Hello Maker,
I created a resource binder for my tee shirt business. It's a binder that includes everything I need to know about my vendors, vinyl and supplies.
When I first started making tee shirts it was a bit frustrating when it came to picking colors, sizes and designs that my customers requested. Here's an example of how most conversations would go:
-
Them: I would like a blue shirt, gold writing that says Bluestone Senior High School.
-
Me: ok yes I can work on that for you
-
I go to the store to pick up a blue shirt, they have light blue, royal blue, navy blue oooh and carolina blue. I wasn't familar with the school so I had no clue which color blue they needed. I picked up "gold" vinyl because GOLD IS GOLD, right? I create the design and sent it to the customer.
-
Them: I need a navy blue shirt not the caroling blue you have on the photo and I want the gold to be the same gold as the school colors.
How frustrating. I then research the school colors and their gold is NOT the same as the GOLD Siser has. At this point, I have wasted money and my time. They were referring to what Siser calls Sun yellow and I thought they were talking about actual Gold. As I continued to create custom orders, I saw this happening time and time again. My space would be filled with left over rolls of lemon, yellow, sun, and mustard colors of yellow where I only needed one piece to fulfill each order.
To cut down on this confusion and costly leftover supplies, I decided to create my own Siser color card with a few colors that the customers could choose from. Then there's the BLUE shirt. NAVY BLUE, SKY BLUE, ROYAL BLUE, CAROLINA BLUE....now I have the blues lol I once had someone tell me they want a Pepsi blue shirt. Excuse me LOL I seriously cannot make this stuff up. The Pepsi can has two colors of blue on it lol I had to put a stop to this madness.
Overtime, I came to understand that the customer is not supposed to know what I know. They only know what they are accustomed to. Since I'm the expert, I'm supposed to read their minds right lol just joking. On a serious note, I should give follow up with a question like, "Do you have a picture of the blue you are referring to? Once they show me, I send them a pic of the blue I have that's closest and ask them to confirm.
This is simply one reason why this binder is one of your go-to tools in your business. Here's what we included in ours
-
The Binder here
-
The Cover Sheet here
-
Siser Reference Sheet here
-
Supply List here
-
Layering HTV here
-
The Vendor List (only available in the Beginners Custom Tee Course)
-
How to Press HTV (only available in the Beginners Custom Tee Course)
-
Siser Summer Color Card here
-
Tee Shirt Vendors Color Cards (only available in the Tee Shirt Start up Business Kit) or visit the vendor website and request a color cad ex: Bella Canvas here
I also use sheet protectors to protect my print outs. I print them out on 65 lb cardstock with a regular ink jet printer.
Creating this binder will keep you organized, easy to pull colors when consulting with customers and save you money from purchasing the wrong color tee shirts or vinyl. It has been a life saver for me.
Did you know you can get your blank tees and Siser vinyl from us? Click here to visit our website and shop.
We also offer classes courses and ebooks to help you build, grow and scale your handmade business at the RSU Online.
