Here are tips will help your DTG printing business success no matter who you are.
Practical Tips for Novices & Garment Pros
As direct to garment technology has evolved to include different levels of production, now is a great time to start your own direct-to-garment printing business and we wanted to share tips and experiences to help our fellow garment printers to succeed in your DTG printing venture. Those starting their own direct to garment printing business typically fall into three distinct categories - the experienced decorator, the home-based business and second career person. Each group brings different skill sets to their business and needs different types of support. The following practical tips will help your DTG printing business success no matter who you are.
Tips for the Experienced Decorator: As the name suggests, these are seasoned screen printers or garment decorators with a well-established shop. People who like to keep their presses or machines moving non-stop in consistent 8-hour shifts. You welcome the large quantity jobs that spread pre-production costs out over a high number of pieces, reducing the production cost per piece.
To this printer, taking on small runs to a screen printing press doesn’t make sense, as the time and cost of pre-production are disproportionately high. They can remedy this problem by adding a DTG printer to their shop. Plus, they can use it to produce small quantities of repeat orders, or to replace damaged prints.
For the experienced decorator, our advice is to treat the DTG printer as its own separate company. If the printer is just left in the corner for the occasional reprint or one-off, it will most certainly end up clogging, which will in turn cause frustration, lost time, and spent money. Instead, assign the DTG printer its own resources. Spend time designing a strategy specifically for this machine, use it to reach a market that screen printing doesn’t quite reach, and keep your DTG machine printing regularly. Think of all the customization you can do!
The Home Based Printer: These may be family-types, many are at-home with their families or have a lot of downtime to be productive and make money. Time management and work-life, or hobby-life, balance are important to these guys. Those running on-line stores or have a lot of “irons in the fire” fit in here as it can be an income generator without devoting 100% of their time to it.
For these DTG printers, a $250,000 machine probably isn’t necessary. For the Super-Mom or Super-Dad, our advice is to go with a smaller, easier to use printer, like the Epson SureColor F2100 DTG printer. Your strength will come from the special relationships you will be able to build with your customer. Local school and church groups, sports teams, bands, and other important community groups are always in need of some special, personalized attire!
The Second Career Person: Typically after spending much of their professional lives working for others, bosses make a second career out of starting their own printing business.
Focus, identify your strengths and opportunities, and stay on course. Starting your own business is both exciting and scary. To get where you envision yourself, you need to think realistically and work your way to bigger things with higher profit margins. All along the way, put quality first. Be the best at what you do. Your best bet is to attract retail customers since there are always people who will be cheaper. People who are seeking to sell their shirts on platforms like Etsy, but don’t have the interest or resources to run their own decorating business can be an excellent way for both parties to profit.
No matter what category you fall into, understanding what you need to know before starting a DTG printing business can make you successful. Browse some of Lawson's DTG Printers
