Category: Blogs

Starting a Screen Printing Business

If you are looking to get into the commercial screen printing business, there are many things you need to do and consider before opening your doors and unveiling your new website. Here are a few of the basic steps you need to follow to open your new company.

1. Start by thoroughly researching the commercial screen-printing business and visiting the websites of companies that are already up and running and reading trade magazines that are available. Decide what kinds of products you would like to sell, from banners to t-shirts to stickers and beyond, and begin to get a feel for the jargon that is used.

2. Get training either by taking a class, securing an internship or an entry-level job in the industry.

3. Begin looking for equipment by contacting vendors who offer new and used machines and set your budget for supplies. Make sure you have a large enough budget to cover startup costs, and if you don’t begin searching for a loan or a sponsor.

So you’ve got a growing business and you want to run your operation more smoothly. Maybe you started off as a 1 to 5 employee shop, and have outgrown your current systems and procedures.

Any small business can fall into one of two categories:

1. An efficient enterprise with happy customers and organized employees.  You get orders out on time and with little or no errors.

2. An operation that struggles on a day-to-day basis to keep up.  Orders get out…eventually, and with a lot of extra “blood, sweat and tears”.  Schedules are hectic and orders have more mistakes on them than they should.  Both customers and employees are stressed out!

Now picture what your business COULD be, Imagine it as a smooth-running, well-oiled machine, humming in unison with picture-perfect productivity. Data is entered once, orders are accurately processed, customers are happy, and profits rise.

Sound like a fantasy?

Perhaps a more realistic picture of your current operation is a daily struggle to keep your head above water. Orders are taken, data is entered and then re-entered into several systems and things move at a slower-than-ideal pace. Let’s take a look at an example…

Kathy Customer finds your website and places an order for 100 of your locally branded t-shirts. The order is received and data is entered into multiple software programs: Excel, Goldmine, Quickbooks, etc., etc. Kathy calls, asking for an update on her order. The computers are checked, but the status update has not migrated to ALL the applications handling Kathy’s order. Misinformation is erroneously given. And Kathy ends up receiving her order a day or two later than expected. This is an all-too-common problem that has nothing to do with your level of competence as a business manager, but, rather, the level of confusion caused by multiple “solutions” to varying business needs.

Add to that recipe a touch of growth (you do, after all, have a fantastic product or service), and the headaches can start to add up quickly. With growth comes growing pains, and in business those pains manifest themselves in more mistakes, slowing processes, sluggish customer service, and an ever-increasing impatience among your stakeholders. At this point, your old business software systems simply can’t keep up.

Are business growth challenges presenting themselves? There’s a clear-cut answer: one integrated business software solution, tailored to your industry. We at Shopworks developed our OnSite enterprise resource planning system to precisely meet those needs. Stay tuned for our next blog as we explore why OnSite is the best solution for you.

Tips for Improving Customer Service

In our last blog, we gave you several customer service tips, including purchasing reliable software solutions for business, like print estimating software and apparel software; answering your phone; focusing on the positive; and listening to the feedback you receive. Here are a few more tips to help you raise your customer service to a level that will help you grow your business for years to come:

• Some good customer service advice is to make sure you handle their complaint in an effective, calm manner. This means reassuring them, diffusing their anger, and helping them in any way that you can, without compromising your business.

• If you make a promise, make sure you keep it. Don’t tell a customer you will deliver a product within a week, if you know it will take you three, and don’t promise partners that you will collaborate with them, if you have no intention of doing so. You want to be known as a company that can be trusted.

• Make sure your customers know you appreciate them, by giving back when possible. This means giving them discounts and coupons, on occasion, and sending them a “thank you” when they make a large purchase.

• Make sure your entire staff is trained in appropriate customer service, from how to answer the phone to how to handle a disgruntled customer, and how to answer any reasonable questions that you can anticipate. They should also know the protocol, if they can’t answer a question, so that they can direct the customer to someone who is able to help them within your company.

If you are looking for software solutions for business, we recommend you purchase a software system that was developed specifically for companies within your industry. Here are some of the most recent developments in digital printing systems that were created with companies like yours in mind to look for when you are selecting onsite software.

• Production Process Models: the software you select should allow you to model different production processes to see the best way to complete an order. This will help cut down time in processing and will thus shorten the amount of time delivery takes, further along in the process.

• Tracking: Make sure your system allows you options when it comes to tracking. For instance, the best systems allow you to track production based on machine, department or individual employees. This, in turn, helps you pinpoint problems faster and improve your business processes, since the guesswork has been taken out of problem-solving.

• Pricing: Just like with tracking, your system should provide you with different ways to measure and set pricing. For instance, you should be able to price items based on square meters, square feet, linear feet, and more.

• Storage: There should be a clear, consolidated method for storage within your system, and production variables and store design details should be stored in a manner that makes sense. Your system should grab and keep file location information, material types, imprint locations, and more.

• Specialization: While the software should be specialized for digital printing companies, it should be versatile enough that it can handle your needs, regardless of whether you print on vinyl, paper, cloth, or other materials.

Starting a Screen Print Business

When you have plans to start up a screen printing business, there are many things you must do to get your business off the ground. Having apparel software is just one step, and one that you can take once you establish your business. However, there are many other things you will need to consider when making a business plan to get things rolling.

Screen Printing Business Plan

1. Create a model that is based on other successful t-shirt businesses. You have to learn the industry and how it works before you can become successful.

2. Create your plan. Think about your target market and what you plan to sell. Also decide where you plan to sell.

3. Get to know your competition and their selling strategies. This can help you with pricing and promotions.

4. Create quality products that people want to buy. Make sure you test out the products fully before mass producing anything.

5. Get your finances in check. Create a budget and know how much it will cost you to buy what you need to start. You must work out how much it costs to make each shirt in order to price your items so that you are making profits versus paying for just the overhead.

6. Set business goals of how many shirts you plan to sell. Use this as motivation to get yourself and your company out there.

7. Create an aggressive social media strategy to get people to start liking and commenting on your page. This is one of the best ways to get sales going.

For more information about our suite of software for your screen printing business, contact us at ShopWorks.

Phone and remote support are both excellent options if you need to troubleshoot your software solutions for business, but ShopWorx Central is another great option if you are looking to increase your own or your employees’ training so that you can better troubleshoot your Apparel ERP and commercial screen printing software on your own.

ShopWorx Central is a web-based resource center that is the main method of distributing upgrades and online training tools to ShopWorx users. This system is a great option as more material can be posted than could be burned onto CDs and other mail-able options, and it can be organized by specific subject around the clock. Material is also constantly being updated and added so that information is available to you as soon as it is completed.

This library of information is perfect if you are looking for a way to correct a specific issue or increase knowledge about certain areas of functions of your system, and can help you delegate troubleshooting tasks to different employees or IT agents within your company. This can in turn ensure that problems are fixed as soon as they arise, and keep your company running smoothly in the long run.

It can be accessed through the use of a single username and password that can be disseminated throughout your company, and many employees can be logged into the system at once. The only thing needed to access ShopWorx Central is a Technical Support Contract. Call ShopWorx today to inquire about attaining such a contract if you do not already have one.

Learn more about ShopWorks Business Software Training.

Benefits of Retraining Employees

If your company has evolved significantly lately, or you have noticed a drop in productivity, it is tempting to consider hiring new employees to replace your current team members who may be leaving slack. Retraining your current employees, especially retraining them in how to utilize your software solutions for business, is often a much better use of your resources. They are already familiar with your company, so the extra training usually goes further than providing training for fresh employees. Overall, retraining is cheaper, more efficient and often yields better results in many cases.

Here are several reasons why studies have found benefits to retraining employees:

• When you let current employees go, you have to spend time with the paperwork, time searching for replacements, and then even more time training those replacements. You also have to spend money in outplacement services or compensation packages. Retraining costs money, and can be expensive in some cases, but it is much cheaper than the alternative. Start by assessing your employees’ competency with your Apparel ERP or digital printing system, and investing in webinars or other training options to boost their knowledge and efficiency with your software systems before taking more drastic action.
• It is easier to keep retraining costs down than it is to minimize costs of letting an employee go and hiring a new one. Many companies offer free or reduced cost training options, and you can use training options that you already have access to as a software user. Consider all of your training options and pick the most effective one for the situation before proceeding.

You may also be interested in learning How to Incentivize Employees.

How to Improve Customer Service

You can focus on improving your products and services for months, but if you don’t also make sure that your customer service is excellent, you might as well save the time and money. Take a look at our customer service tips:

• While getting software solutions for businesses may seem like it improves the business side of your company more than the customer service side, it actually improves both. When your business is running more smoothly, you are better able to serve your customers and answer any questions they may have. You also make sure they have a better experience when they are on your site since they are interacting with a sophisticated apparel ERP system or digital printing software, rather than a low-quality website.

• Make sure you always answer your phone. It is incredibly frustrating to call a company with a question, multiple times, only to get a voicemail, so make sure someone is answering the phone at all times during business hours. Along the same line, make sure you reply to voicemails in a timely fashion if you choose to set up a voicemail box.

• Focus on the positive with your customers, even if they are calling with a complaint. Make sure you tell them what you can do to help them out, instead of listing the ways that you can’t meet their needs.

• Listen to your customers when they speak to you. This doesn’t mean just saying okay, over and over again, but actually hearing what they are saying and replying in an appropriate, direct manner.

OnSite 7 Demo – Screen Printing Business Software

Everyone has New Year’s resolutions, and there is no reason why businesses shouldn’t set similar goals for self-improvement as they embark into the New Year. If you haven’t already made the switch to business software, it might be a good idea to make your resolution to test business software and consider moving your company, if you like what you find out.

After watching a Demo for OnSite 7, you are able to access more than 40 hours of training videos to become intimately acquainted with the business software. This enables you learn more about the software before purchasing it and to see if it is the right option for your company and your personal situation. If it is, then there is no better time to move, than at the beginning of a new year when everyone is fresh, motivated, and ready to learn and grow.

Choosing Fonts for Your Website

You’ve written all of the copy for your website, perfected your color scheme and chosen images that perfectly represent your brand. Once your site is designed, there is one important step that many people forget about until it’s time to finish putting everything together: your font.

The font you choose for your website can either complete your brand image or ruin it. The wrong font makes your company website look more like a fourth-grade project instead of a legitimate, professional site. Here are some tips for choosing the right font to use when compiling your website with the help of your on-site software:

• The main distinction between different fonts is serif vs. sans serif. Serif means there are small strokes on the end of each letter or symbol that look like caps or feet. These fonts tend to create greater separation between the letters and make the font easier to read. Many companies will choose a serif font for the larger bodies on text within their website and other software solutions for business.

• Sans serif fonts are fonts that lack the strokes serif fonts have. These are simple, straightforward, and slightly harder to read in smaller sized text. We recommend using these fonts for the larger titles on your website. The contrast between the two separate fonts will help your webpage look professional and varied.

• If you want only one font, choose a sans serif, if you are trying to look clean, cool, technical, youthful, uncluttered or modern. Serif fonts are ideal if you want to look personal, traditional or user-friendly. Also, you should generally try to match your font to your brand. If your website is designed in a minimalist manner, choose a sans serif font.