Maybe you had an excellent design for a t-shirt and decided to have it printed out immediately. In a matter of days, you were able to produce 30 t-shirts for $300 and priced them at $40 each. Let’s say you managed to sell a grand total of five pieces. However, these customers warn their friends about your services due to the poor quality of the products. Your t-shirt company already failed before it could even take off.
What went wrong?
Let’s not beat around the bush— what happened is that you rushed production without any research and preparation. If you are starting a t-shirt company, there are certain mistakes you should avoid if you do not want to experience failure.
1. Rushing to sell with nothing in mind
Inspiration is not enough to launch a business into success. When you rush, you tend to forgo proper planning, forget cost analysis, and fail to build rapport with your demographic. A lot of t-shirt companies fail because they think starting a t-shirt company is simply about buying a printing machine.
It’s not. It also involves proper financial planning, item inventory, and customer management. Your time management and marketing skills will also be put to the test. If you are not confident about handling the printing costs, methods, and operations, this website can do that for you.
2. Designing without a target population
Eric Mathews, founder and CEO of Start Co., said that building something nobody wants leads to 50% of start-up failures. The same can be said about designing a t-shirt without a target population. The reality is that your sales won’t increase if you don’t understand your customers.
To prevent failure, Mathews suggests conducting a more thorough research about your client base. Try to spot their problems and solve it. Discover what they want and need so that you can give it to them.
3. Not consulting an expert
A marketing strategist is an example of a professional advisor who will help you secure effective operations and impactful advertising. They can make your product visible by using tried-and-tested ways such as photo shoots, posters, and social media updates. The input of a mentor is also invaluable. These experts can give you advice on how to run a business based on their personal experience so take their advice into consideration.
4. Cheating your customers
Using high-quality materials for your t-shirts and pricing them appropriately is a great idea. Using poor-quality materials and selling the t-shirts at a higher price is simply shortchanging your customers. It will give them the impression that you don’t value their loyalty. While it is important to earn profit, you must always provide high-quality service to retain customers and maintain credibility.
5. Not having machine maintenance
No one can blame you if you are enthusiastic about continuous printing to gain fast income. This is especially true when people love a particular t-shirt design and request new stocks. However, you must let your machines take a break every now and then. Run tests so that you can check for any damage or errors. This will help you cut down on future repair costs. A nonfunctional machine will impede operations and cost you a lot of money, so don’t forget to do regular maintenance checks.
Avoid these five mistakes and your new t-shirt company will succeed. It may be challenging in the beginning, but tenacity and optimism will help you overcome any challenges. A good design will help you attain more customers, but it is your mindset and personality that will determine the success of your business venture.
