Tetrishead Tees An online tshirt company Kimm Waldack

Tetrishead Tees An online t-shirt company Kimm Waldack

Company Description Tetrishead Tees is a web based t-shirt company that is pop-culturally savvy that produces a large selection of unique t-shirts that customers couldn’t find elsewhere. A percent of the price would go to a different charity that is chosen each month. Two friends and myself actually are interested in making a small-scale t-shirt company as a hobby, so this is great opportunity for me to implement my ideas in the form of a business plan. My vision is to have a small team of three individuals (myself included) that co-own the company, so this objective is realistic and easy to maintain. If the company grows beyond that, we would have to employ individuals.

Business Mission My mission with Tetrishead Tees is to provide customers with witty, unique t-shirts of high quality that they couldn’t find elsewhere. Customer satisfaction is of upmost importance, and delivering a product on time is crucial. I would also like to share in the wealth of any profits we make, and have a decent percent of any revenue to go towards multiple charities to attempt to make our community a better place.

Marketing Objective A realistic goal for Tetrishead Tees is to launch the website and start the company with little costs and to sell 2, 000 t-shirts within the year, and 4, 000 the next year. By year three, our goal will be 8, 000 in one year. Due to this goal, my company will have to sell roughly 5 t-shirts a day the first year, 11 the second year, and 22 the third, so the biggest obstacle is obtaining exposure.

Situational Analysis v Demand Trends: There is generally a steady demand for clothing, so no dramatic changes are forecasted. My t-shirts will be high quality but with a relatively low price to be competitive with other web-based t-shirt companies. We would sell directly to customers via a website, and have the capabilities to vend our t-shirts at music festivals, concerts, outdoor events and the like. v Social and Cultural Factors: Seeing as most t-shirt designs would be inspired by pop culture and internet trends, the company would cater to those individuals – mostly Millennials that spend an ample amount of time on the internet. A good portion of our product would be directed towards “subculture” or “alternative” individuals who demand a unique product. (ie: customer base similar to that of American Apparel, but with a “nerdy” twist, but also cater to the laissez faire lifestyle of partiers and other). v Laws/Regulations: Considering we would produce original designs, we would not be violating any copyright laws. However, we would have to ensure there was money to trademark each specific design, and copyright the company as a whole.

Situational Analysis v Age demographic: Primarily, the company focus would be on ages 18 to mid 30’s. Considering our products are “edgy” or “trendy”, targeting to that age demographic would be most financially beneficial. v Income demographic: Seeing as we want to be a business that is of high quality but at a low cost, we would mostly appeal to people of lower income, but would also do our best to be attractive to people who have a higher income as well. Nobody will fuss about buying a high quality t-shirt that they like if it costs less than the competitors.

Situational Analysis v Ethnicity demographic: We would want to target mostly westernized, American culture, considering pop culture references on our t-shirts. As designs continue to evolve, it would be wise for the company to branch out to attract other ethnicities. v Life cycle demographic: Consumers that would most likely buy our product would be young and single individuals, but definitely would not be limited to them specifically.

Industry Analysis A large inspiration to develop a web-based t-shirt company was due to one company in particular, called “Buy Me Brunch”. This company produces unique and funny t-shirts that cater to a similar demographic as I would, however, their selection is limited, their products only available in gray/black, and pricing is fairly high considering their designs are simple. For what a customer buys from BMB, there seems to be a huge mark -up in price, so our mission would be to design similar t-shirts with more available colors, a larger selection of designs and a less expensive product with competitive quality. Of course, there are several t-shirt companies that would compete with Tetrishead Tees, in which we would have to find a way to stand out to consumers as well as deliver a high quality product that is priced reasonably.

Industry Analysis There are several custom t-shirt companies now as well (Custom. Ink, Uber. Prints, etc. ), permitting a lot of competition for Tetrishead Tees. Talented designers, however, will set us apart from other tshirt companies that do basic custom designs.

Marketing Strategy After the launch of Tetrishead Tees’ website, we would solely rely on social media. Here, we could post pictures of all the signs within our inventory (our website would conveniently be linked in the captions of each picture). On top of that, we can upload pictures of prospecting new designs and ask followers for their input. Being involved in social media will be beneficial in establishing brand loyalty and an easy way to promote. Having a vendor’s booth at things like music festivals, concerts, and other events found around Minneapolis (Pride parade, Open Street events, etc. ) would be a great way to not only sell shirts but promote the company. A booth at events like these shows a feeling of community between company and customer.

Target Market Seeing as Tetrishead Tees’ market would be millennials, it is important for me to keep their wants and needs in mind to ensure I meet them. The use of social media indefinitely aids in their consumer decision making. With the capability to ‘like’ and follow our brand Facebook, customers have the opportunity to stay up to date on what’s new with our company (ie: new designs, promotions, etc. ). The website would be “edgy” and witty with an urban flair, with alternative people (people with tattoos, piercings, etc. ) modelling t-shirts. These attributes are attractive to Millenials. Millennials differ from their elders by being influenced by socially and environmentally conscious products, and to cater to that desire, some of the profits the company gains goes back to good causes like fighting hunger, homelessness, or animal abuse.

Target Market Having a booth to mobilize the business at places like music festivals, concerts, etc. would help us reach our target market that we haven’t been able to on the internet. This costs exponentially less than leasing space and having to keep up with utilities and store hours, and is attractive to our target demographic (we are where they are within the community and where they seek entertainment, thus giving them a sense that we can relate to their interests). Millennials are attracted to the non-traditional, as well as more willing to root for the underdog rather than a huge brand. Our mission statement shows that we wish to give our customers a quality product they will love at a low price, and since we give a decent portion of our profit back to the community, it shows we are not in business for intense revenue – our customers are not dollar signs, they are people.

v Strengths: SWOT Analysis -Excellent plans to listen to customers and provide what the want: Using technology like Facebook, it gives customers a chance to send feedback to our company. Feeling heard leads to brand loyalty and repeat business, especially to our target demographic. -Little overhead to start business -Co-founders are running company, equal shares and no employee wages to worry about as of right now. -Talented web designer and two designers already on team. -No lease is necessary to start up business, everything can be done at home. -Ability to cater to Millennials will result in a decent customer base. v Weaknesses: -New company in a business full of t-shirt websites, high competition. -Limited manpower and equipment to deal with potentially high demand. -The variety in which we wish to supply to our customers may lead to inventory we can’t move.

SWOT Analysis v Opportunities: -Giving back to the community with a portion of our profits going to charities/causes -Vendor booth is unique and will grab people’s attention -Clothing market is always steady, timing isn’t critical v Threats -Competition is high, we will need to strive to stand out to our demographic -Our low price may lead to not enough revenue to stay afloat -Growth in business will be stressful on three people, the ability to maintain customer satisfaction and on-time delivery will be difficult to do with limited manpower

Marketing Mix v Product: To make start-up more efficient, the basic products a customer can chose will be limited to a men’s regular (“c neck”) shirt, a v-neck, a women’s regular (“c neck”), women’s v neck, and unisex tank tops and hoodies. Designs would be able to be placed on each t-shirt/hoodie specified by the customer with a variety of colors to choose from.

Marketing Mix Place/Distribution: Our orders would be placed online, so there would be no need to purchase space. Until the company grows, it would be manageable at home. v Promotion: When a customer buys a product, a business card with a one-time promo code for 20% off their next order would be shipped within the packaging. There would also be days of the year in which all inventory is 20% off or maybe even a “buy 5 get 1 free” promotion would be implemented. Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and Reddit would be extremely beneficial in obtaining a new customer base while publicizing sales and deals. v Price: To compete with companies that are already out there, our price would be a manageable $20 per t-shirt plus shipping, with $5 of each shirt going to charity of the month. v

Marketing Research Companies like “Buy Me Brunch” use little thought in their designs, they are easy to produce and yet they are quite expensive. They have other color choices other than gray. They do, however, have unique styles that bulk t-shirt companies that I researched do not carry. The only upside to them is the style of t-shirt. Companies like Custom. Ink and Uberprint use design templates and cannot do anything too creative or complicated. They share the same choices in color and styles as Tetrishead Tee’s would carry, but Tetrishead Tee’s would be quite competitive with this pricing. On top of that, having a wide variety of designs for customers to choose from will hinder them from customizing their own t-shirt by using these websites. Custom. Ink’s website boasts rapid expansion and new growth initiatives as it approaches $200 million in annual revenues, with year over year growth of 50 percent. This shows competition is strong, however, shows an obvious market for t-shirts.

Organizational Structure & Plan Ideally, it would only take three people to start-up Tetrishead Tees. All three of us would carry some amount of weight, but one will be more preoccupied with maintaining the website as well as social media pages. Two individuals will be responsible for designs and screen-printing t-shirts. Because my marketing objective is fairly small at this point, it would be realistic to go about launching the company in this fashion.

Financial Projections: Startup Costs v Equipment: A high quality screenprinter would be necessary to create designs for the t-shirts. $1, 000 - $3, 000 for a high quality screenprinter v Website: Executionists. com suggests budgeting $1, 200 to $3, 500 for small business websites from concept through to the final design that will be handed off to the developers for programming. v Employment: Initially, the first employees of Tetrishead Tees would be co-owners within it – all profits would be shared equally. Anyone hired on after (when/if the company grows dramatically) would be given a decent wage with benefits. Until then, this is not part of the startup budget In total, startup costs would be $6, 500

Financial Projections: Year 1 Maintenance Bulk T-shirts: $200 - $400 per 100 t-shirts To make our 1 st year goal of 2, 000 t-shirts sold, we will have to buy $8, 000 in bulk t-shirts v Screen print ink: $15 - $25 a quart It is estimated you can screenprint 100 t-shirts with one quart of ink. 20 quarts of ink will have to be bought to produce the 2, 000 t-shirts, resulting in $500 in cost. v Vendor set-up and maintenance: Estimating $1, 000 to $2, 000 for gas to and from events, and supplies to create 2, 000 (1 st year goal) booth. 6, 500 (startup cost) x 20 8, 000 $40, 000 revenue 2, 000 17, 000 (1 st year expenses) + 500 - 500 (promised to charity) $17, 000 1 st year expenses $22, 500 profit v

Financial Projections: Year 2 Maintenance Bulk T-shirts: $16, 000 in bulk t-shirts to make goal of 4, 000 t-shirts sold v Screen print ink: $1, 000 needed for ink to make 4, 000 tshirts v Vendor set-up and maintenance: Estimating $1, 000 to $2, 000 for gas to and from events, and supplies to create booth. v New screen printer: $6, 000 on a higher quality screen printer than what we have 4, 000 (2 nd year goal) v 16, 000 x 20 2, 000 $80, 000 revenue 1, 000 25, 000 (expenses) + 6, 000 - 1000 (promised to charity) $25, 000 2 nd year expenses $54, 000 profit

Financial Projections: Year 3 Maintenance Bulk T-shirts: $32, 000 in bulk t-shirts to make goal of 8, 000 t-shirts sold v Screen print ink: $2, 000 needed for ink to make 8, 000 tshirts Vendor set-up and maintenance: Estimating $1, 000 to $2, 000 for gas to and from events, and supplies to create booth. v Hire 1 employee to screenprint: $15 an hour part time (~25 -30 hours a week). $23, 400 a year 8, 000 (3 rd year goal) 32, 000 x 20 23, 400 $160, 000 revenue 2, 000 59, 400 (expenses) + 2, 000 - 2000 (promised to charity) $59, 400 3 nd year expenses $98, 600 profit v

Implementation Timetable According to the financial projections, if we could maintain the growth of the marketing objective, profit would be fairly large even when adding equipment and one employee. After three years, one could assume growth would taper off dramatically, unless we continued to design more shirts and focus immense amount of time and revenue into advertising. Granted, with hiring one part-time screen printer, two people could spend their time designing new t-shirts. With that said, the table below illustrates a realistic goal of 10% growth every year after that. Year # of shirts to sell # of shirts made daily 4 8, 800 24 5 9, 680 27 6 10, 648 29

Summary In conclusion, working on this marketing plan has made me look deeper into the logistics behind producing t-shirts. It has always been something I’ve wanted to do and realistically, it seems quite plausible, despite my potentially inaccurate growth goals. I’ve learned a great amount of all the work it takes before the product life cycle even begins, and have a newfound respect for people that do marketing plans for a living. It is a lot of hard work and endless time and energy on the potential to make the next big thing.