Since I graduated from college, I've always had the creative urge create my own shirts. It was a way to promote any illustrations done by me. However that was 2005, and its been trial and error ever since. More error than trial. One of the factors is the recession in the country today. People are not spending top dollar to look fresh right now, especially if you are broke and don't work.
Also you can still look fresh but he or she might be looking for something less expensive.
That brings me to my next point. Price cuts to your product can help and hurt your start-up brand at the same time. Example? Let's say you go to your local boutique and the owner actually takes some of your product. You and owner actually set a percentage of what your profit and the stores profit is going to be. If your product does not sell well, the price cuts goes to your product, your profit, and the owners profit. Now, your shirts might be better selling at a different price point and "any sale" is better than "no sale" . But you are still losing money.
You can sell your stuff online. You're reaching a bigger audience, and you won't have to worry about the owners profit. You receive all of the benefits. However, there are some setbacks. If your website is designed poorly and your brand does not have web presence then there might be some difficulty moving your product. The website does not have to be expensive, but it does have to be a reflection of the brand or product. So spend wisely when it comes to websites. The "flashy" does not always work. Simple works best. Also modifying your website to be searchable in Google is a good idea, but that might be expensive too.
Now, by no means am I trying to discourage anyone to discontinue their start up brand. From my experience, this is some of the pitfalls I've have gone through and still go through to this day. I'm not quiting on making shirts. Although I liked doing it, it does not seem financially smart to proceed at this point in time. I'm not sure when I will start up again. It cost more money to start it and get "quality" shirts printed, than you will recieve at the beginning. Big emphasis on "quality" because buyers won't skimp on the quality of shirts.
My opinion is strictly my opinion, doesn't make it fact. You are free to disagree.
Photos of shirts by: Linty Fresh, Obey, LRG, and Johnny Cupcakes
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