How to Start a Screen Printing Business (2024)

FAQs

What do you need to start screen printing? ›

In the US, the amount of revenue screen print shops make follows a fairly normal distribution. This means the overwhelming majority of shops collect revenues between $100,000 to $1,000,000. There are hundreds of shops with revenues above $1M. However, there are very few screen print shops with revenues above $5M.

Finding new clients for your screen printing business comes down to strategy. You should have a clear strategy for reaching out to prospective clients, and that strategy should include seeking referrals, cold calling, following up with all of your contacts and employing a social media strategy.

The goal for most screen printers is to make 20%-45% profit on the shirts printed. If you're not sure that you're doing it right, check out local shops and make sure you're competitive. If you can't keep up, consider printing something special that those shops don't offer, like specialized ink or screen prints on wood.

Stepping into screen printing can be a little intimidating. There's so much to learn, and it's a guarantee that you'll make mistakes along the way.

This setup process is time-consuming and labor-intensive, especially for complex designs with many colors. The Power of Quantity: Screen printing shines for bulk orders. Since the setup cost is spread across more garments, the price per t-shirt goes down significantly for larger quantities.

In general, a well-executed screen print on high-quality materials can last for several years, even with regular use and proper care. For clothing items like T-shirts or hoodies, under normal wear and care conditions, screen prints can endure dozens of washes without significant fading or cracking.

One of the main disadvantages of screen printing is that it has a much higher initial setup cost than digital printing and takes more time. Other cons of screen printing include: more limited colour ranges available. the amount of ink used can make the design look as if it is raised from the print material.

The feel of the print should match the feel of your fabric, so that it feels as though you are wearing a plain shirt. The garment should wash well, shouldn't crack and be fade resistant. The lines (artwork) should be clean and crisp.

You can usually print at least 180 shirts per hour and because the Trooper is an automatic t-shirt printer, you can print 180 - 6 color shirts an hour.

Is making T shirts profitable? ›

A t-shirt business is a profitable business model, especially with the help of modern-day print on demand (POD) services. Five elements entrepreneurs must consider when starting a t-shirt business. Entrepreneurs must find a reliable POD provider and select a t-shirt niche through market research.

Screen printing involves a higher initial setup cost, making it generally more expensive for small orders. However, for larger orders, the cost per unit decreases significantly, potentially making it less expensive than digital printing for bulk orders.

While operating expenses must be considered, even a couple of these jobs each day and you can easily surpass $100,000 in a year. One of the reasons that the experience of the screen printer plays a huge role in the profits of the overall shop is because time is money.

High-quality designs let you get away with higher profit margins, while focusing on a very saturated niche might require lowering them. There is no specific baseline for the perfect t-shirt business profit margin. Average custom t-shirt industry markups tend to fall between 30% to 50%.

Indeed, the U.S. printing and signage industry is worth $17.5 billion in 2023 and there are about 31,000 printing and signage shops across the U.S. Now, using the data from more than 3,500 franchised shops, a printing and signage shop earns $667,000 in gross revenue per year on average.

The simple answer is yes – but only when you do it right. Print on demand businesses still have the potential to make an incredible profit. The key to success is making sure you construct the right business plan, choose the right niche, and partner with the best vendor to create your products.