Hey there Everyone,
I noticed from browsing through the forum that some guys here are quite experts in this t-shirt business.
since this is my first time in this field i hope to get some assistance in knowing what steps i need to take to achive my goal, here's the problem.
My name is Kay, i live in Kuwait (MiddleEast)
the idea of DTG is stuck in my head for many years, i just dont have the sufficient data to go on with it. so please tell me if it's possible or just plain stupid.
My idea is to have a "Make your own T-shirt" shop for walking customers, where the customer comes in, chooses a PC to work on, load up thier design from whatever source (internet, flash drive, the printing software) or simply just create it using photoshop and apply it through the print software "a special Graphic designer will be available to assist them. and then hit the print button, few minutes later. they head to the counter where they pay for the shirt and recieve it from our printer which is hidden behind the counter.
my questions are.. what is the best and complete solution to have to accomplish such project,
im thinking of setting up a network where the printer can recieve the order from several machines. is it possible?!
i got an open budget, so please let me know if it can be done.
There are many other sub questions such as pricings, type of printer, efficiancy/quality etc.. but i'll leave those for later on.
Thank you for your time.
Re: Newbie .. Please Help.
There is actually a franchise based on this type of store. Look up Big Frog.
You could also set this type of store up on your own. I have been to Kuwait but have no idea on the economic feasibility based on setting up a store or the market for self created apparel. You may have to work hard to create your own demand.
James
Re: Newbie .. Please Help.
What ever machine you end up running or purchasing, your going to want one person doing the printing as you mentioned having it in the back so this thing just needs to meet your expectation or make sure it can print what you want to offer. Usually this equipment will have it's own software so you will have a Rip station to run the jobs on order. Your store similar to an internet cafe will have all computers networked so they can see each other thus you will be able to see them from your rip station. Customer walks in, makes their graphic puts it in a folder on the desktop on PC1, walks to your counter gives you the file name on PC1 in xyz folder, you tell your guy in the back this info, they open it, rip it, print it. The customer will have to wait whatever the time is depending on how fast your printer is. Done. Hey this sounds like a good idea. but the guy before me is right there is a franchise here in the US of A that can pretty much do this but if you see an need for this there, Good Luck in your future endeavor.
parmelesupply.com
Re: Newbie .. Please Help.
One item that I would have a problem with is in allowing someone to come in with their own drive such as a USB. Unless you have a virus program that automatically sees any new drive or storage media connected to the system you stand the problem of having a virus loaded into your system. This could be by accident or on purpose.
One thing that you could do is if someone had a design that they brought with them you could have an employee scan the device/design and load it into a special file that could be accessed on the network in a password protected file. This would prevent someone from connecting a personal device on your system.:cool: