rocknroll76 Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 Hey VC, I'm coming to you for advice. I've been laid off for 7 months now after working for 10 years at the same company. It wasn't something I liked doing but it paid the bills. I haven't been able to find anything and have been seriously thinking about doing something I really want to do which is screen printing. I had a couple years experience and loved doing it but this was quite a while back. I would really like to start my own business, out of my house for now. The space isn't the problem, just not sure how realistic this is to support a family. Any advice from anyone who's been through these first steps would be greatly appreciated. Best place to get supplies, what NOT to waste my savings on, and so forth. You can reply here or email if you [email protected] Thanks a lot! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
appletree Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 never started my own business but i had my own thing out of my garage printing shirts for local bands. out of the house is difficult... not sure about people making money doing this so hopefully some will insert some advice but i know a lot of people sink a lot of money into it. you got the silk screener itself 4-color 6-color 8-color etc etc the screens (i had custom made aluminum ones) shirts ink graphics way to dry the shirts you know all the stuff if you have done it clientele a market way to clean chemicals (i used a lot of water based inks) a lot of time a lot of work is going to be invested and not sure how well it will be able to support yourself or family i personally would be concerned but am not in your shoes. i have never done it before so i would never discourage someone from doing it. i always tell people do what makes you happy, as at the end of the day you gotta live with no regrets and find happiness in your own life. if you are in california have you thought about the oil and gas industry (im biased). lots of oil in california (depending on the area) and depending on your skill set lots of options in that industry. jobs pay lots of money and while hard work can pay off. there are a ton of industries and ways to support a family. i had always wanted to get back into screen-printing although was going to do it as a hobby. hopefully someone can chime in because i wish you and your family the best of luck. i am sure almost anything can be worthwhile but like anything it is going to take a lot of work, time, sweat, blood, and sacrifices to make it and be happy where you made it to. sorry if my 'advice' sucked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tylerrr Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 I'm not really sure if you'd be able to support a family on it, but I've got a few friends who have a shop and are doing pretty well with it. I think if you work hard at it and get a decent amount of orders coming in you could probably do it. Be positive I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danthemjfan23 Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 get involved with your local high schools and middle schools. advertise in their papers/newsletters/on their websites. schools make TONS of fucking shirts for every event they ever put on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocknroll76 Posted July 26, 2011 Author Share Posted July 26, 2011 Thanks for the words so far. My wife has a decent salary so I wouldn't have to bear the whole burden. I think once I factor everything in it could work out pretty good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericheartsu Posted July 27, 2011 Share Posted July 27, 2011 honestly working with bands is a downfall. especially punk bands. It takes years of connections to get where there is decent money. Honestly i know Night Owls/I Heart U wouldn't have survived so long without my insane dedication, and TONS of help from friends and family. Like any business where there is a ton of competition, it'll take a while to get your foot in the door, but once you do, you can live comfortably, but be prepared to work the extra hours. Also the one key thing to learn while screen printing is, YOU WILL LOSE MONEY. especially at the beginning. Also another key thing to know, If your clients are happy, you are happy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tylerrr Posted July 27, 2011 Share Posted July 27, 2011 get involved with your local high schools and middle schools. advertise in their papers/newsletters/on their websites. schools make TONS of fucking shirts for every event they ever put on. This. My buddies have done just about every shirt for the middle school we went to. Seriously they have so many shirts printed every year. PE, dances, clubs, events, teams, staff, grad shirts, everything, dude. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocknroll76 Posted July 27, 2011 Author Share Posted July 27, 2011 Thanks for all the advice everyone. I really appreciate it. I'm so stoked to do this, I have a lot of planning to do before I take the leap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danthemjfan23 Posted July 27, 2011 Share Posted July 27, 2011 i work in a screenprinting shop (not the sales aspect of it, but actually printing the shirts), so i see how many school-related things are ordered every week. it would blow your mind. especially if you live in a semi-affluent area, then every group of kids who goes to the prom together get shirts made, their cougar moms go on bar crawls and get shirts made, the schools themselves put on plays, dances, sporting events, need gym uniforms, etc.... try to get in good with the local kids' soccer/baseball/softball leagues. we just finished up printing about 1500 jerseys last month for the upcoming summer seasons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocknroll76 Posted July 27, 2011 Author Share Posted July 27, 2011 Sounds good! I'm currently writing up a business plan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tylerrr Posted July 27, 2011 Share Posted July 27, 2011 Good for you, man! Good luck! Just curious, what do you plan on calling it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocknroll76 Posted July 28, 2011 Author Share Posted July 28, 2011 Good for you, man! Good luck! Just curious, what do you plan on calling it? It's funny, I just thought of the name today...actually my son helped me come up with it. I'm not gonna unveil it just yet though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericheartsu Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 if you are in california use these two suppliers: Shirt Supplier: TSC apparel Ink Supplier: westix Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocknroll76 Posted July 28, 2011 Author Share Posted July 28, 2011 if you are in california use these two suppliers:Shirt Supplier: TSC apparel Ink Supplier: westix Thank you!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest afsdan Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 I'm just gonna throw in the idea that maybe you could do a whole post-production/bindery kinda thing; cutting and trimming, scoring, saddle stitching, etc. Not exactly silk-screen related, but from experience is a good thing to have your hand in. Especially if you're starting off trying to get screenprint clients...the bindery side could help fill a niche of a different (but similar) market Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robx Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 intimately connected with two relatively successful screen printing shops (one was the no idea! printer for years). First off, it fucking sucks and both of them went through very very bad periods where they had to sell just about everything to survive, and work through all hours of the night. What everyone is saying about getting high schools etc. is exactly right, but what they haven't told you is that most high schools have that shit figured out already, and go to mostly the same few places and have for years. Consider finding the private schools, elementary schools (where parents don't stay involved as long, so leadership changes), "youth run organizations" etc. Also, both of the shops made a lot of money printing for weirdo local businesses. I won't say exactly what, but the last shop that I hung around made a huge chunk of their money printing shirts for a porn company, and the other one prints a lot of offensive metal shirts for a possibly white power record label. dont...end...up...just...doing...band...shirts. You'll shoot yourself in the foot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
electrocute Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 My brother pulls in around 35-60k a year which is great in the town he lives in. Cost of living is not expensive here. He makes his money due to what type of work he does. He started his business 2 years ago and is going strong. He does many festivals, ACL, SXSW, Reggae Fest, and Bonnaroo. Not to mention the amount of work he does for other companies, sports teams, businesses, bands, etc. He is lucky though simply because there are 2 other places here that do what he does but he has small overhead, him and 2 others that he's able to be the cheapest on his prices while still maintaining quality. It's going to come down to how many people you know involved with groups and how well you network. He's only tapped the barrel of what he's doing since now he's branching out to Austin, Dallas, and Houston where he just landed a 1500 shirt order from one company. As for the space requirement you need it. He built his own shop on his land. Mainly he had to have a place for his 2 presses to go which take up a huge amount of space. His conveyer belt which takes space. Drying station, boxing station, wash out station (washing out the screens, etc). It takes a good amount of space depending on how big you want your business to be and if its just going to be you versus you and a few others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericheartsu Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 intimately connected with two relatively successful screen printing shops (one was the no idea! printer for years).First off, it fucking sucks and both of them went through very very bad periods where they had to sell just about everything to survive, and work through all hours of the night. What everyone is saying about getting high schools etc. is exactly right, but what they haven't told you is that most high schools have that shit figured out already, and go to mostly the same few places and have for years. Consider finding the private schools, elementary schools (where parents don't stay involved as long, so leadership changes), "youth run organizations" etc. Also, both of the shops made a lot of money printing for weirdo local businesses. I won't say exactly what, but the last shop that I hung around made a huge chunk of their money printing shirts for a porn company, and the other one prints a lot of offensive metal shirts for a possibly white power record label. dont...end...up...just...doing...band...shirts. You'll shoot yourself in the foot. exactly what this man says. did you work for jonathan? or did you work for vertical? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericheartsu Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 My brother pulls in around 35-60k a year which is great in the town he lives in. Cost of living is not expensive here. He makes his money due to what type of work he does. He started his business 2 years ago and is going strong. He does many festivals, ACL, SXSW, Reggae Fest, and Bonnaroo. Not to mention the amount of work he does for other companies, sports teams, businesses, bands, etc. He is lucky though simply because there are 2 other places here that do what he does but he has small overhead, him and 2 others that he's able to be the cheapest on his prices while still maintaining quality. It's going to come down to how many people you know involved with groups and how well you network. He's only tapped the barrel of what he's doing since now he's branching out to Austin, Dallas, and Houston where he just landed a 1500 shirt order from one company. As for the space requirement you need it. He built his own shop on his land. Mainly he had to have a place for his 2 presses to go which take up a huge amount of space. His conveyer belt which takes space. Drying station, boxing station, wash out station (washing out the screens, etc). It takes a good amount of space depending on how big you want your business to be and if its just going to be you versus you and a few others. what company does your brother run and where is it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericheartsu Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 Also another thing alot of people don't realize, when you come to working with schools or colleges, especially colleges, you have to pay royalties to print their logos. A licensing fee if you will. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuzzersonKillwell Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 Bumping this to see if anyone here currently has screen-printing experience? I've got a question or two about application on what I guess would be a mixed media piece. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icecream Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 Jeff I found this book to be very informative for someone starting out. Not a bible by any means but it'll definitely help get you on your feet http://www.amazon.com/Print-Liberation-Screen-Printing-Primer/dp/1600610722/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1359998209&sr=1-1&keywords=print+liberation Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuzzersonKillwell Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 Thanks man. I'll pick it up, I don't do a lot of printing, but would maybe like to do a bit more. Once it warms up I'll finish my pieces and maybe update here with the results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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