Choose Your Production Method

Another thing you'll need to determine is how you will produce the shirts. There are three common ways to do this: iron-on transfer, sublimation and vinyl printing. Many people starting out choosing the iron-on transfer method because it requires the lowest startup costs. Sublimation requires a special printer and special ink, and vinyl printing requires specialized equipment and materials. Regardless of the printing method you use, you will need a heat press.

What Is a Heat Press?

A heat press is the piece of machinery that uses high heat to transfer a design from paper and adhere it to a shirt. Heat presses come in several sizes and you can tailor them to your specific needs. Price-wise, a heat press ranges from several hundred to several thousand dollars, depending on the size and amenities. When starting out, get the best heat press you can afford, for your budget. Once your business starts to become profitable, you can upgrade your equipment, if you so choose.

Other Required Equipment

Along with a heat press, you'll need a computer for designing, various tools such as scissors, a cutter, heat tape to keep the transfer in place during the pressing process, a printer, ink and transfer paper. If you are operating an e-business, you will need shipping supplies as well.

In-house or Outsource?

Let's say you land a large printing job with a relatively tight turn-around, but unfortunately, you misjudged the amount of time and the number of supplies the job would require. You see two options: You can work all day and night for several days to get the job completed in time or you can do the design work yourself but outsource the design printing. Then, when the transfers are delivered, all you need to do is to transfer the designs to the shirts.

You can consider the same option when the time comes to press the design onto the shirt. If you don't think you can complete all the shirts on time, you can also outsource the pressing. Of course, this will affect your pricing so you might want to carefully consider the size of future orders you are willing to take on.

Outsourcing these processes isn't uncommon – some business owners want to spend their time designing the images and then leave the actual press work to another company. Another reason is lower startup costs since only a computer and the design software is required. Outsourcing these production processes might eat into your bottom line, but what you save in supplies might be worth the additional expense.

Selling Your Product

If you plan to open a storefront, you will need to advertise your store opening via social media channels. Start a Facebook page for your business and consider Twitter and Instagram as well. Once your website goes live you will need to monitor it frequently to fulfill orders and update it with the latest product information. Market your services among people and organizations that might need t-shirts. For example, coaches, club members, churche