My buissness idea

[Guest]

Hey everyone. I have a buisness idea, but i need some help with it. It is an internet buisness, selling the one thing many people want: T shirts!

 

 

 

They would be screenprinted, and come in every size possible. I just have a few questions.

 

 

 

-Would it work?

 

 

 

-Are there any laws about doing this? I know for some things, you must have _______ and _______, or be ___ years old.

 

 

 

-What about copyright laws? I've browsed a few websites, and many have"vintage" shirts, meaning they have pepsi/coke logs or band names or things like that. What are the laws on that?

 

 

 

-about how much money would i need? Im thinking I'd need a screenprinter, about 100 or so blank white tshirts and a good webhost. Only thing i know about is webhost, $10ish/month. How much do plain white tshirts cost, and a screen printer?

 

 

 

-Advertising! Theres plently of free advertising websites, but do they work?

 

 

 

[hide=Description]No ads

 

Easy to read, look at. Theres a navigotory on top.[/hide]

 

 

 

Thanks everyone, a tonne. I need all the help I can get!

[das1330]

Honestly, forget about it. Silkscreen printing is rather complicated - a setup allowing you to print rudimentary T shirts will cost at least 30 to 40 thousand dollars, not to mention business licenses, tax forms and other related expenses. The only way companies can make money selling T-shirts is by either doing custom work for anyone who wants them in small quantities, like for instance the Tipit store, for which the machinery is VERY VERY expensive, or selling large groups of shirts for things like staff shirts, which is still difficult.

[Guest]

Honestly, forget about it. Silkscreen printing is rather complicated - a setup allowing you to print rudimentary T shirts will cost at least 30 to 40 thousand dollars, not to mention business licenses, tax forms and other related expenses.

 

 

 

:shock: 30-40 grand!? I can put a mid-quality picture on my printer that i can put on a tshirt... I just have troubles thinking it could possibly cost that much, i mean...wow

[das1330]

You need quite a bit of equipment to produce things on a business-level scale. Not only do you need the machines to produce the screens themselves (which is generally a special oven, some acids and inks and an extremely high powered light), but also the machines that are used to hold the screens and ink and apply the ink to the shirts (which even in their most basic form are expensive custom industrial machinery). Finally you need an extremely high-heat oven (which is again, a very expensive industrial machine) that actually bakes the ink on.

[Guest]

You need quite a bit of equipment to produce things on a business-level scale. Not only do you need the machines to produce the screens themselves (which is generally a special oven, some acids and inks and an extremely high powered light), but also the machines that are used to hold the screens and ink and apply the ink to the shirts (which even in their most basic form are expensive custom industrial machinery). Finally you need an extremely high-heat oven (which is again, a very expensive industrial machine) that actually bakes the ink on.

 

 

 

[/idea]

[Lenticular_J]

Yeah, if you were only selling a couple a week, this would be fine. But starting a business, even a tiny one, requires capital - thus, capitalism.

[monkeyboo2]

If your talking about actually printing the T shirts. You'll need capital.

 

 

 

But if your talking about getting T shirts with your designs printed (to sell), then talk to a already established T-shirt printing Company.

 

Buy a batch of T-shirts with your designs and sell them.

 

 

 

Not as profitable perhaps, but you don't have capital.

[ididnotlol]

An easyer way is to move to china and make a sweatshop.

[BlueLancer]

It doesn't make sense to make a new business in an oversaturated market like t-shirts. It will take you a lifetime to recoup just the set-up costs and equipment unless you have some revolutionarily funny or witty shirts for sale.

 

 

 

If you still want in the t-shirt business, become an affiliate for sites like CafePress & create your own designs. They pay for all the printing, staff, equipment, customer support, while you get a sale commission.

 

 

 

Of course, to be able to convert your website traffic into actual sales & people who buy your product... You need some traffic to begin with. Start with planning that, what would make Joe Average buy from your site/recommend it to others? Catchy design, low prices, genuinely funny punchlines on the shirts? If you fail that stage, there really wont be any sales, since nobody will be visiting the site in the first place.

 

 

 

One of the best ways to drive traffic to your site is Google Adwords, but as you can see with a quick search, t-shirt sales online are really an ultra-saturated market. There's over 20 pages of sponsored results, you'll have to pay ridiculous sums like $2 per click to get anywhere near the top results.

[l0l0lpur32]

No point, there's already so many companies doing it you wouldn't be able to compete.

[Mylez]

As stated above, it's already there.

 

 

 

If you're intrested in enterprise, look for a gap in the market. I assure you, there's no gap where T-Shirt printing is concerned :D

[pryomancer]

All the best businesses are ones which fill a gap in the market or a special niche in which they hold 100% of the market share for at least a small time. It's simple business and economics.

 

 

 

Setting up a business is no small task though, don't underestimate it.

[Cyco_Reborn]

Already been done. Difficult to implement. Internet businesses rarely work. There's probably some legal stuff attached.

[RSBDavid]

Unless you are making uniforms for sports teams, you won't really make much money.

 

 

 

You could do a small business using a high quality printer ( => $300.00) and a good steam press (not sure on prices).

 

 

 

I made a shirt last year called Top 20 Times to use "Thats What She Said".

 

 

 

I spent 5 dollars between the discounted shirts (sister walmart discount =p ) and ink. I sold the shirts for 9 dollars. That is a 4 dollar T-shirt. I sold about 5-10 a week easily.

 

 

 

Basically, listen to the way people talk, what intrests them, and add it on a shirt and make $$$$.

[Guest]

Ok guys, thanks...Ill be thinking of a new money making tactic, then post it on this thread.

 

 

 

Thanks again :

[Dizzle229]

Even if you manage to get past the monetary, legal, and advertising aspects of starting a business, the internet just isn't a good way to transfer goods and money yet, and it probably won't be for a few more years. This is why most internet businesses don't last very long.

[BlueLancer]

Already been done. Difficult to implement. Internet businesses rarely work. There's probably some legal stuff attached.

 

 

 

That's not the problem.. Internet businesses do work, & are worth billions of dollars a year... The problem is the "small guy" can't just tap into an online market already filled to the brink with corporations, investors, criminals, small businesses, with the snap of a finger.

 

 

 

Your chances are pretty much limited to affiliating with sites like amazon.com/cafepress.com for 5-10% sales commissions, gaining small income with Google Adsense links on your low-medium traffic site, etc...

 

 

 

That's just how it works, and it's already gone past the point of no return. If you don't have $10k-$500k set for various aspects of online business (especially driving traffic to the site after the concept stage), just don't bother. You'll just get too much headache and too small compensation compared to the stress of working with no capital/few hundred bucks trying to scape together *anything*.

 

 

 

(There's the occassional exception of media hits like 'milliondollarhomepage.com' but those niches have been pretty much filled too)