SWF Success Story – Yellow Llama Custom Shirts

Company: Yellow Llama

Owner: Milo Pinckney
Year Established: 2009
Type of business: Contract & Retail Apparel Decorating

Could you please give us a bit of your background in the apparel industry?

That’s funny. I buy and wear clothing, that’s about the extent of my prior experience in the apparel industry. However, my wife and partner is a graphic artist with twenty plus years of visual marketing. Her history combined with my experience in business development and operational analysis consulting, has positioned us well for this endeavor. I think the union of our combined skills has enabled us to have an uninhibited approach to the apparel decorating business. This has played a critical role in our successfully identifying a market niche that we could develop and deploy an appropriate business model to address the market opportunity.

Explain to us the concept of “Yellow Llama”.

Yellow Llama is an online artist community fortified by more traditional brick & mortar retail outlets. The project came together with a defined objective to solve a problem that adversely affected so many visual artists. We sought to address the inherent difficulty associated with translating their creative work effort into marketable consumer products, while maintaining a cost effective low production volume levels. Our project is not unique by default of its existence, or even what kind of products it offers for sale. What makes Yellow Llama special is its mission and executed proprietary methodology. We may be a bit naïve, but we actually believe that every artist should be able to live on his or her individual artistic work product.

Sounds like you’ve created your own niche in the marketplace. Any advice for folks looking to find a good niche?

I would have to disagree with your use of the word “created”. I don’t believe that we have created the niche. At most, I think we can be credited with correctly identifying, micro focusing upon and successfully exploiting a niche that already existed within the larger marketplace. Yes. I think our advice would be, not to look to create a new market but instead to effort to identify exploitable marketplace voids, synergies and nuances that already exist within the current market environment. We have found this protocol to be more productive and results in metrics that are quantifiable when integrated within our final market deployment strategy.

What sort of things do you think are important for someone considering starting up a business based either partially or fully on DTG?

EQUIPMENT, EQUIPMENT, and EQUIPMENT! First, you must be able to develop a working relationship with your equipment manufacture/supplier. Ultimately your business model will live or die based upon this relationship. We looked at many different equipment manufacturers and found gaping pluses and minuses with each machine and supplier we evaluated. We knew our long-range objective was to develop a multiple unit business plan and needed to know that we would have a partner on the equipment side of the business model. Fortunately we made the correct selection on our first choice. We have already added to our production capacity and have been able to easily secure needed additional working considerations from our equipment partner. Second, flexibility! You must remain flexible and expedient in your response to customer driven use and need changes. Our business experienced noticeable ebbs and flows in our equipment use and needs. We had to be both flexible and quickly responsive to these identified changes.

Who are your customers?

That’s an interesting story. Our customers span a wide spectrum. We have a significant B2B volume, a rapidly growing online customer base, a direct B2C market as well as a very promising branded contract and third party supplier segment that’s developing nicely. We have gone to great measure to educate our customer to know that we are not just a garment decorator, or apparel merchant. The scope and capability of the DTG technology far exceeds simple garment printing. We have consciously exposed our customers to the breath of our product development capabilities and the evolving changes in our business scope of service.

I see that Yellow Llama has a nice website. Tell us a bit about the importance of a website, especially for a new business.

One word comes to mind. “CRITICAL” The current site is our V1.0 V2.2 will be released in early May 2010. The site is critical to giving your business a qualified market presence. Today, more of your customers are going to Locate, Identify, and Qualify your business on the web before they seriously consider using you as a service or product resource. But, even more important than web presence is the potential marketplace reach provided by a solid web initiative. Our marketplace reach far exceeds our local capture area. The web is clearly the most cost effective marketing resource we have in our collective business resource arsenal. We have made such a significant commitment to our website development that we have sufficient surplus capacity that we are now providing web development services to some of our customers and very shortly some of our competitors. This has had a tremendous impact on our business growth velocity.

What do you think has been the most important factor to your success so far with Yellow Llama?

That’s simple… We know what we don’t know…! All too often entrepreneurs go into a business with the belief that because they enjoy an interest or some tertiary historical knowledge of some product or service, that somehow that minute knowledge base qualifies them to be pros; sufficient so as to create their new business. The truth more often than not is that they are grossly under qualified. This is not to say that they should not pursue the planned business, in fact the contrary is more often the case. They should go into the business with a demonstrated vigor armed with the knowledge that they need to study their target and develop a clear understanding of what they don’t know. Only after this exercise can they have a real shot at meaningful success. As I said, we know what we don’t know. Consequently we have a greater opportunity to ask the correct questions and secure the needed answers. Our relationship with our equipment supplier has played a meaningful role in providing us direct access to many of the industry and equipment related answers we have needed thus far.

How long have you been doing direct to garment printing? Are you using it now as you anticipated using it when you first purchased the machine?

We bought our first DTG machine in April of 09 and took delivery in late June. We spent a fair amount of time learning the machines limitations and strengths. We began business operations in early August and opened the first Yellow Llama studio/retail store in late November 09. In February 2010 we put our mobile unit on the road and began booking its services to some of our contract customers. It’s now April and we are in the site selection process for store two and will be licensing our business model in a hybrid franchise opportunity in late July 2010. So the answer to the second part of your question is no, we are not using it as we had originally planned. Our short tenure with the technology has exposed us to so many additional possibilities that we have had to rethink the limitations of our original business model. Mind you we have no complaints… We are having a blast!

Any advice for new DTG users? (Stumbling blocks, hurdles?)

Take the time to develop a sound plan that is responsive to your local market nuances. Once you have developed and tested that plan be prepared and willing to make quick adjustments to it in response to market variances. If you draw a line in the sand you will likely not have the flexibility to be responsive to the market that you encounter. DTG technology has many more deployment applications than simply printing tee shirts. There are so many business opportunities that DTG can be integral component of or the foundation for.

What kind of services does Yellow Llama offer that would be useful to other apparel decorators? (If they want to contact you, is that O.K. and what is the best way to reach you?)

Yes, Yellow Llama has a broad product and service offering to the trade. We welcome inquires from any member of the trade that may benefit from our assistance.

We have original art content provided by member artist that is available under license for third party commercial use.

We have partner businesses that share resources with our affiliates and us. We have digital file storage and sharing resources available to members of the trade.

We have web design and hosting services that independent shops may use to affordably develop a productive online presence.

Business planning and associated consulting services. We have in-house collateral material production capabilities that we are always willing to share with other businesses.

The thing we are most excited about is coming in July, when we will launch our in-house finance arm for our licensed hybrid franchise business.

We can be contacted via the contact page on www.yellowllama.com or via phone (770) 493-8030

Do you think that the current economy will stimulate any changes in current apparel industry business practices?

Yes, most definitely. The non-corporate, independent and mom & pop businesses currently operating within the apparel industry are going to have to learn from the operative behaviors of the larger regionals and online global merchants. No longer will the small business be able to compete or continue to enjoy the local market as a secure carve-out marketplace. The larger brick & mortar and online players are looking at these smaller localized regions as their new market development opportunities. The web has played a defining role in this trend and has made the once isolated local market part of the greater playing field. To be territorially competitive the local small business is going to have to combine resources with complementary businesses operating within their existing sphere of opportunity. They will have to engage current and former competitors within their operating region to maintain any meaningful marketplace dominance in these once protected markets. This will seem counterintuitive at first, but as their market experience develops it will clearly become the only long-term defense against the larger national and online players’ market expansion initiatives. Yellow Llama has integrated this modality change in its core business model and execution plan. We are currently and openly sharing our resources within our marketplace and look forward to doing so on a greater scale within other markets as our model continues to unfold and prosper.

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DTG BEST PRACTICES BY MIND’S EYE

Humidity at 50% or greater, what happens when its below 50% humidit and how do you humidify?

DTG BEST PRACTICES BY MIND’S EYE

As we are in a more northern climate we run into humidity issues once the heat goes on. It is critical to invest in a hygrometer (unit that checks humidity) and keep it by your DTG (preferably one at each printer). Our printing area is roughly 2000 square feet, 28000 cubic feet when you consider the ceiling height.

We tried using a couple of small localized humidifiers and found that we couldn’t keep our humidity above 50%. As you know, low humidity dries out the ink of the face of the printhead and capping station, leading to more maintenance and potentially shortens the lifespan of the consumable printing components. We looked into a humidifier for our HVAC system but it was going to be several thousand dollars. Instead we invested in 4 mid-size humidiers from Lowes that ran about $80-90 each and we run them continously in the DTG area, they keep the levels above 50%. We look at them as consumables as we would have had to spend 10-15 times as much to add this feature to our HVAC system.

Pre-Heat Pressing shirts before Pre-Treating

1. Matt Down Fibers – we pre-press all shirts (light or dark) for 5 seconds at 340′ F to dry the shirt and to lay down the fibers, the light shirts go straight on to the printer the darks are then pre-treated, wiped down with a foam brush and then pressed again for about 30 seconds to dry the pre-treat
2. Less time to cure pre-treat – we press our pre-treated shirts for about 30 seconds, basically until they are dry
3. Makes prints look less fuzzy ? – without a doubt, pre-pressing of shirts prior to pre-treating helps to lay down ther fibers – especially on more lofty stle garments

Go over some of your  multi tasking thoughts and procedures – full production on the two Vipers we have is basically a 1 1/2 person job.  I think that shop layout helps to increase the efficiency of the operation.  (see Greg’s shop layout that he emailed).  There is more time for multi=tasking on dark garments than on lights.  The throughput on lights is great enough on two machines to basically call for all hands on deck.

Other practices that give you good prints with less waist or less wasted time etc. – take the time to do a test print or two on an old garment to verify the colors, size and positioning of all elements of the graphics.  Also, do a nozzle check before starting production, make sure you have plenty of ink in your printer and all your presses are on an

d to temperature before starting production.

Lastly, the Laser Allignment,  give me a short description on how you made it, where to get the parts and about how much money it cost to make it. – Basic screenprinter trick.  Print the image to be targetted onto an old shirt in the position you think is right.  Move the entire shirtboard system over to your laser alignment station and target the areas that were printed with the lasers.  Now you use the station as a targeted loading station, taking the “guess work” out of position printing.  The whole system can be built for less than $300.

How To Ignite The “Word Of Mouth” Marketing Fire



How To Ignite The “Word Of Mouth” Marketing Fire

There are many ways to pay to market your decorated apparel business: TV commercials, radio spots, magazine or newspaper ads, billboards or signs to name a few.  However, word of mouth advertising is many times the cheapest as well as most effective means of marketing yourself and your business.  The obvious key to this tactic is to spread the word to as many people as you possibly can, and hopefully that person will tell someone, then that person tell someone else, and so on.  Since you are good at what you do, it is easy to offer a customer a quality product in a timely manner which results in that happy customer telling others of the great work you do.  But how do you directly start that word of mouth fire yourself?

Start with wearing your work.  Whatever decorated apparel field you are in (embroidery, direct to garment printing, rhinestoning, or screen printing), wear what you do, and let your designs start the conversation.  Whether you’re at your child’s sporting event or shopping at the grocery store, wear a decorated shirt or jacket that shows off your work.  You’ll be amazed how many people approach you asking where you got it.  Even better, wear a shirt with your logo on the front and contact information on the back.  You’ve just made yourself a walking billboard.  While you’re at it, add your logo, website and phone # to a sign on the side of your car or on the back window.  Again, you’ve just created a mobile billboard.

Next, always be prepared to talk about your business and what you do.  Practice your “30 second commercial” for when you are out and about and may encounter a potential customer.  Your 30 second commercial is you introducing yourself and explaining what your business specializes in, and what sets yourself apart from other decorated apparel businesses.  An example may be, “ Hi I’m John with ABC Shirt Company.  We’re a local company that specializes in decorating shirts, hats, jackets, bags and more with embroidery, rhinestones and digital printed images.  We’re known for our high quality and fast turnaround times.  We’re your one stop shop for all your decorated apparel needs.”  Beyond your 30 second commercial, always have literature, samples, or business cards available to hand out.  Keep a sample book in your car to show people examples of what you can do, and some literature of special offerings you may have (10% off your first order, refer a friend and receive 10% off your next order).  Furthermore, keeping business cards in your wallet or purse ready to hand out is always a good idea.  You can even combine the business card with a 10% off your first purchase coupon (one side is your contact info and the other is the coupon).  Gives people an extra incentive to hang on to your card and not just throw it away.

Finally, make a conscience effort to appeal to multiple markets within your town or community.  Approach schools, churches, youth sports leagues, adult sports leagues, clubs, businesses, cheerleading or dance teams, etc.  In keeping with the igniting the fire theme, when you build a fire for a cookout, you don’t just light one side of the coals.  You light both sides and the middle to insure you have an evenly burning fire.  The same can be said for your word of mouth marketing fire.  That fire will spread faster and more evenly if you approach multiple markets instead of just one or two.  And starting that fire is easier than you might think.  Say you start with approaching a local youth sport league.  Those kids have parents that own businesses, belong to various clubs, are involved with their church, etc.  Those kids may also have brothers or sisters that dance or cheer, belong to the high school pep squad and more.  By simply attending a youth sporting event, you have indirectly approached multiple markets and started to ignite your own word of mouth marketing fire.

Patch Making Kit Part 1

Watch the “Patch making Kit” instructional video and get your kit here http://colmanandcompany.com&#8230;

SWF Success Story, Mind’s Eye Graphics Inc.

PROFILE

Company: Mind’s Eye Graphics Inc.
Owner: Greg Kitson
Year Established: 1980
Decorating Technique: Screen Printing, Direct to Garment Printing and Embroidery
Type of business: Contract & Retail Apparel Decorating

“Why DTG made sense for my Screen Printing Business”

Q and A’s:  (Interviewer (Scott Colman, President SWF East) (Interviewee Greg Kitson, President, Minds Eye Graphics)

Hi Greg, to get us rolling, can you please give me a brief synopsis of your background in the Apparel Decorating Industry?

I started Mind’s Eye Graphics in 1980 as a back room operation of a small town family shoe store.  By 1984 my one-man screenprinting
operation had replaced the shoe store and hired its first employee.  Today, we have grown to provide custom and contract screenprinting
to decorated apparel professionals around the world. We offer industry specific technical training and business consulting at our
Decatur, Indiana production facility as well as client locations.

Now that we know a little about Greg, can you give us an idea of what Minds Eye Graphics core business activities are?
Customer Type, Equipment, Primary Decorating Methods?

Core business is screen printing on textiles.  About 65-75% contract work, balance in end user direct.  Majority of work is screen
printing – majority of work done on automatic screen printing presses.  We also do embroidery and direct to garment printing.

I  see that your core business has historically been focused on Screen Printing.. More recently you added Direct to Garment Printing.
What spurred you to consider Direct to Garment, it’s very different than the concept of conventional screen printing?

We had been watching direct to garment printing since it’s serious inception about 5 years ago.  I think I saw it for the first time at
the Long Beach ISS show in 2005.  We were like most screen printers at the time thinking it was perhaps a fad, and definitely not
for us.  As the market matured a bit we started to see the potential for it complementing the work we were already doing.
I have always believed in the philosophy that the best defense is a good offense and it is better to learn new technologies earlier
than later.  We waited a while to let the marketplace settle out and then partnered with a provider we were confident could provide
us with good equipment and support for the long run.

Makes sense… So at some point you had an “Ah ha”  moment that lead you to this new decorating technique?
What was that Ah ha moment?

I’m not sure I would call it an “ah-ha” moment so much as a realization that direct to garment was here to stay.  We realized that we were not offering our customers as many options as they might like or need and direct to garment allowed us to fill a large part of that gap.

How long have you been doing the DTG process now and how many prints would you estimate?

Our equipment was installed about 8 months ago.  I haven’t really tallied the number of garments we have printed but I would estimate it at 2-3 dozen per day, five days a week.  We are still in the ramp up period with the equipment, but I haven’t had to worry about sales from the DTG’s not making the loan payment as well as covering other costs – even in the early stages.

That’s interesting, I still think the big question mark for DTG and Screen Printing, is … How to determine which decorating technique makes sense for either process .  The question arises from a profitability stand point as well as a finished product look and feel.  How do you determine, or what is your thought process on which decorating technique  is best for a particular job?

(download Greg’s inkjet vs screenprint breakover spreadsheet)
This is a major factor for screenprinters and not an easy question to answer.  The answer lies in a number of factors – probability of re-orders, number of colors, range of garment sizes (does the artwork need to fit youth-XXL shirts?) and the like.  One benefit of direct to garment over screenprinting is the ability to produce a quick final output for approval as opposed to a mock-up on a computer.  It can also help you “close the deal” by letting the client actually see their sample printed, the “wow” factor of direct to garment is high.

Wow, you have really come up with a pretty black and white process of choosing DTG or Screen as needed.. Do you have any case studies on designs or customers that you can share with us?

We just did a job for a church group that was returning froma mission trip to Haiti.  They needed 27 shirts and wanted a picture on them.  This job would have been 8 colors minimum to setup – $160 before we printed the first shirt.   As it was, we were able to print the 27 shirts on the DTG in less time than it woulld have taken to burn the screens and set up the press.  Plus, the customer in comforted in knowing that they can get re-orders with no setup fees.

Thank you for the example, I think this helps fill in some of the blanks…  What has been your biggest success with DTG… how about biggest challenge?

Our biggest success has been in doing items that are hard to screenprint, especially tote bags.  We often offer these now as a “plus” to other jobs we do.  By being able to offer the same image on a variety of garment types, we can increase our bottom line, while also adding value to our customer.  Along the same line, we can offer items like infant sizes, sweat pants, and the like – screenprint the core sizes and garments and direct to garment print the “fringe” items.  Herein also lies our biggest challenge.  Reasonable color matching between press and printer.  We have done a good job of figuring out how to tweek our artwork to give a good match between the two methods.

I know that Minds Eye Graphics is well respected in the Apparel Decorating industry for quality work and ethical business dealings.  Please describe some of the services that you can provide to other Decorators, particularly other DTG owners?

I know that a lot of the customers that SWF East sells to are start-up or small to mid size businsses.  These type businesses are some of the hardest working folks in our industry.  The problem is that they will sometimes run into orders that are too large for their DTG and they don’t want to source their screenprinting locally for fear of potentially losing their customer.  We can fulfill their large screenprint order and also provide them with DTG ready artwork that they can use to fill in re-orders themselves.  Basically this allows all of us to focus on our strengths and allows them to compete with the larger local screenprinters without fear of losing his customers.  It is a win-win proposition.  Another angle we can take is to screen print orders that will need variable data and provide you with a template to use to fill in the variable data information with your DTG.  We can also help fulfill larger embroidery orders as well.

Thank you for all of this great information.. As a closing, what advice would you give to either a Screen Printer or anyone else considering DTG as part of the business?

First off, don’t be afraid of this technology, it has matured immensely in the last 5 years and is at what I would consider a “plateau” right now.  What do I mean by plateau?  I don’t expect any radical developments in the next couple of years that will leave you wishing that you had waited 6-12 more months to get started.  The first few years were that way.  Companies like DTG Digital have come up with very clever ways of handling the inherent issues with digital printing with white ink (ranging from white ink circulation to effective pre-treatment machines).

Once you get the equipment, take the time to learn the technology before going “live” with it to your customers.  Resist the tempatation to advertise the abilities before you have them mastered.  Secondly, take any and all training offered.  Be it from the distributor or at trade shows in the form of seminars.  Knowledge is king.

Learning more about Garment Printing

The is a GREAT answer from Minds Eye Graphics to an inquiry about Garment Printers.

Thanks for the inquiry regarding our use of the SFW-DTG Vipers. We are still learning how to use the tool called DTG and the best way for it to fit into our existing screenprinting operation. Since we have 30 years of existing artwork we have both an advantage and disadvantage over someone who is just starting in the industry.

We can cover many of those items in a 15 minute phone call however can nowhere near cover them all.  I’ve found that the touch and feel opportunities work much better.

Regarding the maintenance & reliability issues you must understand the tool and equipment and that you will be doing regular preventative maintenance or don’t bother making the original purchase, sounds harsh but it’s the truth.

Also, a lot of the crap regarding lack of response to issues you’ve seen on the boards/forums relates to DTG products sold by another distributor, we know that SWF East stands behind their customers at all levels.

I’ve got a couple of options for you to see the DTG printers in operation.

Option 1: Visit the Atlantic City ISS show in 2 weeks where I will be presenting on adding DTG to your existing business as a seminar and SWF will have the full line available for you to examine. You can also contrast and compare the equipment with other vendors and owners.  I think the best place you will find to get opinions from others than sales guys is outside my seminar room right after I get done talking on Saturday afternoon.  Lots of input and discussion of the urban legends regarding the truth, lies and unknown aspects of the DTG process.  I think this is your best bet!  Info at http://www.issshows.com/atlantic_city/conference/about-the-conference

Option 2: You are welcome at any time for a scheduled visit to come up to our Decatur Indiana facility to view not only our DTG installation but our contract printing services as well.  You just need to contact us to schedule a time and we can set up your visit.

Rob Keuneke from our staff is in charge our of DTG equipment and would be responsible for scheduling time for your visit, he would be your best source for the “How does it work?” questions.

Option 3: Is Friday March 26, we are having an Open House with SWF sales and service staff on site at MEG where you could get to talk not only to us regarding how we use the products but with SWF regarding required investments and with their best service tech who understand the equipment on the nuts, bolts and circuit board level.  They are planning to bring along smaller entry level DTG equipment in addition to the DTG Vipers we are running in our production installation.  Details are still coming together but I’m 90% sure the open house is going to happen.

Option 4: I will be doing a paid webinar variation of the ISS DTG presentation on March 22 & 23 for the Z Dimension.

Option 5: Give us a call at 260-724-2050 and ask to talk with Rob Keuneke to schedule some time when you can talk with him or I about our experience, the easiest but no touch and feel.

Personally I think visiting the AC ISS event would be your best bet for the travel time involved, let Rob know which direction you want to go.  If you do visit ISS make sure and identify yourself to me in the seminar room.

This is a major decision and your degree of success will depend on how well prepared you are when launching.  Spend the time to get your questions answered and go into this with a  high comfort level.  You can have a lot of fun and make good money if you take the educated approach.

Take care and I look forward to meeting you in person,

Greg Kitson

President

Mind’s Eye Graphics, Inc.

www.mindseyeg.com

The New GlitzUp Rhinestone Hand Setter from Colman and Company

This rhinestone/rhinestud setting hand tool brings back the joy of setting fashion accessories! This tool combines two processes in one. No more hassle, setting rhinestones by hand or with tweezers separately to the fabric and then gluing it afterwards with an applicator. Simply place your finger over the applicator hole to activate the vacuum suction. The applicator picks up the rhinestone or rhinestud on its shiny surface with the glue side exposed to fabric. The stone/stud sits in the applicator as long as your finger is covering the air supply hole. Place the applicator on the fabric and release your finger. Leave the applicator on the stone for a few seconds to adhere glue.

Includes – Glitz Up vacuum applicator, tool holder, 3 applicator tips (1mm, 2mm, 3mm) and 12 packages of hot fix rhinestones.

Doug and Kristel Ruch Thriver LLC

We wanted to check up on one of our customers and found out they had been mentioned in a CBS News article, here it is:

Things are going well. We designed a Pants on the Ground T-Shirt with the proceeds going towards Haitian relief. We were featured in a cbsnews.com article: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/01/20/entertainment/main6120341.shtml . The little link (the word t-shirt) goes directly to our website. It has brought us a lot of free traffic. We are also now on Facebook @Thriver and Twitter: @ThriverApparel. Yesterday, on facebook we started a t-shirt a day giveaway. When people fan us and post a t-shirt idea, they have a chance to win their shirt if it gets the most likes (votes for the day)

We do have one question, where do we get more of that little sponge that goes on top of the waste ink reservoir?

Thanks for checking on us!

Have a great day!

Doug and Kristel Ruch

Thriver LLC

1.888.LOL.ALOT

www.thriverapparel.com

Professional Threads Embroidery

Profile

Company: Professional Threads Embroidery Owner: Mike Gibson Number of employees: 1 Year Established: 2007 Sales: 2007 – $32,000 2008 – $62,000 2009 – $85,000 Type of business: Home Based Apparel Decorator

To start, who is Mike Gibson (laugh)?
Well that’s a good place to start! From Mentor, Ohio (outside of Cleveland), married to a lovely wife and have two beautiful younger children. My conventional profession is being a Fire Fighter/EMT, my wife works for the school board so we are pretty busy. I now consider myself a little bit of an entrepreneur after I started our home-based business, Professional Threads. Both of us still work but my goal is to create enough income with the business for my wife to work less if she wants to, not because she has to.

How did your business get started and why?
As a professional Firefighter/EMT, my schedule has me working several consecutive days on and off. During my days off I was looking for an opportunity to supplement the family income. I needed something that was flexible that could work around my schedule and being my own boss seemed like a good idea.

What made you choose decorated apparel?
I could operate the business out of my basement. There are no dangerous chemicals needed which is important for me since I have two small children. Embroidery has a high-perceived value and I thought it would be profitable.

What type of equipment did you purchase and why?
I have a SWF 2 head multi-head embroidery machine, 2 heat presses and 1 DTG Viper. I started with the 2 head machine because I wanted to be able to handle more production than with a single head. Once I got started, I was receiving a lot of inquiry about printed t-shirts so I invested in the DTG Viper. I chose the Viper because it is capable of printing on dark shirts and has a larger print area.

What is your target market?
Since I work as a firefighter, I first offered my service to my firefighter friends and their families. My hobby is boating so I also reached out to my boating friends and Yacht club associations. My circle of friends and co-workers is how I started and my business grew through referrals.

How did you decide what market to go after?
My profession as a firefighter created the market. Before I got into the business I was sourcing patches and embroidered uniform shirts for my department. I saw how much was needed and how profitable it was. When I realized the volume of business, I decided I could handle the orders myself.

How did you determine pricing?
I researched what my competitors were charging as a guideline but not as pricing war. My goal is to make it easier for the customer. I quote each job individually. I take the time to build a relationship of trust and high quality. When you build your business around your circle of contacts they know you will do what is best for them.

What is your product range?
With the combination of embroidery machine and DTG printer I can decorate just about anything. It’s true what the industry says, “if you can hoop it you CAN embroider it.” The majority of my products are hats, team apparel, t-shirts and sweatshirts for public service, schools, sport teams and special events.

How do you reach out to new customers?
I have been very fortunate they are coming to me by word of mouth. Being social and simply letting people know what goods and services I offer is one of the keys to my success.

Where are you with your business now?
My business is 3 years old with steady growth, so I’d say I’m getting established. I get calls daily for new business and am able to fulfill my orders as a part-time business; I dedicate about 20 hours a week on average.

Name something interesting about your business that you want people to know about.
I operate my business out of my basement! Most people can’t believe that I am running a business out of my basement. It’s hard work but it has paid off. I’d like to build this company for my family, so when my children are older it will be there for them.

What is your most challenging obstacle?
Sourcing, finding the garments and supplies at wholesale prices. Learning the equipment took a little time in the beginning. I was doing orders right after I got my machines and was proficient operating the equipment after 6 months, so learning the process wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. The training and support from SWF East was very helpful in getting me jump-started.

What is your greatest achievement in your business and the reason why it is all worth it?
The financial aspect is rewarding and I like the challenge. I am proud to say I have my own business and that I am in control of my financial destiny. I’m my own boss.

What’s on your equipment wish list?
I am working towards getting a SWF 4-head dual-function embroidery machine through the SWF Guaranteed Trade in Program so I can be working multiple jobs at the same time.

What advice would you give someone starting?
If you’re gonna do this, do it! I wish I would have started earlier but no regrets. Also, don’t think you’re a car salesman when you tell people about what you do. Surprisingly as I started to tell my friends and family I was getting an embroidery machine, I had people wanting to order before I had received my equipment so don’t be afraid to tell people what you are doing. One other thing that I really notice now is how much embroidery and printing is used, there is a huge demand and shirts wear out, so there almost always are re-orders.

Here are some questions that were asked

Do I do Advertising? I do not have any formal advertising.  All my advertising is word of mouth and referrals.  Word of mouth and referrals are one of the best marketing approaches for a small company.  I tell everyone I meet what I do.  As I’m talking to them its conversation but also marketing, I hand them a business card and tell them if they need any thing let me know.  I also get a lot of my business through referrals.   I post  a few things on Face book once and awhile.

Family and Friends?  That’s very simple; when you start a business your Friends and family are the ones that want you to succeed the most other than yourself.  They are a great resource when it comes to spreading the word that you have started a business.

Out of town orders? I do most of my business around my area that I live in but also have customers that I ship to also. My website is one page information page that once I give a perspective customer a business card to if they need any info they can get from the website.

Artwork? When I purchased the DTG I had no formal Training in graphic arts.  I purchased Corel and Photoshop and have become proficient in both programs.  There are so much free tutorials on line for beginners that it’s easy to grasp the programs.   It would be great if all of my customers sent ready to print art work but it’s not always the case.  For art work that is over my head that needs work I send it out to companies that do that sort of thing.  I also out source my digitizing (Embroidery designs).

SWF-East has been great for me.  My equipment has worked great and I have had no major issues with any of there machines.  There support/ Tech Department has always been able to help with the issues I have had.

I encourage anyone starting out to attend as much training as possible.  It just makes the process of starting out easier.  Trade shows are a great way to see new products and meet people that are doing the same things that you are doing yourself.  They also offer classes at trade show that you can take advantage of. There are many wholesalers out there. I use Sanmar and Alphahshirt company. But again there are many good ones out there.  Trade shows are a great way to find wholesaler that fit the products you intend to focus on and Sell.