Studying Your Competition in the Garment Decoration Industry
When first trying to break into the garment decoration industry,, there is a lot of different variables to consider. You don’t want to be one dimensional where you only are able to offer your potential client one type of application, such as digital T-shirt printing. The whole idea is to establish confidence with that initial order of whatever it might happen to be and then you can come back later and suggest that he also consider doing some custom embroidery. It’s so much easier to deal with an individual that you established a history with than it is someone whom you’ve never met before. You do not have to try and convince him that you are going to be capable of giving him or her an outstanding finished product because that confidence was already established on the initial order. At that point all you have to do is make suggestions. In other words, it’s a very soft sell.
There’s an old saying that a wise man has a multitude of counselors in fact it’s even scriptural. However, when it comes down to it, it’s up to you to do your research and collect all your data before you actually make the investment. There are no guarantees in any kind of business, because if there was everyone would be successful. Every move you make is going to be a calculated risk and whether it was successful or not is just going to be relative to your return on that investment. In fact, it’s not uncommon that you might not have instant gratification and success. Often, your approach has to be tweaked and it will evolve through time as well as experience.
I would recommend that you consider studying your competition. Check out some of the St. Louis screen printing companies that have been around a while and have stood the test of time. There is an old parable that says keep your friends close and your competitors even closer. The point I’m trying to make is that they can potentially teach you a lot. By taking this approach, you can avoid making a lot of the same mistakes that they made when they first went into the St. Louis digital T-shirt printing market. It’s almost like following a blueprint that they had already drawn up for you. Although the potential success that your trying to tap into his limitless, there are also possible downsides and risks. The point I’m trying to really drive home here is that you should do your homework and come up with a well thought out plan before taking on this kind of endeavor.
The screen printing and embroidery business is definitely an exciting one that has no boundaries when you really think about it. When you take the time to think about it, who do you know that doesn’t actually wear clothes? The answer to that is obvious.