Merch is immensely popular, for every franchise, content creator, and brand, there seems to be a new cup or piece of clothing like t-shirts or hoodies with their logos or designs on them, or anything else you can imagine. So, the t-shirt printing market may seem attractive to get into, and with good reason, as it does not look like it is going anywhere anytime soon, although it does require rather large capital and investment of course, as does any business. But, if successful, you can generate some serious revenue, as in 2022, in the US alone, the t-shirt market raked in almost $39 billion, and the demand for creative designs and good quality has never been higher. But how best to run such a business, and what are some tips to make it profitable and worth it? This little guide will endeavor to answer those questions.
Research the Market
Before you can throw your hat in the ring and make your own t-shirt printing business, you need knowledge and information as much as possible. Your absolute first step should be just doing research, into everything even remotely concerned with this sector. See what designs, brands, or content creators are currently the hottest on the market, and explore options as to where you can get your bulk t shirts from so you can print them. Use social media like Pinterest or Instagram to see what is currently trendy, assess other t-shirt brands, what they are doing right so you can emulate them, and what they may be doing wrong so you can avoid making the same mistakes. Try and fill holes in the market by offering something your competitors aren’t.
Identify Your Target Market
Once you have thoroughly researched your upcoming t-shirt printing business, it is time to identify your niche and your target market. You may be as passionate about your idea for designs and prints as nobody else, but if you can not identify what your average customer will or should look like, you are just tapping around in the dark. If you just aren’t sure who your t-shirts will appeal to, again, utilize social media, and make a few polls to see what the public wants to buy most and is most interested in. Make sure you capture your target audience’s demographics too, like age, gender, style, location, and purchasing habits, which will give you valuable insight into the future. Every piece of information helps you build a picture of your audience.
Invest in Quality Materials
A common mistake many companies make to save a bit of money is to buy the cheapest t-shirts and haphazardly print on them, with fabric that falls apart after a few trips in the washing machine. You can tell good quality by feeling alone, and if you want customers to buy from you, but even more importantly, keep buying from you, coming back, and giving you an excellent reputation, then you want to invest in quality everywhere, and this is no less true for the t-shirts themselves. You do not even need to invest that much, just a bit more will secure you high-quality materials that feel pleasant to wear and touch, do not fall apart so quickly, and feature prints that stay vivid for a long time.
Details Matter
This is true for most things, but the devil lies in the details, and the details are what your customers will notice too. Especially with something like t-shirts, which you want to stand out and grab attention, for years. With that said, if you take a look around on the street at what kind of t-shirts people wear, you will often notice one thing they have in common: they are more minimalist in design than anything, rarely extravagant or with prints that cover the whole t-shirt, which you will find on cheap stores from China or the like. No, quality t-shirts are subtle, often minimalist with an eye-catching print or design, but not offensively so, and it is important to get that balance just right. Clean, modern designs get noticed much more and have proven more beloved by most people than the excessive kaleidoscopes of colors, texts, and logos that are tough to look at for long.
Spend Smart
Many, many businesses fail before they even get properly started for many reasons. Still, one is unplanned use of resources, where they get overconfident and want to see immediate profits, and subsequently squander all their resources, and end up in crippling debts because their products did not do as well as they had hoped or dreamed. The whole thing comes crashing to the ground. Don’t make the same mistake, and instead start smaller. Design and create maybe 15-20 t-shirts and see how they do, how well they sell, and what the customer response is. If they seem popular, make perhaps 50 more and see what happens, if the response is great again, 100 more, and so on. If the t-shirts don’t do so well, restrategize, analyze what went wrong, consider other designs or t-shirts or the like, and see what you can improve, while still being able to invest and plan.
Interact With Customers
One incredibly simple and logical rule of business is to listen to your customers, interact with them, take feedback, and act accordingly. If you build a loyal customer base, you can afford to make a few mistakes, and they will still stick with you, spread the word of your quality and work, and bring in new people who will, in turn, bring in others—it all snowballs, without you needing to even spend any extra money. Just listen to them, invest in good customer support, answer emails and concerns promptly, address any problems swiftly, and use social media to build engagement. There are plenty of ways to do it. You just have to care about your product and about the people buying it, and that care is infectious and noticeable.
Printed, cool t-shirts are not going anywhere any time soon, and if you are savvy enough you can enter the market and carve out a space for yourself.
