Updated August 2024

Even if you’ve got a full-time job, having a side hustle can be a great way to boost your income and work towards financial freedom. If you’re looking for a business idea, a T-shirt business could be a solid choice. The market is huge, and it’s relatively easy to get started.

One of the perks of starting a T-shirt business is the creative freedom—you can experiment with different colors, designs, and fabrics. But if you’re working with a tight budget, don’t worry. You can still make it happen without breaking the bank. Here are some tips on how to start a T-shirt business on a budget:

Do Print-On-Demand Process 

One of the best and most cost-effective ways to start a T-shirt business with a tight budget is to do a print-on-demand process like Printful. This type of operation allows you only to print T-shirts whenever you have a confirmed order from your customer. This way, you don’t have to pile up on your inventory, but only get them when there’s a guaranteed order for that specific product.  

With a print-on-demand process, you can save quite a bit on cost as you’ll only be producing the T-shirt once a customer orders it. Just ensure that you look for a good print-on-demand business that can provide you with speedy service so you can quickly ship your products to your customers as soon as possible. The faster you can deliver your products, the better output you’ll receive from your customers.  

Implement A Pre-Order Process 

One great way to save on costs when running a T-shirt business is to implement a pre-order process. With this method, you’ll be collecting orders for a specific duration, and you’ll only produce them depending on how many orders you have. This can help ensure that you’re only making T-shirts that are guaranteed to be purchased. And, you can also use their pre-order payments as your capital to purchase the T-shirts and produce them.  

When doing a pre-order process, ensure that you inform your customers about this operation and how long they should wait until their orders arrive. Depending on your market and production, you can make the pre-order waiting time from one week to one month. On top of their pre-order period, you should also consider how long the production will take, along with the demand. 

Use a Design Template 

When running a T-shirt business, you’ll need to come up with t-shirt designs that could help you attract as much audience as possible. While it might be tempting to go out on designs, it’ll be the best choice if you could start with a few simple options first. Using a t-shirt design template can save you a lot of time and help ensure your design looks professional and stylish! If you’re set on going your own way, signing up for free digital art classes allow you to create your own art while also learning a new skill.  

When just starting out, stick with a maximum of two colors for the shirt itself to reduce your inventory and ensure the designs you choose look great on either color. You can play with black and white to begin, or choose one bright color and one neutral.

Maximize Your Social Media 

Luckily, the world of social media is still a great way for small business owners to to advertise their products for free. (While running ads might be helpful, maximizing social media’s full potential without one is still feasible.) All you have to do is to find the right strategy and stay consistent, choosing platforms where you believe your potential customers spend the most time. Then, use those posts to direct them to your online store or provide steps for them to order from you through a direct message. 

Takeaway

Starting a T-shirt business can be tricky, especially if you have a tight budget. But with the right planning and a few adjustments, you should still be able to adjust to your needs and produce T-shirts without having to put out a large amount of money. While there might be an extra challenge, the benefits it’ll bring you would be worth it. Take it as part of your soon-to-be success story.  

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