So you want to start a t-shirt business on a budget. The two cheapest / lowest cost ways to start are with sublimation and HTV (Heat Transfer Vinyl). But what is the difference between Sublimation and HTV? Which is better: Sublimation or Heat Transfer Vinyl? Which is cheaper? In this episode we are going to deep dive into both Sublimation and HTV to help you pick the best for your new business. Why is HTV or Sublimation right for you? First we will start who should get either of these. You want ...
May 04, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 172
Guaranteed Success Plan for your Side Hustle / Small Business You are getting ready to start a side hustle, or maybe you haven't pulled the trigger yet. (Actually, even if you have already started there might some things to learn.) This Episode is really for those just getting started or looking to get started on a shoe-string budget. Many small business owners and side-hustle permutations have 2 things in common. They never start out of fear of failure. They start and immediately give up. Don't...
Apr 28, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 171
The recent price increase for Etsy sellers has got a lot of their long time customers looking for alternatives (from 5% of everything you sell to 6.5%) - and it's reminding others of Etsy's other money-making practices, like selling advertising for your store and charging you a big % of THOSE sales too. https://www.geeky-gadgets.com/etsy-seller-fees-25-02-2022/ First, let's take a look at what that price increase means to a business like yours. Then do some math to see if it's actually WORTH mov...
Apr 13, 2022•1 hr•Ep. 170
Those letters - ROI - are thrown around a lot in almost every business. Technically, it's Return on Investment - but just what does that really mean? What is an ROI? When you put money into a business endeavor, ROI helps you understand how much profit your investment has earned. Looking at potential ROI numbers, and going back to review them over time helps you to make solid business investments. So WHY should you care? Why figure out ROI at all? Businesses look at ROI a few different ways, and ...
Apr 08, 2022•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 169
We got this question in the Group a few weeks ago and again just yesterday. It was some variation of: "What's wrong with my website?" and then it's either How can I get people to visit the site? Why isn't anyone buying anything on the site? Since almost all of these businesses are in the custom t-shirt, embroidery or customized items business and are trying to sell directly to consumers online - who better to answer those questions than Marc Vila - the brains behind ColmanandCompany.com There ar...
Mar 31, 2022•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 168
You want to invest in some "new" equipment for your shop or maybe start a new business. Often times the way people save money is by purchasing things that are 2nd hand or used or preowned. But how do you go about buying used equipment? In this episode we will help you answer the following questions: Why would you want to buy used equipment? Save Money? Opportunity came knocking (e.g. a shop down the road is retiring) What are the risks involved? Warranty Repair Training Tech support? Parts Check...
Mar 23, 2022•57 min•Ep. 167
Once a year you go to the Dr for a check up. What do they do? They will listen to your heart, check your lungs, have you do a blood test. They are looking for anything out of the ordinary, even if you don't notice it. If anything is out of the ordinary, you take action to fix it... before it's a bigger problem. This is the purpose of a Marketing Check Up How healthy is your marketing? Is anything broken ? Is there any information incorrect? Is there something that isn't a big deal now, but could...
Mar 15, 2022•53 min•Ep. 166
Read in-depth article clicking here: https://coldesi.com/2021/08/digitalheat-fx-roland-versastudio-bn-20-sawgrass-sublimation-printer/ ColDesi is in a unique position in the marketplace. Because we get people started in such a wide variety of businesses with so many different - and competing - kinds of technologies, we have to be advocates for each one. When fit the use case. Basically, you tell us what you want to do and we'll match you up with the equipment/software that we think is best. But ...
Mar 11, 2022•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 165
How much does it cost to start a t-shirt printing business? That machine is WAY too expensive. Why would I buy that when a cricut can do the same thing? It only cost that much to own a business? I thought it was so much more. What is the best t-shirt printer? These are the comments you will read on social media posts about the t-shirt business. As you can see, there are assumptions people are making or just a lack of in depth knowledge about the t-shirt printing business. In this episode we are ...
Mar 10, 2022•38 min•Ep. 164
How much does it cost to start a t-shirt printing business? That machine is WAY too expensive. Why would I buy that when a cricut can do the same thing? It only cost that much to own a business? I thought it was so much more. What is the best t-shirt printer? These are the comments you will read on social media posts about the t-shirt business. As you can see, there are assumptions people are making or just a lack of in depth knowledge about the t-shirt printing business. In this episode we are ...
Mar 02, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 163
This episode is inspired by an article written on ColDesi.com . It's all about what you need to start a white toner transfer business. This episode is important if you are going to invest in white toner printer or have recently invested. Overall, though, a lot of this spills into what you need to start a t-shirt business in general too. A Basic Plan The article doesn’t dive into this, because it's more about the printer itself. However, it’s an important part to mention. You should have SOME pla...
Feb 24, 2022•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 162
Part 3: What you need to do to GET THERE What will you need to do to reach your goals? If you need to sell 400 more shirts per month, how will you do that? Was expanding a goal? What will you need? In this series, we first took a look back at last year, (or if you are new maybe you did some initial research on the biz). Then we went through and created goals. These goals helped us work backwards. So if you wanted to make $50k in profit, you sell shirts for $20 and you profit $10 a shirt.... you ...
Feb 16, 2022•53 min•Ep. 161
Goal Setting for 2022 This really depends on what you want from your business. Every business goal is going to be different, so it’s important to set your own goals, based on your dreams and personal lifestyle. Abstract Goal setting This is something that's not necessarily measurable (but could be), but more of an idea or a dream. What is the fundamental thing you want? Vacations/Cars/House? Money to retire? A business to pass onto your family? Is it the freedom to do other things? Quit your day...
Feb 09, 2022•43 min•Ep. 160
Direct to Film printers are the most talked-about new products from 2021 and are SURE to be the same for 2022! So the big questions are: - What is Direct to Film (DTF)? - What makes it different from other technologies - Screen Printing/Transfers - White toner Printing - Sublimation - DTG - What are the differences between different printers themselves? - What comments do you have about people who don't prefer to jump into new technology due to risks of something that isn't 'proven'. Should they...
Feb 02, 2022•53 min•Ep. 159
This is actually a series of 3 episodes to discuss how you can plan your business for 2022. It's important to be 3 parts because planning isn't just about setting goals, but it's also about looking back and then implementing action items so you can hit those goals. That breaks it down into 3 parts: looking back, setting goals and implementation. Today's part is about looking back! Part 1: How to look BACK so you can Look forward - evaluating last year What were your total sales? What was your to...
Jan 26, 2022•54 min•Ep. 158
It's 2021. Things STILL aren't normal. All over the world, we are running into shortages and production delays. You have heard the news about computer chips for trucks, container shortages and productions shut downs from Covid outbreaks.... and that's just 1 of 1000 examples. The custom t-shirt and promotion business is feeling the same issues. We have even seen shortages in equipment, inks, t-shirts.... its touched everything. Well, we have a formula we have learned from MANY successful busines...
Jan 26, 2022•50 min•Ep. 157
How to hire an expert: - Accountant CPA - Business Consultant - Ad Agency - Marketing Guy - Social Media Pro Make sure you have a good reason to hire someone or a company. First 3 things: 1. What problem are you solving? or What are you trying to accomplish? 2. Why are you hiring outside for this? 3. Statement of work/Job description Choosing a Vendor: 1. Send each prospective vendor your SOW 2. Ask them to respond in writing how they can help 3. Ask them to say your SOW back to you (be sure the...
Jul 16, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 156
Planning: We all try to brainstorm together about what videos we need or think yall want to see, sometimes we ask! We get blanks ordered and prepare artwork for the video. We have lots of equipment so we like to get artwork that is great for that process (example, embroidery = digitized logo, DigitalHeat FX = colorful graphic with negative space, sublimation = colorful photos and portraits) One common factor = LOTS OF COLOR Testing: We do a test run which usually results in bloopers, we aren't m...
Jul 08, 2021•18 min•Ep. 155
How to Start an Embroidery Business In many ways, it's just like starting any other custom apparel business. Or any business at all. But we DO suggest that you look at your business backwards, or at least in a kind of reverse order from what many experts suggest. Some suggest you start with buying an embroidery machine - and that seems just wrong, though we do have some very high quality embroidery machines for sale 🙂. So here are our inverted steps to How to Start an Embroidery Business: What ...
Jun 30, 2021•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 154
You mess up an order, upset a customer, make a huge mistake, how to handle them and WIN It's a good policy to just figure out what you're going to do IN ADVANCE. What will you do when you or an employee makes a mistake? Don't wait for someone to be angry or disappointed, figure it out now. Don't Panic! 1. Just like the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy - “I like the cover," he said. "Don't Panic. It's the first helpful or intelligible thing anybody's said to me all day.” 2. If you Panic you will m...
Jun 24, 2021•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 153
Why $75,000? Because according to the article "how much is enough" and the Princeton study they reference there, for most people $75K/year is enough to be worry free. They surveyed people at different income levels and by and large, the people that made less reported to be less happy and happiness didn't increase much at larger amounts. Depending on almost everything of course - location, family size, etc. And the $75K is also right in the middle of what is typically considered "middle class" in...
Jun 16, 2021•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 152
Easy! There is not "best". There's only best for you. 1. Best for your plan 2. Best for your products 3. Best for your budget Lets break this down by first determining: 1. What do you want to sell? 2. Who do you want to sell to? 3. Where do you plan to fulfill orders? Things we aren't asking yet: 1. What is your budget? 2. Which technology have you 'heard' is best? what are others doing? 3. What do i need to invest in besides a printer? e.g. heat press, etc Now based on the above here are the fa...
Jun 07, 2021•1 hr 29 min•Ep. 151
In Today’s episode, we talk with Vik Patel, Director of Global Marketing for Sawgrass Inks about what sublimation is, the opportunity for business growth and why working with Sawgrass and ColDesi makes financial sense for almost any business.
Jun 07, 2021•59 min•Ep. 150
We are on the cusp of a customization boom. Public places are re-opening at different speeds and events are being scheduled. These parks, festivals, sports, etc are all being scheduled. What does this mean for YOUR business? There is an opportunity for a surge in custom shirts, hats, mugs, etc. It's up to you how to evaluate that opportunity and how to benefit from it. Restaurants Sports School Camps Festivals Tradeshow premarketing for specific events How to outreach to customers so they know y...
Feb 10, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 149
As a small customization business are you poised to have your greatest year ever in 2021. In this episode, we will discuss WHY this is true and HOW to make it work for you. Trends stack the cards in your favor. What do we expect to trend in 2021: 1. Working remotely - 42% of the US workforce is working remotely now (Stanford University Study) - Many businesses will bring employees back in in 2021, but many will not. (it saves them money, they might see more efficiency, etc etc) 2. Small shopping...
Dec 29, 2020•53 min•Ep. 148
We’re going to divide this podcast up into 2 sections today. First, we’ll talk about Contact Pages themselves, which ARE important. Then we’ll talk about Thank You Pages – often overlooked but even MORE important, we think, than ty pages. So – what’s a contact page and why do people use them? Or more importantly – why do YOUR customers use them? If you have an ecommerce site they probably use them: When they have a question about a product while shopping They are looking for something you don’t ...
Dec 04, 2020•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 147
How important IS the Product Page on your website? If you're relying on eCommerce for your income, and are running ads to pages OR relying on organic search, they're a big part of why your business will succeed - or not. So, Marc - what IS the product page? If you are going to spend the time and money online, do your best to make it RIGHT. If you want to create a good product page, you HAVE to follow everything on this list. Here are the 10 (plus one bonus) things you should do for every product...
Nov 25, 2020•55 min•Ep. 146
It's time to start getting ready for 2021 - Most businesses use these last 3 months of the year (Q4) to start choosing their goals, deciding what targets they want to hit, new markets they'll text - listing out their business plans for the next year. But we know THIS is the busy season for many of you! So the best way you can start prepping for next year is to take time each day to pay attention to the slightly bigger picture of what's happening NOW in your business. So you can use that perspect...
Nov 11, 2020•50 min•Ep. 145
During today’s MiniCast I’m going to talk about how you approach learning new things, new equipment, making new products to sell – and the lessons I learned doing home improvement this weekend. The last few weekends have been focused on home improvement – which is what happens around Halloween after your kids move out. Part 1: Assembly REQUIRED Part of those projects was assembling and installing this new entertainment center – if you’re watching the video recording you’ll see a picture. It was ...
Nov 04, 2020•20 min•Ep. 144
The basic idea from this book by Brian Tracy - Eat that Frog - Ways to Stop Procrastination Free pdf: https://www.briantracy.com/success/time-management-made-simple/op/eat-that-frog-transcription.html Brian Tracy's ABCDE Method: Make a list of all of your To Do’s. Go through the list and put one of these letters (ABCDE) by each item “A” items are your key tasks. There will be major consequences if you don’t complete these. Start on these first. A “B” item is “Should Do” but is not as important a...
Oct 28, 2020•54 min•Ep. 143
