Many people have never heard of digital garment printing because it has only been around for about 3-4 years and is just now beginning to be recognized as a breakthrough technology in the apparel decoration industry.

These new print-to-fabric printers make it possible and practical for people working from home to compete with traditional T-shirt printing businesses.

Until recently, there were only two choices for how you might directly imprint graphic images and text onto shirts, hats, bags, and other fabric items. There are some other non-direct methods for decorating apparel, but that discussion is best left to another article.

First, there is screen printing (also known as silkscreening), a process that is complex, messy, and time-consuming. It involves photographically produced stencil screens, emulsions, color separations, and ink forced onto the garment through screens with a roller or squeegee. Each spot color used requires a separate run through the process, making sure each color is in perfect registration. Then the entire process is repeated for each garment. Screen printing is labor-intensive, costly, and is most efficient for large print runs. It is not practical or cost-effective for printing single garments or small batches.

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If you think you might want to start a T-shirt printing or garment decoration business, there are a number of things to consider before you begin.

How much money do I have to get started?
One of the great things about the T-shirt printing business is that you have options — some options require absolutely no money to get started (see Start a No-Cost T-Shirt Business) and others require only a modest investment. You can start small and, as your business grows, put your profits back into the business to buy supplies and better equipment. A T-shirt business will typically begin supporting itself after your first few orders. Generally speaking, the more money you have to get started, the faster you’ll begin making serious money.

What are my goals — a small home-based operation or a full-service shop, eventually having multiple employees?
The difference between a one-person or family-operated home-based business and a larger full-service shop is largely a matter of difference in scale, formality, and finances. A home-based business can be operated as a sole-proprietorshp with minimal equipment, minimal space, small investment, simple bookkeeping, and low overhead costs. A larger operation will require a larger investment, additional equipment, more complex financing and accounting, a formal business structure, greater legal requirements, and commercial space in which to house the business. Of course, you can always start as a small home-based business and expand into a larger company as your business grows.

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Since T-shirts and other decorated garments are worn by so many different people for so many different reasons in so many different markets, the number of possible directions you can take when entering the T-shirt printing business is almost unlimited.

Many people who enter the T-shirt and apparel decorating business already know the kind of market they intend to sell to. Others are not sure and will let the business take its own direction.

Marilyn, for example, is very creative and has some great ideas for T-shirt and blouse designs that she will sell to retail shops in her city. If the design is popular, she’ll have a steady source of repeat business. She can grow her business by creating new designs and selling even more shirts to more shops. She even hopes to begin selling her line of branded products online through a new web site.

Michael and Debbie have three boys in middle school and high school sports. The teams are partially supported by sales of spirit T-shirts, which Debbie designs and Michael prints with their DTG printer at home. The teams also have jerseys that need names and numbers each season, which Michael does with his heat press using stock heat transfers. He’ll soon buy a vinyl cutting machine to make his own transfers at lower cost for greater profit.

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Most people who start a T-shirt printing business do not need a web site immediately at the outset.

The majority of your business at first will be local to you — local sports teams, local schools, local businesses, local shops, and local organizations. 

You’ll grow your customer base by simply talking to people to let them know about your new business. You’ll get business from some of your contacts and they will tell others about you. You’ll wear examples of your shirts to events and find customers who want to know where you bought them. You’ll give a sample shirt to local businesses who will want more of them.

However, you’ll soon want a web site to supplement your other marketing activities and to build a professional image for your company. Although you may eventually sell your products through your web site, its initial and primary purpose is to use the power of the Internet to help promote your business.

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In previous articles we discussed the cost of starting a T-shirt printing and decoration business. However, there’s another option that has no cost.

Let’s quickly review the previously discussed ways in which you might start a T-shirt business — if you have money.

In the first way, you simply buy pre-printed heat transfers, blank T-shirts, and a heat press machine. That’s it. You can be in business for only a few hundred dollars. You get your investment back in short order after you begin getting customers. 

In the second way, you do the printing yourself with a direct-to-garment (DTG) printer, which will require a few thousand dollars, a computer, some blank shirts, and a heat press. It’s higher cost but also offers the highest profit potential. The printer and heat press pay for themselves with only a modest amount of business.

But is there a way to get started in the T-shirt printing business with no money?

Yes, there is another option available to you — print-on-demand (POD) products— that requires no up-front money or investment. Let’s take a look at the details now.

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In the T-shirt printing business, there is a big difference between printing on white shirts and printing on black or dark shirts. In fact, if you plan to sell dark shirts, your direct-to-garment (DTG) printer must be specifically designed to print on dark shirts as well as white. Most do, but not all.

Let’s explain.

A DTG printer’s CMYK color inks are designed to be printed only on white or light colored surfaces. Therefore, on dark shirts you must first print a white image as an underbase.  Then the color image is printed precisely on top of the white (don’t worry, your printer software handles this little chore automatically). Your DTG printer must be able to handle the required white ink as well as CMYK color inks. What would otherwise be a one-pass printing process for white shirts becomes a two-pass process for dark shirts — white first, then color.

DTG printers that are designed for both white and dark garments have color ink cartridges (or bottles) as well as white ink cartridges (or bottles). Since white ink is more likely to clog than color ink, make sure the DTG printer you buy has a white-ink recirculation system or other method of preventing clogging. Regular cleaning and maintenance is also more important on printers that use white ink.

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