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
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
Was surfing google and found your post, Great Stuff!
Comment by Brian — September 25, 2010 @ 1:26 pm
If anyone can help me get started on the correct foot, please send me an email. I am very serious about getting this thing started
Comment by adam — October 1, 2010 @ 1:28 am
can anyone help me figure out what is the best ink to used for shirt printing for best quality shirt, i would like to start for this business…
also for the right emulsion??? like option.. pls pls pls help help help…
Comment by rhex — October 27, 2010 @ 1:31 am
Not sure if he is still posting but I would love to get ahold of Mark Kay. My daughter has a senior project to do and a small start-up would be wonderful. I would love to chat.
Comment by Carol — December 6, 2010 @ 12:25 am
I am ready to go.Want to create my own designs and sell them. I thought printing from home was illegal, because of fumes.Do I need a vendor’s license to sell to the public. Are copyrights and trademarks necessary for various t-shirt designs? Business license?
Comment by Amber — December 8, 2010 @ 1:15 pm
Hi Mark!
I’m looking to start my own screen printing business and would love to pick your brain about a few things, any chance you could email me? chucken@gmail.com
Sera
Comment by Sera Gardiner — March 23, 2011 @ 7:06 am
I had to write a business plan for my retail store, but never once looked back at it. I, however, had all my plans, thoughts and ideas stored in a document on my computer I could refer to as needed. I recommend this because once your business gets started, you can get lost in the details of running your business and forget all the fantastic ideas you once had.
Comment by Successb440 — April 11, 2011 @ 7:02 pm
That’s good Sera Gardiner in a business its needs a business plan for you to know what’s happening in your business. If its really progressing or not. With that business plan you done for surely you will be succeed in your business. I will be added you some a little tips on business. why not have a graph for you and do some list of items that is purchasable by customers. Then have a luck on your business.
Comment by analyn — April 13, 2011 @ 2:58 am
Silk screening is one of the oldest printing processes — and on a hobby level is one of the easiest to learn — but on a commercial level, silk screening requires high-tech equipment, supplies and advanced techniques.
Comment by Softy — July 5, 2011 @ 10:07 pm
I’m looking for all the equipment needed to start a screen printing business in my basement too.Thanks that i found your site.Thanks for the idea.
Comment by umeko — July 5, 2011 @ 10:12 pm
Hey Mark if you still check in here can you email me the best ways of getting your name out there?? And I have a few more questions if you can email me it would be great! Thanks….mjgarcia04@yahoo.com
Comment by Melanie — August 8, 2011 @ 9:26 pm
Could you please send me a sample business plan? daisymomma04@yahoo.com. Thanks.
Comment by Melissa — August 24, 2011 @ 11:49 am
Can you please send me a sample business plan as well? I am looking to start my business within 6 months.
Thansk!
nichols0807@gmail.com
Comment by Courtney — September 23, 2011 @ 11:13 am
After looking over this article, and having tinkered with my four color manual press in my house, this e-bay option seems to be the best way at the moment to make some money off of my screen printed shirts. Aside from a resale license, will I need a business license to make my own designs and sell them as opposed to doing custom prints for others, which I will want to get into sooner than later, but I have serious space limitations at the moment.
Comment by Chris — October 15, 2011 @ 10:19 am
Mark Kay, please contact me @ delorean88staff@gmail.com, i am starting. Screen print business and would appreciate any advice you have. A sample business plan would be appreciated as well. Thanks.
Comment by Omar T — October 24, 2011 @ 4:05 pm
I would also like to see a sample business plan from someone thanks a million! Email me at Tayronl@yahoo.com
Comment by Tayron L — October 27, 2011 @ 7:55 pm
i have been out of work for quite some time now due to an illness a few years ago that left me parralized for a time and very much house bound. i’m much better these days but was very interested in starting a small business out of my suite. i would love to start such a business. i have done a little reading and have looked at many of the kits offered to start such a business as they range in cost from a few hundred to many thousands. i quickly get confused as to where i should start with the equiptment needed. any comments would be greatly appreciated. Mac
Comment by mac linardis — October 29, 2011 @ 2:53 pm
Mac, if you look through my site, I give a pretty complete start to finish on how to do screen printing on the cheap, including what equipment to buy.
Comment by Rob — October 29, 2011 @ 4:59 pm
Can you please send me a sample business plan as well?thanks a lot, jordanielcalma@yahoo.com
Comment by jordan — November 1, 2011 @ 4:00 pm
Trying to write a business plan for Silk screening T-shirts. Can you help me?
Comment by Frederick J. Stevens, Jr. — December 27, 2011 @ 2:32 pm
I have very much enjoyed this blog. Better than most. I’m really delighted I came across it.
Comment by affordable charity event t shirts supply and printing — April 30, 2012 @ 5:32 pm
’m looking for all the equipment needed to start a screen printing business. 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 have graduated 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 knowledge. I also need you to help me prepare a comprehensive business plan.
Thanks in advance.
Comment by paul shelter — May 3, 2012 @ 1:01 am
I am looking for help or a smaple business plan for a screen printing business.
Can I also get a copy.
joe@aguirre.biz
Comment by Joe — July 3, 2012 @ 3:37 pm