Starting an at home business (sales, loans, buying)

[mygenericemail]

I'd like to start an at home business, but have no clue what I would need or where I would go for the information.

I have a certain style of clothing I'd like to have made and sold, but I'd need to talk to a Tshirt manufacturer in order to see if they would do the work for me.

The style of Tshirt I want to sell cannot be found anywhere (I've looked and searched), so I know it would be a niche item. I just don't have tons of money to invest in my own equipment or building.

I would like the shirts to be American made.

I don't know where I would go online, to find the info, much less the companies I would need to contact to see about doing this kind of work. All the searches I have done online all end up being Tshirt print company's, not companies who make the fabrics and/or make the actual shirt itself..which is what I am looking for.

Any suggestions or constructive advice?

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

Small Business Administration.

[Allison81]

even with SBA loans you still need 10% down.

Is it just a Tshirt w/a label on it? Or a differently designed shirt?

There are label makers online that can create logos/labels for you. 99 designs, fiver, several others.

If it's a different type of shirt, then I suggest you get a sewing machine and buy the fabric and create the template for it. Have you actually made this shirt yet? Make some! Then bring them into little boutiques and see if they'll sell some.

Sell them on Amazon FBA (lots of podcasts on how to do this). We sell on Amazon too it's not too difficult, but Amazon def wants their cut

from there, THEN talk to someone about buying major equipment to mass produce. In the meantime, you need to hustle and sew it all yourself

[mkx110]

if it's regular t shirts just google wholesale t shirts. if it's a new/ custom designed shirt then you should be able to find a sewing company or seamstress that will make a small run of your pattern.

[lovethisarea]

Originally Posted by Allison81

even with SBA loans you still need 10% down.

Is it just a Tshirt w/a label on it? Or a differently designed shirt?

There are label makers online that can create logos/labels for you. 99 designs, fiver, several others.

If it's a different type of shirt, then I suggest you get a sewing machine and buy the fabric and create the template for it. Have you actually made this shirt yet? Make some! Then bring them into little boutiques and see if they'll sell some.

Sell them on Amazon FBA (lots of podcasts on how to do this). We sell on Amazon too it's not too difficult, but Amazon def wants their cut

from there, THEN talk to someone about buying major equipment to mass produce. In the meantime, you need to hustle and sew it all yourself

This... Once you have samples ready, PM me. I can help you connect to investors and manufacturers.

[loves2read]

Etsy is another site for personally-made products
Have bought some excellent, unique items from Etsy sellers but not usually clothing--
Have no idea cost to run a shop there

[oldoak2000]

Originally Posted by mygenericemail

....
Any suggestions or constructive advice?

I have had several 'at home' businesses over the last 30 years or so; all 'successful', for a time!
I have also played the 'startup investor' role.

tips:
YOU first need to PROVE that your concept/idea will 'work' (on a small scale) , and you'll have to spend your own $$ to achieve that (unless idea is so good that you get a patent first - but even that cost $$).

ANY good supplier or manufacture can get you what you want/need; but you have to pay$ for your order up front; it will probably be very expensive (small qty = inflated /unit costs) unless you are ordering thousands or tens of thousands of units. NO supplier can stay in business not covering their costs for dealing with small qty's.


You say that 'what you want to sell cannot be found anywhere' ;
To me as an investor, that yells ' THERE IS ZERO MARKET FOR MY PRODUCT; nobody wants it '.

So not only do you have to pay to create the product upfront,
you have to pay to create the market, up front.
Think really hard what this sentence means - especially the underlined part.

How are you going to market something that nobody wants?

[mygenericemail]

Apparently I'm not getting the issue explained the correct way.


*This is a Tshirt that NO ONE MAKES OR SELLS.
*This Tshirt is a specifically designed fabric (otherwise I wouldn't need all of this)
*I need a list of local or in-state, or even just USA companies who actually MAKE the fabrics AND the Tshirts, that would make a small number of shirts for a special order (all I find are print companies or wholesalers, not actual production companies)


I have a place to sell it, I know how to sell it, I know who wants it................I just don't know where to find the people or company to produce the fabric and the shirt.

[turf3]

Write up a business plan. By the time you have a complete business plan, you will have identified viable suppliers. And, more importantly, viable customers.

I think a lot of people mistake "all my friends think it's a cool idea and say they would buy one" for "there's enough of a market here to pay off the initial investment in a reasonable time frame and provide a meaningful return on sales and cash flow for long enough to make it worth the effort".

If you end up spending three years of hard work and it returns you $2.00/hour, you may want to rethink your proposal vs. just getting a part time job.

Again, if you use one of the well established business plan templates, you will find out whether there's enough money in it to make it worth your time. After that is the time to engage with vendors.

[kira kira]

Originally Posted by mygenericemail

*I need a list of local or in-state, or even just USA companies who actually MAKE the fabrics AND the Tshirts, that would make a small number of shirts for a special order (all I find are print companies or wholesalers, not actual production companies)

It's not going to be that easy. You will need to be the one to research all of this information. Start calling garment mills in North Carolina or some other state. Call the garment manufacturers' trade group.

BTW, not sure what terms you are using to search, but a simple search for US Garment Manufacturers pulls up a lot of info. Start calling and contacting these people.