What will I need to start a T-shirt Business? What Products will I need? Patents? Trade Marks? Any legal info?

[patwin87]

Hello. Myself and a friend are very interested in creating our own T-shirt business. We know the gist of what we need but would like to know more for a successfully business. What Products will we need?Advertisements? Patents? Trade Marks? And any other legal information that we will need in order to start our business.

[shadrach]

There are a variety of ways to get started in the business. First, you need to figure out how you wish to print your t-shirts. There is an inexpensive and cheap way to print quality t-shirts from home, without breaking the bank. It includes the use of a t-shirt heat press machine and custom screen printed heat transfers... You can see this machine in action by going here:

http://tshirtriches.com/video-more-faqs-about-starting-a-t-shirt-business-with-a-heat-transfer-press-machine/

Regarding trademarks... these guys have a free interview on their site with a trademark attorney as it relates to the t-shirt business:

http://tshirtriches.com/interview-trademark-copyright-tshirts/

[jabarl]

There are a variety of ways to get started in the business. First, you need to figure out how you wish to print your t-shirts. There is an inexpensive and cheap way to print quality t-shirts from home, without breaking the bank. It includes the use of a t-shirt heat press machine and custom screen printed heat transfers... You can see this machine in action by going here:

http://tshirtriches.com/video-more-faqs-about-starting-a-t-shirt-business-with-a-heat-transfer-press-machine/

Regarding trademarks... these guys have a free interview on their site with a trademark attorney as it relates to the t-shirt business:

http://tshirtriches.com/interview-trademark-copyright-tshirts/

Check out threadless.
You need to incorporate, talk to a accountant, first consult should be free (probably a LLC if you are in it for the long run).
Once you have a design for a shirt you need to copyright the image, go to the US copyright and patent web-site, for a fee you can do it all on-line, this means IF it is a original image you own the right to it.
A basic accounting system, Quickbooks is a good start and you can get the basic version really cheap these days with rebates & tax season coming.
Get clients and get to work
Best of Luck