Opportunity
Problem
Imagine being able create your own shirt. The shirt is made from the chosen material. You can then select the design or graphic that you would like on the front and/or the back. This is the ultimate expression. There are no boundaries to what you communicate. Some people might show their fanaticism for a particular sports team, others a musician. Your shirt might display a message or cause. No matter what you choose, you can print any image onto your shirt.
Solution
Your T-Shirt! is an exciting new business that allows people to custom design a shirt (specifically the design on the front or back) any way that they would like. By intelligently leveraging cutting edge technology, Your T-Shirt! Computer sublimation will allow you to print custom shirts in small quantities.
Market
Your Tshirt! We have divided the market by the type of product they buy. Customers who prefer a premade graphic image to be applied to their shirt are the first. Customers who prefer custom artwork to appear on their shirt are the second group. Your T-Shirt Your T-Shirt! Another reason to segment the market based upon the two products, is that the buyers of these products have distinct demographics. This allows them to be placed in separate markets.
Competition
Your T-Shirt The T-Shirt! has identified three competitions, two of which are local businesses, the third being an Internet-based shirt design company.
- Tshirt World This competitor is a specialist in silk-screening. 70% of their business involves silk-screening while 30% are sublimation. They require minimum orders of 10 and a lead time of 2-3 weeks. The company does not use pre-existing design for silk-screening. For sublimations, you will need to use their artist.
- Shirt Shack This local retailer caters to teams or organizations with 20 or more production runs. They do an excellent job but are very strict about custom work.
- Design House This Internet-based retailer mainly offers computer sublimations. Design House provides a collection of 200 images for customers to choose from. Customers can upload their own graphic. Sublimations are of poor quality because they only have access to off-the-shelf technology.
Why Us
Our goal is provide the highest quality in custom shirt production. We will offer customers the best product at the best price. Customer’s expectations will always be exceeded.
Expectations
Forecast
We plan to expand our business so that we can start making a small profit in the next year. Our name will become synonymous with high quality fashion forward T-Shirts. When they need something customized, everyone will turn to us. By year 5, we’ll be able to repay our family and friends.
Financial Highlights per Year
Financing Required
The total amount we will receive is $84,500. David will contribute $19,000. We have a loan of $65,000 which will be fully paid by year 5. We will make a small profit starting year 3 and will consider taking on more staff by year 4 or 5 after we pay off the loan completely.