MOYA’s New Logo

Here it is.  The new official MOYA logo.  Shirts coming soon…

Cool, right?

Top 10 Tips for Success in Screenprinting

Success is difficult to define because it’s such a subjective concept.  We all have different goals, after all.  We’ve compiled a list here of some tips (or challenges, sub-goals, focus directives…whatever you’d like to call them) that we’ve found helpful in the industry.

Be Aggressive.

In screenprinting, as in most industries, customers rarely come to you.  You have to go get them.  It’s not always enough for potential customers to know who you are and what you do, you need to reach out and offer your services.

Educate Your Clients.

To most non-printers, screenprinting is shrouded in mystery.  Keep your customers in the loop about how their order will be fulfilled.  Showing them what goes into the process will not only impress them, but add value to your services in their eyes.  This will solidify your image as a professional and increase the odds of repeat business.

Be Frugal…to a Point.

Pinching pennies is sound financial advice, unless it begins to affect the quality of your product, ultimately causing you to lose out on jobs.  It’s not the case with everything but, I’ve learned that in this industry you get what you pay for in most instances.  Get the best equipment and supplies you can afford.  Every upgrade provides extra capabilities and the more jobs you can get done, the less you’ll have to turn down.

Provide Examples.

You’ve just landed a contract for 150 t-shirts – basic black ink on white shirts – for a local company wanting to promote itself.  It’s a little extra work but, throw in a surprise sample of something else you can do.  Take their logo and print it on a single tote bag, or swap out the black ink for multi-color, and print an extra t-shirt.  This is a great way to show the customer some other options that might spark additional ideas.  If they see the slick tote bag you’ve printed for them and somewhere down the road decide they’d like some, guess who’s going to get that business?  You!

Respect Your Time.

It’s a bit of a cliché but, if you don’t respect your own time, you can’t expect anyone else to either.  Time is money.  Charge accordingly.

Embrace the Screenprinting Community.

There are two very different approaches one can take in regards to colleagues.  The first is to view anyone in the same field as a competitor.  The second is to view them as knowledgeable resources and potential affiliates.  I’ve met many talented screenprinters and decorators since we started, and they have provided a great wealth of information and support.  In addition to this benefit, there is also potential for cross-recommendations.  If, for instance, you specialize in heat transfers and know of another printer that does embroidery, make a deal.  Send all of the embroidery jobs you get their way, and ask that they return the favor for jobs they may not be able to handle.  It’s a wonderful extension of word-of-mouth advertising, and customers will be happy you got the job done- one way or another!

Make a Profit.

Obviously, right?  What I mean is, be sure to charge enough for your services so that your final profit is worth the effort.  Screenprinting is a competitive industry and, especially as a newbie, there is a desire to undercut other printers to land a job.  I’ve learned the hard way that there are certain aspects of screenprinting price sheets that are in place for a reason.  For example, minimum orders.  When we first started out, it boggled my mind that printers would only take a job if you ordered at least 10 shirts.  I did about seven single-shirt orders before it occurred to me, “Hey, I’m losing money on these!”  Yes, some small orders can (and will!) lead to other, larger jobs – that’s true.  However in business, you have to draw the line when you start losing money.  Do some research as to what the other (possibly more experienced) printers in your area charge, and try to stay close to their prices.

Expand Your Knowledge.

There are many different methods and techniques in this industry for decorating apparel and other products.  The more of these you learn, the wider variety of services you’ll be able to offer prospective customers.  This will give you freedom to potentially handle every job that comes your way, as well as offering the profitable “upsell.”  Take classes, read blogs, and watch tutorial videos.  There is a wealth of information out there.  Challenge yourself to learn and experiment with new things, or even innovate new styles.

Find a Good Supplier.

This is an important tip for both the financial and the quality end of your business.  A reliable, informed, and helpful supplier is crucial to helping you meet your clients’ needs and maximizing profits.  Ryonet is a perfect example.  Not only are their prices competitive, but they excel in the additional intangibles that can help you succeed: training, support, and customer service.

Keep Your Business Plan Flexible.

A business plan is much like a road map to your goal.  It states your specific destination, and the route you plan to take.  This is good as a guide, but as sometimes happens on the road, you can run into obstacles along the way.  When you hit an unexpected detour, be flexible, reroute, and start in a new direction.  It’s not the end of the world.  It’s important to view your business plan as a guideline, not the end-all-be-all.  The number of paths to your goal is only limited by your imagination.

The Activist Within

We recently finished up an order of promotional shirts for an upcoming documentary film called The Activist Within.  What a fun job!  In fact, we had such a good time printing the shirts that we put together a short video montage of the process.

The shirts were basic unisex black tees with a rainbow blend print on the front, and a two-color image on the back.  Because the substrate was black, we used a white underbase layer for the rainbow blend.  Ryopaque high-opacity ink was used, and remains our favorite plastisol.

Check out the video and visit www.theactivistwithin.com for information on the film.

Bent Wookee Comix

Just wanted to post this quickly and share the fun little montage video we made of one of our most recent runs for Bent Wookee Comix of Johnstown, PA.  It was a 40-shirt job that consisted of two different colored shirts – stone blue and charcoal – with black water-based ink, and black shirts with white plastisol.  We also printed a special one-off with glow-in-the-dark ink for the owner that shows up at the end of the video.  Enjoy!  And, if you happen to be in Pennsylvania…stop in and check out the coolest comic store in the universe.  Probably.  I haven’t been to them all, obviously.  I can’t imagine any of them are as cool as Bent Wookee, though.

Jiffyshirts.com Review

In the screenprinting industry, it’s incredibly important to find a reliable supplier for not only equipment and supplies but shirts as well.  The suppliers you choose to do business with become, in effect, your partners.  If you fail to meet a deadline because your order didn’t arrive in a timely manner, that reflects on you alone in your customer’s eyes.

Because of a few minor issues with the company we were using to supply our blank t-shirts – namely incomplete orders, out-of-stock items that were listed as in-stock at the time of order, and high shipping costs – we decided to place our last order through a different website – jiffyshirts.com.

At first glance, the website looks…simple.  It’s not flashy.  It’s not distracting.  It’s exactly what it should be – an easily navigated site for blank shirts (among other items like hats, towels, tote bags, shorts, hoodies, etc).  There are no links to other sites or paid ads, and I dig it.

In the middle of the home page is a shipping timetable calculator that displays the amount of time left to order to receive your shipment by a certain date.  Very handy feature.  There are navigation buttons to narrow down what you’re looking for by style, brand, material, color, collar…you name it.  These filters are very helpful, especially considering the wide range of products they offer.

Once you select a specific item and click on it, you’re taken to a page that lists the details of the item (material, weight, available sizes and colors, as well as other features).  There is also an up-to-date inventory counter displaying the exact number of each color and size available.  The shopping cart and checkout procedure is a breeze, and they even accept PayPal which is wonderful as most of our customers make their down payments through PayPal and it eliminates the need to withdraw the money, which saves us time.

Okay, so the website’s nifty.  Big deal.  Can they actually deliver a good product quickly?

You bet!

First off, for comparison sake, I can tell you that the shirts from jiffyshirts.com were 17 cents less than the same shirts from our other supplier.  Oh, and did I mention *Free Shipping* on orders over $65?  Our 102 shirt order ended up being $40 cheaper than it would have been from the other guys, AND it was delivered not only complete but in half the time.

It would be an understatement to say that I’m impressed with jiffyshirts.com.  Since I’m not the under-stating type, I’ll skip it and just say that we’ve definitely found ourselves a new shirt supplier.

Forty-Two?! Really?!

I’ve mentioned before that being a small business owner can be overwhelming because of all the hats you’re forced to wear.  When you don’t have a workforce that reports to you, it’s difficult (nay, impossible) to delegate responsibilities.  If it needs to be done, you’re going to be the one doing it.  Unfortunately – and I’m sure there are many people who will agree with me here – I don’t know everything about everything.

Case in point, shipping.

Today, I mailed out a 40 shirt order to our friends at Bent Wookee Comix in Johnstown, PA.  The box was 22” by 17” by 9” and weighed just under 20 pounds.

 

A majority of our orders are smaller – one or two shirts at a time – and shipping is only slightly more costly than mailing a letter.  Additionally, our larger orders tend to come from local customers, and are either picked up or delivered in person.  Consequently, I don’t have a lot of experience with shipping through UPS or Fedex.

After the package was packed up, taped, and labeled, I took it to the local Pony Express – a strip mall place that handles UPS and Fedex shipping, as well as other services.  The absolute cheapest shipping method available was Fedex Ground at $41.92.

 

$41.92!!

 

Forty-one dollars and 92/100————-

 

What.

 

The.

 

Hell?!

 

Is it just me, or is that ridiculous?

 

I think I now understand the feeling that I’ve heard women mention when they talk about going to a mechanic.  I feel like I’m getting ripped off, and I don’t know what other options I have.

As soon as I’m finished complaining here, I’m going to research how to get better shipping prices but, I’m wondering…does anyone have any suggestions?

 

$41.92, indeed!

 

New Folding Boards

After last month’s Liberty Mutual order – the largest MOYA has printed, to date – we discovered the need for a new piece of equipment.  A folding board!

I’m not sure if most screen printers fold completed orders before handing them off to customers, but I think it makes the presentation more impressive.  Also, because this order was for a contest, and the rules stated that the entire completed order had to be shown, the only way was to fold every shirt and order them in stacks.

This required us to fold 222 shirts.

You know the feeling you get when you take clean clothes out of the dryer, and you’re like, “Now I have to fold all of this.  Bummer.”  Multiply that feeling by 45.

Long story short – the very next day I won an eBay bid on a new pair of folding boards.  These will not only save time during the folding process, but also minimize the resulting back pain.

I wanted to post a video along with this, showing how folding boards work.  I hope you enjoy the video I chose – from one of my favorite TV shows, The Big Bang Theory.

The Price is Right

Today I put the finishing touches on the first official MOYA price sheet.  Now that I have it sitting in front of me, I can’t imagine how I’ve been quoting jobs on the fly.  What I can see now is that I’ve been quoting far below market value for screen printing.  Good to know!

It will be nice to have something to show a potential customer that concisely breaks down the charges.  People want to know what they’ll be paying for and I think the form I’ve come up with is simple and self-explanatory.

Here are a few main benefits I’m foreseeing as a result of having this price guide at hand:

• More consistent job quotes. Being able to consult a “master” price list will help me to fight the urge to under-quote jobs in order to land the contract.
• Discouraging tiny orders. Sure, “no job too small” is a great tagline for your business card…but quoting reasonable prices for one and two shirt orders can end up costing you money in the long run.  Now, if there’s a small job I don’t want to do, I can just point to the sheet and say, “Okay, let’s see…one XXL black shirt…three color image…that’ll be $86.50.”
• Ability to impress clients by waiving fees. It might sound inconsequential, but customers are thrilled when you can show what something should cost and then show them a lower price.  Example:  I can now say, “Just for you, I’ll drop the setup fee from $25 to $10.”

Now that you can see some of the benefits to having a strict quoting tool, check out the QuickBooks for Screen Printers Expansion Pack.  Among a lot of other great, industry-specific features, it includes a T-Shirt Pricing Calculator for Microsoft Excel.  I spent hours creating the MOYA price guide…and it doesn’t even DO anything.  With this tool, you just plug in a few pieces of information and it will calculate the cost for you automatically.

All in all, I’m incredibly satisfied with the guide I came up with.  I believe this will be a helpful tool for both MOYA and our customers.  So, without further ado…

Thanks for clicking the link!

Leave a comment here.

Ethan

Team MOYA

Building Stock

As the end of the month draws near, I am becoming more and more panicky about meeting the self-imposed deadline for launching the MOYA website.  For the most part, everything is falling into place – slowly but surely.

What I’ve been working on the last few days is building up stock so we actually have something to sell on the website.  The plan is to launch with limited (but some) stock, offering only four or five of our 310 designs, and gradually increasing the available designs monthly or even weekly.

The benefits of this plan are numerous.  It’s significantly less expensive than just ordering thousands of shirts at once.  It allows us time to gather useful information such as what designs, sizes, and colors are most popular.  Also, it gives me time to breathe and prepare for the next task.  The thing about tackling all aspects of your business yourself is that you have to tackle all aspects of your business yourself.

At any rate, I’ve been in The Lab for the past three days trying to bust out some small runs for a few of our designs.  All in all, it’s been going very well.

I ran into a problem today, though.  Yesterday, I printed a 10-shirt run of a design with all water-based white ink.  They all came out beautifully.  Today, I tried to duplicate the run with a different colored shirt – same screen, same ink; cleaned up and good as new – but I ended up ruining 6 out of 10 shirts.  For some reason the ink in the screen would just not release the shirt, causing the shirt to lift from the platen and ruining the print.  I tried adjusting the off-contact on the press, cleaning the platen and applying new adhesive, washing out the screen and starting from scratch…basically everything I could think of, I tried.  This just seems to be the latest battle in the epic war I’m having with white and yellow ink.

Anyway, here’s a couple pictures of the successful prints.  Keep an eye out for moyatees.com, coming soon (fingers crossed).

Updates to The Lab

Today I spent the entire day in The Lab – cleaning up, moving some things around, redecorating, and just generally resetting the space.

It’s important to make your workspace as comfortable, efficient, and fun as possible.  If it’s somewhere that’s appealing to be, it will be a more productive environment.

I added a wire cube organizer, for one.  This will soon be used for shirt stock, but for now it’s holding squeegees, emulsion, Enviro-Strip, and some other supplies.

The screen rack I built is working like a dream, but it doesn’t hold anywhere near all of my screens.  I’d like to add a pro rack at some point – the solid construction and wheels make it a great addition.  It’s on my Want List.

Finally, I ordered a few posters.  The theme is “Tarantino” – which is appropriate since “MOYA” comes from Pulp Fiction.  Also, this seemed like a good addition since so much of our inspiration is rooted in film.

Here are a few pictures of the updates.

Ethan

Team MOYA