Whether you’re just trying to break into the garment decoration industry or been in it for many years, there is a good chance that you can benefit from what I have to say. The first recommendation I would give you is to study your competition as they can often teach you a great deal. I would suggest that you not look at just anybody but spend your time and effort watching and learning from those particular St. Louis screen printing companies that have been in business for quite some time and have proven themselves successful. There is a reason why they’ve been around so long. It’s not uncommon that they had to reinvent themselves in order to get by when times were lean and the economy was in a downturn. They figured it out though and were able to weather the storms until a better day presented itself.
Establishing oneself as a leading St. Louis embroidery company is anything but easy. Not only is the equipment itself extremely expensive but trying to find an accomplished operator can not only prove itself to be more than challenging but also not something that is easily affordable. You see that there is a lot more to it than just going out and dropping a lot of cash on a great machine. These things do not run themselves and it normally takes years of experience to become proficient at running them.
There are certainly no guarantees when starting up any type of new business venture as everything that you try is going to be viewed as a calculated risk. One of the best reasons for studying your adversaries is that it makes a lot of sense to learn from their past mistakes in order to avoid making them yourself. Someone once said that experience is the best teacher but that guy was obviously never a small business owner.
I would also recommend obtaining a digital T-shirt printing machine if you don’t already have one. This type of equipment is a great time saver compared to conventional custom screen printing. As long as you have good artwork , these things can almost eliminate all the typical set up as well as cleanup time that was required from the old way of doing things. I cannot emphasize enough that you spend a little more on the right machinery and it will more than pay off when it comes to efficiency as well as lending itself to a superior finish product.
Ultimately all of the decisions to be made are yours which also means that all the risk involved is yours as well. Do your research and make sure you’re comfortable with risk management. There really isn’t a blueprint established or a map you can follow. I highly recommend you do your due diligence and learn all you can from the leaders in custom embroidery and T-shirt printing field.