My first job was working for a T-shirt design production company, where I learned first-hand the importance of custom designs and how they influence user preference. The custom t-shirt design industry is one of the most sophisticated industries in the world. The industry comprises businesses from all parts of the world in all types of sizes. From Big firms to small ones, but that does not necessarily mean the quality of smaller firms is worse than the bigger ones. On the contrary, as opposed to popular beliefs, small and rising firms do just as well of a job as the big ones and sometimes even better.

Sourcing for materials to start your online clothing is not the hardest job. However, coming up with a frequent gallery of designs that accommodates and captures the consumer`s hunger to opt for unique clothing and accessories is what new business owners frequently struggle with. 

Only a certain place In this huge industry will be able to cater to a number of requirements from the customer base. While some might lack the skill set, others will lack the production capacity to cater to those. However, there were some names that came out on top regardless. In today`s Blog post, not only will I be talking about the custom apparel companies, but suggesting an alternative as to what you should do if you are looking for inspiration or just need unique clothing for your casual wear. You can use this as a guide every time for unique designs and opt for the one that best matches your preference and requirement to start your very own online business.

How do I Find The Right Supplier For Custom-Made Garments?

When you are looking to source the clothing material for your brand, the first question you need to ask yourself is whether you are looking to source the brands locally or will look at international options. You will get the chance to inspect garments locally far more easily, but the cost of production is more than the garments produced internationally due to cheaper labour costs. Countries such as Pakistan, India and Bangladesh are known for their quality of garments. However, this will require you to purchase items in bulk which can increase the cost significantly.

While Deciding which manufacturer to go for, there are three things you need to consider.

Quality and Price: It is fairly simple as you need the quality to be as good as possible within the available business funds. Bulk quantities can often land you better prices with good quality. 

Delivery Time: Delivery cost will not be as big of a factor as the shipping time. The shipping time varies from manufacturer to manufacturer. Do not forget being out of stock has an opportunity cost.

Experience: Look at their rating and reviews from past orders. Manufacturers with solid experience often provide the best prices and quality.

What Factors Consider While Starting An online clothing Business

If you are starting an online business, it is essential to decide upon a clothing product which can be a huge risk given the amount of upfront investment and in reference to the time spent on checking the quality of each sample received. The additional risk that comes with starting an online business is you can never be sure which items your consumers will like and which they will not. It has pros, such as having the opportunity to make your own brand and gaining more than usual control over the market, but it comes with time and at higher risk. While starting an online clothing business, you have a couple of approaches we have broken down for you.

The Manual Approach

There are two approaches to starting an online clothing business. The first option is for you to create your own unique designs, for which you will need a qualified graphic designer and screen printing as well as embroidery equipment. You can also outsource these services to a service provider commonly referred to as custom apparel producers/ companies. With custom printing Services, you can print whichever designs you like; however, its greatest strength is also the model`s greatest weakness. Thinking about designs in the first place is not hard; however, when you have rolled out a couple of batches of the designs, getting new ones becomes relatively hard. It also means you need to source the clothing or any other material you are looking to print the custom designs on. 

Pros:

• Flexibility with a printing material.

• Gives the ability to sell items at a greater markup.
• Designs made using screen printing are more durable than designs made from heat presses.

Cons:

• You need in-house resources such as graphic designers.
• Need A creative team to come up with new designs.
• To achieve profitability, you need to print items in greater volume.
• Limited experimentation with colours and designs.
• The profit margin will likely reduce if you set up an in-house screen printing service.

One Stop Solution

The second model involves using platforms like Teepublic. The Platform is one of a kind as it connects individual customers to graphic designers with a pre-available collection of over 1.2 million designs. Not only do you get the freedom of choosing from millions of designs, but you can get your desired images and pictures made by the graphic designer. It also eliminates the trouble of sourcing the materials as you can have the designs imprinted on any number of materials. All T-shirts, tank tops, hoodies, and even customized accessories are available at the revolutionary store TeePublic. The huge range of materials available in the store allows you to transform the store into a one-stop solution while expanding into a number of new categories. Whereas in the manual approach, you need to sort out new suppliers for every expansion and once again sort through the sourcing process while taking a risk on the quality of the equipment used in the production.

Pros:

• Less turnaround time Than screen printing.
• No need to source materials as companies like Teepublic already got you covered.
• Availability of a number of designs.
• Eliminates the need for any in-house regard to manufacturing.
• Freedom of experimenting with a number of options is limited in the case of screen printing.
• Less cost of startup. 

Cons:

• Lesser profit margin. 

You always have the option of using the best of both worlds to your advantage. It means starting the business with one-stop solution companies like Teepublic and enlisting the items that are available on the Platform. However, recording the sales velocity of each item as they hit the market. You can start by selling the items right off the bat, and only mass produces the items that are loved by customers. Nonetheless, you would still need to source a quality garment and essential producer.