When it comes to starting a successful St. Louis screen printing company, the key is to try and find a way to separate yourself from the rest of the crowd. It is much tougher to try and establish a start up business than it is to maintain one. The key to this is trying to find an edge. There’s an old saying that says keep your friends close and your enemies even closer. The corporate world is no exception to this rule. I am a huge believer in studying my competitors. If you go to a major search engine and you do a relevant search, who do you see? There’s a reason they’re showing up and you’re not. Take the time to open up their websites and study them intently. You don’t have to try and reinvent the wheel. Just emulate the same tactics and techniques that they are using . One thing that you might want to consider doing is to offer more than one type of service. Don’t try and be one-dimensional. For example, the same exact customer base that you have established four years for St. Louis digital T-shirt printing could very likely benefit from you providing them with their custom embroidery requirements. You don’t have to sell them on yourself because their confidence in you to provide them with a superior product, as well as excellent customer service has already been established. It’s so much easier trying to deal with somebody who you have a history with than a potential customer who doesn’t really know you yet. There is no need to have to try and convince them that you are going to do a good job, all you have to do is sell them on the fact that they’re going to get the best overall value that they can by using you for further custom embroidery projects over the next guy.
We’re fortunate enough to be part of a industry that gets repeat orders every time the season changes. The same client who ordered short-sleeved T-shirts for the summer is going to have to eventually need jackets for the winter. That’s a huge advantage compared to someone who, for example, is selling roofing. Most roofing shingles have a 35 year warranty, so it’s likely that it is going to be over a quarter of a century before they happen to be in the market for another one.
For a long time I have been of the opinion that the most important part of any successful St. Louis screen printing company is the marketing behind it. It’s all about being in front of your potential buyer at that particular moment when they happen to be in need of what you are selling. The Internet, along with social media, has given us tremendous advantages when it comes to doing this like never before. What an exciting time to be an entrepreneur. There’s an old saying that says that knowledge is power, and it certainly has proven itself to be true. Having advantages like this is no benefit to anyone unless they are first aware that they exist and then knowing how to take full advantage of them.