Starting a clothing company is
something that any college student can do while in school for a minimal initial
investment. Many clothing companies have been started by college students, and
we are going to help walk you through the initial steps to get started so you
too can start your own clothing company.
The first
thing you will want to consider is who your customer is going to be. You need
to know who the end buyer of your clothing line is so that you can plan
accordingly. After you have decided on who your customer will be and figured
out how you are going to market to them, you will need to come up with a brand
name. This is something that should be unique and relevant to the industry to
intend to be a part of. After settling on a brand name, you will need to hire a
freelance graphic designer to design a logo for your company, as this will be
your brands identity. As a college student it is usually better to work with an
experienced freelance designer rather than hiring a marketing or advertising agency
because you will likely have a relatively small budget and the freelance route
will be much cheaper. You can also consider websites such as 99 Designs where
you can choose from what multiple designers create and you only pay for the one
you choose to use.
The next
step is to work with a designer to create designs for the apparel. This will
take time so while you are working on this step it is the optimal time to start
sampling different garments to print on. It is generally cheaper to purchase
shirts online from a wholesaler because they are cheaper than purchasing them
from the screen-printing companies. If you are starting with tee shirts you
should order at least 5 to 10 different blank shirts to compare the quality,
fit, and size of the shirts. By the time you have settled on the brand and
style of blank shirt you are going to print on, your designer should have your
first designs completed for you to review. You may need to make some
modifications and should work with your designer until you are one hundred percent
satisfied with the final product.
Now that you have your initial
designs in hand, it is time to start comparing the price and quality of various
screen-printers. Like we mentioned earlier, it is usually cheaper to purchase
the blank shirts online from a wholesaler, so make sure that the screen-printing
company you choose to work with will allow you to bring in your own items and
wont make you purchase the shirts from them. You can usually stop in and look
at some of their previous work or have them mail you a sample and then get a
quote on how much their service will cost based on the quantity of shirts you
are going to print. Once you have modified the design and are set on what you
are going to print, you will want to have some samples printed before you have
them print a large quantity. Although the unit cost will be expensive, you are
more than likely going to make changes to the size of the design or how it is
positioned on the shirt so it is much safer to pay for the samples rather than
risk having hundreds of shirts you aren’t satisfied with and cant do anything
about it. After you have a sample that you are happy with its time to print in
bulk. A good chunk of the costs associated with printing occur in the set
up-costs, so the more shirts you print, the cheaper your unit cost will be.
Most of these steps also apply to
any embroidering you may do on hats or other items. Now that you have your
initial clothing line printed and in your possession, you are now at the point
where you need to start implementing your marketing strategy in order to sell
it to your customer. Hopefully you are successful in selling your stock of
inventory and at that point whether you plan to print more of the same designs
or create new designs for consumers, you will start the process over and continue
to grow the company. There is a lot more to it than these initial steps, but
this will at least help you get off to a good start and build a good foundation
for your company.
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