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We recently did a survey of all of our database who have told us that they are a t-shirt label. Basically we wanted them to let us know what they saw as their biggest hurdles in taking their t-shirt company to the next level.

We are now going to compile some sort of information/training based on the responses we got so that people will be a little better armed to grow their existing business. To do this we will call on a lot of our industry contacts and existing clients who have succeeded with their t-shirt and clothing companies and they will share with you what got them to where they are and how you can do it too.

Here are the results…

Q1 – What Best Describes Your Niche Market?

The most popular niche was “Streetwear” with 32%  of the results. Next was “Boutique” with 19%.

It was interesting to see the varied markets that everyone represented including “Motorsport” and “Music Scene”. It just goes to show the massive potential in the market when you can niche yourself into a certain group of interest.

Q2 – Where Are You At With Your T-shirt Label?

The results to this one were quite surprising. I assumed that more people would be further along in their business but the results show that the majority of people are just starting their journey into getting their t-shirt label going.

“Starting to design – I have ideas but need help to put them together” was the highest response we had with 40% choosing that answer and 31% choosing “Got a bunch of designs but nothing printed”

This is even more surprising when you see the results to the next question.

Q3 – What is your biggest hurdle in moving to the next level with your t-shirt label?

The way this question worked was that you ranked our pre-defined answers with the top ranking being the greatest hurdle and descending to the lowest hurdle. The top result for this ranking question was “Marketing – Not enough people know about my stuff” very closely followed by “Sales – Not enough people are buying my stuff”.

I said above that I thought this result was surprising. Why? Well as you can see in Question 2, 71% of people haven’t even had their t-shirts printed yet. I found it a little strange initially that people that didn’t yet have a product were concerned with the marketing and selling of that product. But as I thought a little more about it, it actually made sense whether intended or not. A good business plan would take these things into consideration before the launch of the product. So the fact that people are considering marketing and sales before they have a bunch of t-shirts printed is really smart!

The rest of the results went in this order…

Suppliers – Can’t find reliable suppliers
Money – No cash to get more stuff printed
Stockists – Can’t get it in enough stores
Design – No creative motivation
Staff – Need someone to help me out

Q4 – What you would like to learn more about to benefit your t-shirt label?

This question, above all, interested us the most. It is the basis for which we will build our information on. It took the same direction as the previous question…which is to be expected. Sales and marketing were two of the most popular topics. These are the results in order of popularity…

Marketing Strategies
Custom Manufacturing (again surprising due to the number of people yet to print a t-shirt)
Sales Strategies
Branding and Customisation
Design Tips and Tutorials
Business Planning
Blank T-shirts
Sourcing Suppliers Offshore
Digital T-shirt Printing
Specialty Printing Methods
Technical Printing Methods
The Screen Printing Process

It was really interesting to see that people really didn’t prioritise knowing about the actual process involved to get their t-shirts printed. Because that’s what we do we assumed everyone would want to know all about it. (That’s why it is good to ask)

In the above 2 questions people also expressed in the “Other” section that they want to know more about selling direct to customers via the internet rather than selling to stores etc.

Q5 – What sort of promotions do you see the most value in for you?

You saw the most value in Free Set-up and Free Shipping. So we will do that for you guys very soon…so keep an eye out for it.

Q6 – What do you want most from your t-shirt printer?

I’ll share a few of the response with you…

“A Quality Product, a smooth print and sweet shirts, stickers etc. As long as its a great product and great service.”

“Complete supply chain partnership. Sharing of ideas to improve designs, ease of printing, quality and competitive pricing. Anything to help the sales for all.”

“A good and communicative service, excellent results, and affordable prices.”

So there you go. We have a whole bunch of data there to show us how to structure our information and training on taking your t-shirts business to the next level. So keep your eyes peeled for that info as it comes through.

Let us know in the comments below if there is anything else you would like to see us cover as we develop the material.