshirts only to find that they are total rubbish.
No4: R&D
“Failure to plan is planning to fail.” – every elder figure ever.
An age old saying and one that applies to everything in life.
You need to research your competitors to see;
- What they are doing,
- How they are doing it,
- When they are doing it.
This will provide a basis of targets you need to be achieving and it also provides a model for you to copy follow.
Some questions you need to find the answers to:
- Is there enough of a market to sell you Tshirts?
- What shirts are you going to print on?
- What is your demographic?
- How are you going to get traffic?
- Where will you sell the Tshirts?
No5: Know who you are selling to.
If you are starting a business then you are not going to be selling your products to yourself… you need to think about who you will sell your Tshirts to.
Your brand will not appeal to everyone,
You cannot sell a cat Tshirt to a dog lover…
Finding the type of customer you will sell to is vital, you need to visualise who they are to understand what would make them want to buy your products.
As if you were creating a character for a story, you need to create a realistic character to sell your Tshirt to.
No6: Finances.
Starting a Tshirt business is regarded as a low cost way to make money.
As discussed above this is not the case, it does require upfront investment.
You have to think of every single thing that goes into getting the Tshirt idea from your head into the customers hand.
Think tags, packaging, extras such as stickers, postage, how you will get the blanks to the printers, the tape you will use to package the item and the markets you will sell to.
If the small costs are overlooked you could find yourself half way through with no money left.
No7: The Golden Rule.
Customer service is something that is assumed these days.
It is so easy to achieve.
Put yourself in the shoes of the customer and have a good think about how you would feel if you went through the same process they will.
From finding the brand, browsing and then buying.
Think about returns, any errors that occur and how you will deal with them.
No8: Delegation.
Humans have become the dominant race due to the ability to communicate at a high level which allows us to work in efficient teams to work towards one common goal.
There is no point struggling through something that you are not good at when you can get someone else to do it for you.
With the rise of the gig economy, websites such as Fiverr provide a place for you to find someone to do the things you aren’t as good at for a nominal price.
This allows you to focus on excelling at the things you are good at.
No9: Marketing and Advertising.
The best way to market is by word of mouth, although this is free it is also hard to scale.
The best way to market your Tshirt brand is to connect with Tshirt blogs and ask them to feature your products in front of their audience.
This can sometimes be free, this can sometimes cost money.
It is up to you to find the place you want to advertise and do so by any means possible.
Good ways to do this are:
- Cross promoting with collabs – They promote you and you promote them
- Usually done when both brands have a similar following.
- Paying for promo – Larger sites will be happy to do this for a fee
- Mostly exercised on Instagram as this is a visual platform and you have a visual product.
- Paying for ads – This is slightly different to above
- ads would be typically done via instagram, facebook and google algorithms so you can choose which type of user you want the ad to target.
Marketing and advertising are so important because the marketplace is now super saturated and it is harder than ever to get noticed.
After all, you may have a great product but without marketing and adverts you will have no one to sell it to!
No10: Remember why you started.
It will be hard, it will make you want to quit, you need to remember why you started.
That initial spark needs to be nurtured into a roaring flame.
It is about the process not about the end goal.
Thank you for reading this post, please leave any form of feedback below!
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