Ever wonder how to start a silk screen business? It costs almost nothing to start a t-shirt printing business at home. I read about one guy who started a screen printing business with almost nothing. He made the screens with used lumber, and fabric from an old wedding dress. He screen printed signs, which he sold. He also screen printed magnets, and shirts, and baseball caps. He actually made his own screen printing press. In fact I bought the plans from him on ebay for his screen printing press, and built my own.
At one point I seriously looked at starting my own screen printing business. I ultimately decided there were other things I would rather do. But it wouldn’t be that hard, or expensive. It would cost under $100 to buy the stuff to screen print t shirts. The absolute minimum stuff you would need would be a screen, photo emulsion, a cheap light, ink, squeegee, masking tape, and t-shirts. For another hundred, you could buy a single shirt screen printing press. Screen printing a t-shirt only uses pennies worth of ink for each shirt. You can get blank shirts on sale at Michaels for $3-4 each. Or you can buy them in quantity for cheaper. I have seen boxes of shirts for sale on ebay.
What I have seen some people do is print shirts, and sell them on ebay. If that is what you are interested in doing, check out eBay, and find what kind of shirts people are buying. Are they buying dog shirts, cat shirts, karate shirts, etc. Find which shirts are selling. Develop your own original artwork, print a few shirts, and list them on ebay.
Some other screen printing business opportunities would be bands, baseball teams, family reunions, etc. If you know someone who needs t-shirts offer your services, and make a small profit. Make sure you do a good quality job. After you have done some jobs, you will likely get referred business by word of mouth. You can always get some business cards printed up, and post them on bulletin boards in your area.
If you have some other ideas, or questions on how to start a silk screen business, feel free to post here.
I would like you Guys to send me a sample business plan on T-shirt printing.
Comment by Kadafi Morotlo — August 23, 2007 @ 4:57 am
You sound what I want in screen printing business. I like the native american prints that I see at some festivals and fairs so I hope you have the native american print.
Comment by maedine sanders — October 12, 2007 @ 12:18 pm
Just wondering what it takes to start this sort of business.I think this has potential.Please send me some info
Thank you!
Marc
Comment by Marc — November 1, 2007 @ 8:38 am
I would like you Guys to send me a sample business plan on T-shirt printing.
Comment by richard jones — April 9, 2008 @ 5:19 pm
Why do you need a business plan. A business plan is generally used to approach banks, lenders, or investors to borrow money. But you can start a small screen printing business with a couple hundred bucks. You are going to approach a bank to make a business loan for $200?
Comment by Rob — May 14, 2009 @ 6:08 pm
Rob, I would have to disagree with you on your point. If you want to start any business regardless of the size, it is always better to have a business plan to guide you through the steps of what you are trying to accomplish. Even if it is only costing you $200 dollars to start, it’s a business and you want it to grow. A business plan is very helpful to tell you where you are going and how you are going to get there.
Comment by Christian — June 5, 2009 @ 12:09 am
Screen printing combined with embroidery has virtually unlimited potential. MAjor fashion companies like American Eagle, Hollister and so on screen print their graphic tees. Shirts with appliques are embroidered. A friend and myself printed 150 shirts once for a concert, brought them to sell for $15 per shirt, and we sold out. Within 2 days, 6 hrs each day selling, we earned about $1500.
Comment by Ethan — July 9, 2009 @ 11:33 am
I agree Bob , that the how it is done. It turned better than what i had expected.
Comment by Bob R — September 18, 2009 @ 9:53 pm
Can you please send me a sample business plan that has the market research for colorado springs, CO
Comment by Jesse B — October 26, 2009 @ 10:29 pm
It’ for my college class and we have to write our own plans but I can’t get any of the market research and I would love a samole that I could reference.
Comment by Jesse B — October 26, 2009 @ 10:31 pm
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Pingback by hello memmbers – T-Shirt Forums — December 12, 2009 @ 6:15 pm
Thank for your information. i reture to your site later.
Comment by Boss — December 14, 2009 @ 12:20 am
You can start a business in any which way you want. However, at some point, you will need finance. And to get that, or to make the business successful, you need a plan.
Regards,
Ashish.
Comment by Ashish Kulkarni — December 27, 2009 @ 6:33 pm
Hi ! thank for post.
Comment by make your own t shirts — January 17, 2010 @ 10:14 pm
Thanks, this has been very helpful
Comment by teen t shirts — January 21, 2010 @ 2:08 am
I have all the stuff to run a silk screening business,6 color press, conveyor belt dryer, flash dryer, heat transfer press, cup/mug press and cap press. Please help me! I dont know or have the motivation to get started and I need too!!! What are some ideals people have for me, how do I get my name out there. Help help help
Comment by havoc — February 20, 2010 @ 6:45 pm
Havoc- there is ebay, etsy, artfire, & craiglist to get you started.
Comment by tgurl — March 9, 2010 @ 12:01 pm
Hi Everyone,
I had my own screen printing business which I started in my basement. I printed everything from textiles, to hard products, plastic, electronic componets, and glass. I was very successful. I eventually went on to consult for other printing companies. It is true that you can make great money in screen printing. If you need some guidance I would be more then willing to give you some tips
Comment by Mark Kay — April 14, 2010 @ 8:36 pm
Mark Kay I would like you to contact me with some tips if at all possible. thank you
Comment by Sabrina Sistrunk — April 21, 2010 @ 4:12 am
Silk screen business is that needs to be focus and dedication if you want the business to be succeed. It may take not serious amount of budget but it should be taken seriously. Anyway thanks for you idea.
Comment by Helena — April 27, 2010 @ 9:38 am
Hi Sabrina,
What would be the best way to contact you? Could you post your e-mail address?
Mark
Comment by Mark Kay — May 10, 2010 @ 8:00 pm
I would like you Guys to send me a sample business plan on T-shirt printing.
Comment by Slava Dorohin — May 17, 2010 @ 2:50 pm
I have just started my own t shirt screen printing…everything went ok from exposing to flash drying. Although they were quality designs….I rung my first customers to test their washability… It was very embarassing they told they were completely washed out before 20 washes as I was promised. What is the problem can someone helpme. Thanks
Comment by Moku — June 11, 2010 @ 2:04 am
Slave, it sounds like the inks weren’t completely baked on. Another possibility is the shirts you used had too much polyester, and not enough cotton. Or maybe the shirts had been coated in something and you need to wash them first, before printing them.
Comment by Rob — June 11, 2010 @ 6:00 am
thanks a lot Rob. Now is it possible to do CYMK process on the screen printing press. Im just curious with the halftones that may be hard to expose to screens.
Comment by Moku — June 12, 2010 @ 12:12 am
Slava, you have a curing problem. Are you using a flash dryer to cure your ink? If so your only asking for problems. If not, keep in mind that plastisol ink cures at the minimum of 325 degrees F at approximately 60 to 90 seconds. Increased temperature and decreased time (to a certain point) can lead to faster production time but is dependent on the the color of the ink and the type and color of the substrait. As far as working with half tones; the pre-press is most important. You need to have the correct mesh tension, the correct stencil (emulsion) thickness, and the mesh may have to be stretched on an angle to prevent saw tooth. Your exposing time is critical; too much on a half tone will result in under cutting. I would recommend exposing your screens by light units and not by time. Make sure your squeege is sharp and test the print with different durometers to see which prints best. Good luck
Comment by Mark Kay — June 17, 2010 @ 7:17 pm
Thanks Mark for the info…really helped me alot.
Comment by Moku — June 17, 2010 @ 7:42 pm
Hi Mark,
I’m looking for all the equipment needed to start a screen printing business in my basement too. I have a clothing line and the necessary step is to start printing myself to increase profit. Of course I’d like to expand into a printing business as well. I’ve been layed off for over a year now and really need to get this going fast. I really need some guidance to find some good quality used equipment and knoledge.
Can anyone help?
Thanks in advance,
John
Comment by John Z — July 5, 2010 @ 4:35 pm
John,
How much money do you have to spend on equipment? We’ll start there.
Comment by Mark Kay — July 5, 2010 @ 6:17 pm