“After 10 years of teaching, here are
3 things I wish all businesses knew
about screen printing.”
One of the industry’s most successful entrepreneurs, Ryan Moor, shares his top three
insider secrets for making history instead of repeating it.
You see it everywhere, your customers are already asking for it, and you’ve probably had dozens
of ideas of how you could use it. So, why don't you start screen printing?
“I mean...how hard can it be?”
While all of this might apply to you, getting into screen printing and becoming a successful
screen printing business are two completely different things. So, before you start, let's take
a moment to explore what separates those who simply try screen printing and those who
genuinely make it into a successful business for themselves.
Over the past 11 years, my company, Ryonet, has helped more than 70,000 people get into
screen printing. So, you could say, I know a thing or two about it. I’ve been fortunate enough
to observe many incredible success stories, witness some unforgettable crash-and-burns, and
watched a lot of sustained mediocrity through my interactions with screen printers over the
years. Thanks to those successes and blunders, we have been able to build a stronger company
and are better equipped to support the success of current and future screen printers of the
world. These experiences have taught me how to manufacture better products, offer better
classes, and build a better support team. On the road toward screen printing success there are
a lot of things that we as screen printing educators, suppliers, and manufacturers can control
and improve to make the journey easier, but there's one thing that we can't: You.
You.
The prospective, eager, bright eyed and bushy tailed screen printer. So pay attention, because
we’re going to share what we’ve seen work and what hasn’t for the 70,000 printers who we’ve
helped to start. There’s no point in repeating history, so why not learn from it and make a little
history of your own?
Of course, a few pages can’t tell you everything, but we wanted to share three things that can
take you from trying to succeeding with screen printing. Yup that’s it. Just three things that will
help guide you down the road of making history and not being history. So here it is:
1. Niche It
2.Learn It
3. Process It
1. Niche It
“Niche or be niched.” –Unknown
Maybe you’ve heard that quote before, maybe not, but it’s truer in screen printing than in
anything else. Screen printing is a very competitive business. If you think you just can go buy a
bunch of equipment, hang a sign on your door that says "open for screen printing" (or build a
website), and have a line of customers out the door needing shirts printed, you’re dead wrong.
Anyone, anywhere can find a printer. There are plenty of options. So, before you start screen
printing, you have to really understand how you are different than the other competitors in your
market. Why would someone choose you to purchase their next shirt from?
Feel discouraged? Don’t, there’s hope! While screen printing IS competitive, it ISN’T saturated!
The difference can be found in being unique.
Colin Shane from Lone Mountain Printing is a rockstar example of this. Colin built his business
up from a one-man show to owning his own ROQ automatic screen printing machine and
pumping out hundreds of incredible prints a day. His secret?
“My business provides superior soft-hand prints on high quality apparel, in a
competitive market dominated by plastic prints that could ‘stop a bullet.’”
–Colin Shane
Niche it! His niche is quality, and he excels at it. Some screen printers find their niche in printing
only water based ink, some focus on halftone printing and photo realism, while some have
found their connection in printing on only athletic apparel and polyester garments. Whatever
you choose - the key is commitment. Once you commit to a niche, make sure that you are
indeed excelling in it and that you can offer the best service for that kind of printing.
Here’s how to find your own niche:
If your customers are already getting their screen printing needs satisfied by someone else,
ask them what’s working and what’s not. Ask them what it is they want most out of a printer,
and what they might not be getting currently. Most importantly, ask them - if they could get it
from you, would they? Once you start to decipher patterns you may see that there is a common
need that your customers are not getting. That’s your niche! Find the gap, and fill it.
This process of questioning also helps to build your customer’s trust, and possibly open up new
opportunities once you do decide to start offering screen printing. People do business with
people they like and know. If you are that person and you have enough customers willing to go
to you for their screen printing needs - go get ‘em tiger!
Don’t be afraid to make the leap. In the end, it’s honestly not what you know, it’s who you know
and who knows you! Some printers find success by building a niche built around who they
know, instead of what they know.
A word of advice: Be passionate about your niche. Don’t try to specialise in something you
can’t stand. You probably won't be successful at it and even if you are, you’ll hate life. Who
wants that? The great thing about finding your niche is that while it forms the cornerstone of
your business, it doesn’t mean that you are stuck there. As you get your name out there, you’ll
get asked to do work for all different markets and niches.
Always be open to the opportunity of finding something new, but always remember that if
you’re not different in some way or another, you’ll likely be forgotten.
2. Learn It. (FIRST!)
Would you ever start ANY business without learning about that business first? This is why McDonalds makes potential franchise owners work and study for two years before allowing them
to open up a franchise. Guess what? It pays off. According to Entrepenuer.com, "Some studies
show that (McDonalds) franchises have a success rate of approximately 90 percent as compared
to only about 15 percent for businesses that are started from the ground up.” Is this all because
of the power of name-brand, or is there something deeper at work here?
I’m not saying that you have to go to school for two years learning the craft before you get into
screen printing, but getting an idea of what you’re doing first is honestly worth your time and
investment. So many screen printers start out the wrong way and come back saying: “If only I
had known...If only I had understood more...If only I could have seen it work first.”
Don’t repeat their history!
Instead of looking in the rearview mirror with a case of the “would’ves,” “should’ves” and
“could’ves” - invest a little, go to a class and “experience” screen printing for yourself. By
starting your journey with knowledge, you not only give yourself the strong foundation of
understanding how screen printing works, but you will learn about the different types of
equipment used, the variety of inks and consumables you will need to use to achieve certain
results, and the different techniques and skill sets required to run a shop. Screen printing is so
much more than just putting ink on a shirt, and if you’re ready to commit and find a niche, it’s
important to know what your options are before starting. Learning about screen printing first
will give you the confidence that screen printing is a viable platform for you to integrate into
your business and achieve success.
So, how do you choose the right educational platform? The good news is, Ryonet hosts a two
day Screen Print Experience class every month, at eight locations across the nation. The Screen
Print Experience Class is taught by experienced screen printers and business owners who have
done exactly what you are wanting to do and whose passion for teaching is only excelled by
their passion for printing.
I believe that you can only learn to be the best, by learning from the best.
So many successful printers who have started with the Screen Printing Experience class
have expressed how helpful it was to them:
“I had such a great experience!
I feel more prepared to start a
business and am excited to begin
working on the skills I learned.
The entire staff was awesome!
Thank You!”
–Lara D.
“Awesome weekend! Learned a lot
- def. feel more comfortable about
starting my own business! All the
teachers were super helpful and
patient with us noobs!”
–Jen H.
“I learned a ton from you guys,
totally feel comfortable pursuing
a screen printing business. Josh
is a kick a** dude! TJ was super
helpful and explained anything I
asked. The happy hour wasn’t too
bad either.”
–Kyle B.
“I feel like this was more than worth
the money and I would recommend
the Screen Print Experience class to
everyone. I think I can go home now
and start producing shirts.”
–Zach C.
After 10 years of teaching printers to print better and smarter, I have seen the huge difference
between those who started with knowledge first, and those whose businesses started with an
“I should have…”. Screen Printers who start by taking a class make wiser investment decisions,
are more effective out of the gate and are more successful long term than those who have a go
at it on their own. 3.Process It!
These are the main processes in screen printing.
Design your art
Create your film
Expose your screen
Rinse your stencil
Register your screens
Print your designs
Clean your mess
Reclaim your screens
While screen printing is often placed in the “arts and crafts” category, it relies on very defined
processes to be successful. In order for YOU to be successful, you have to embrace these
processes and make them a part of your business.
What does this mean? Creating solid processes for future success is much more involved than
simply learning how to do something. A successful screen printing shop has a recorded process
for everything. Within those set processes is all of the training, knowledge, and specialization
you need to expand your business as big as you want to. That can only happen if you have
these processes set down and in place, however. If you don’t make the screen printing
processes a fully integrated part of your current business, then it will be very hard to make your
business successful with their addition.
Let’s be honest, if you’re “in it to win it,” you probably don’t want to be behind the press
slinging ink for the rest of your life. Don’t get me wrong, I strongly recommend that you know
how to screen print yourself, but if your plan for screen printing success is based on personally
being the best screen printer in the world, you’re going to leave a lot on the table. The solution
is simple: Document everything you do in the screen printing process. Since the screen printing
process is very chronological, it’s easy to do in an organized/checklist fashion that is easy to
follow and learn from. Don’t be afraid to make the screen printing process YOUR process,
define what works best for you, for your customers, for your equipment and in your location.
I know this sounds like extra work, but it’s worth it. Simply write down what you do in each step
of the process, save a copy that can be updated often and make it visual for yourself and or your
team throughout the process. If you don’t do this you may just walk out to the shop 10 years
from now and wonder what the heck is going on with the mess, waste and poor print quality
because you never used to do things that way.
There’s nothing more frustrating than feeling like you’re losing control of your business. I’ve
watched some of the most successful screen printing businesses hit a wall where growth was
impossible for them simply because of their lack of recorded process.
Adam Funderberg of Brainless Tees Inc. is a great example of the power of process.
Adam Funderberg of Brainless Tees Inc. is a great example of the power of process:
“The need for systems came from several sources:
1. It wasn't fair to my customers. They are surrounded by consistent systems that take care of them. When
they go to the grocery store they know where everything is or can easily get help because of the systems
in place.
2. It wasn't fair to my employees. I got sick one time and it basically shut the shop down because all work
came through me. My failure (and it was mine) was that I didn't have a system in place to handle that part
of process.
3. It stems from me being greedy and only wanting to do the work that I want to do and not developing the
processes to take care of people better. It is my own immaturity and unwillingness to do the tough emotional
work that I need to do.
4. I love chaos. Out of it comes my greatest work and my worst but I tend to forget my bad work. I don't love
other people’s chaos, like my accountant’s. Her chaos scares the crap out of me. My customers are the same
way. My employees are the same way.
I read in the E-Myth by Michael Gerber, a book I have read 25 times: “It’s a system. It’s always been a system
but you just never took it seriously.” For some reason the last time I read it this one line stood out to me
unlike the previous 24 times. In all of my previous jobs I was a technician and I had a job to do but I never
equated it to being part of a system, a larger whole. I just focused on my part. All of a sudden I realized that
if I really wanted to make my business increase in size I needed to be able to multiply every position and this
would require saying “This is how we do it here.” Everything needed to be written out and quantified.
[Now] we can bring in an employee and show them a book on how we coat screens, burn screens, tape them
off, fold them, box them etc. There are posters on the wall that serve as reminders so they don’t have to
ask. [I realized that] if I want to really grow I will need everyone doing the work the same way. If everyone is
working together they can be a team, and teams create and build things. If everyone does their own thing
they more resemble a mob and mobs don’t build anything, they just destroy things.”
–Adam Funderburg Brainless Tees Incz
Often times the creation of documented process is enough to take a stagnant screen printing
business to the next level. So document it, make it repeatable and free yourself to do whatever
you actually want! Unfortunately, I know from my own experience that until this happens you
will constantly be disappointed in the unpredictable outcomes of business.
I’ll give you one more piece of advice: If you’re adding screen printing to an existing business,
start documenting what you do now before you even take the Screen Printing Experience Class.
It will be so much easier to add new processes once you understand your current ones.
The take away:
So that’s it, three things that will help you to make history, instead of becoming history.
My focus, and Ryonet’s, is to power the print in you. We are all screen printers whose passion is
first and foremost to help you learn. We build equipment dedicated to helping you print better
and are invested in your success because the more you win at screen printing - the more we do,
and the more awesome t-shirts get made in the process!
12303 NE 56th St
|
Vancouver, WA 98682
|
800-314-6390