Online T Shirt Business

14 Tips For Starting A Successful Online T Shirt Business (2024)

Pat Walls

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Updated: January 19th, 2023

Want to start your own online t-shirt business? Here are some tips you should know:

Learn more about starting an online t-shirt business:

Where to start?

-> Online t-shirt business plan
-> How to finance an online t-shirt business?
-> How much does it cost to start an online t-shirt business?
-> Pros and cons of an online t-shirt business

Need inspiration?

-> Other online t-shirt business success stories
-> Marketing ideas for an online t-shirt business
-> Online t-shirt business names

Other resources

-> Profitability of an online t-shirt business

We've interviewed thousands of successful founders at Starter Story and asked what advice they would give to entrepreneurs who are just getting started.

Here's the best advice we discovered for starting an online t-shirt business:

#1: Matt Snow & Meredith Erin, founder of Boredwalk:

We chatted with with Matt, founder of Boredwalk ($275K/month). In our interview, Matt says:

It doesn’t matter how rad your product is — if you don’t know how to get it to market you’ll probably never get past being a subsistence business.

Additionally:

We have no problem selling wholesale to other brick & mortars, but we have zero interest in having a brick & mortar presence ourselves.

Further:

Fire fast, hire slow. Rip that bandage off; your organization will be better off if you excise toxic people and/or underperforming employees as fast as possible.

Also:

YOU have to be the expert at your company's operations, product, marketing, etc. Once you are the expert at every component you can hire people to do things for you, but you won't be qualified to hire or manage people to do things you don't know how to do.

Read the full interview ➜

#2: Brian Wysong, founder of Tumbleweed TexStyles:

We chatted with with Brian, founder of Tumbleweed TexStyles ($93K/month). In our interview, Brian says:

No one is really prepared to own a business. I had a marketing degree with work experience in the field of business and marketing. I was even a teacher of the subject matter. Those things helped me get started, but the day-to-day experiences and the process of trial and error has really been the true tale of our success.

Additionally:

The key to our growth has been our story. We created a brand based on our education roots, our teaching background and our family friendly product and marketing.

Read the full interview ➜

#3: Dominic Jackson, founder of Dogecore:

We chatted with with Dominic, founder of Dogecore ($60K/month). In our interview, Dominic says:

Do what you enjoy doing and something you believe in. You’ll find your passion is rewarded.

Read the full interview ➜

#4: Chris Durso, founder of The Foodnited States:

We chatted with with Chris, founder of The Foodnited States ($5K/month). In our interview, Chris says:

FoodnitedStates.com launched on Shopify in summer of 2017 on a shoestring. I designed it, built it and promoted it myself -- taking only a chunk out of a credit card.

Additionally:

It also doesn’t hurt to reach out to fans when you’re stuck. By posting a question on social media, it created a quick engagement post, and the winning suggestion that we received was perfect.

Read the full interview ➜

#5: Matt Snow & Meredith Erin, founder of Boredwalk:

We chatted with with Matt, founder of Boredwalk ($275K/month). In our interview, Matt says:

Surround yourself with people as smart or smarter than you are to help guide your organization to the next level. Don’t let personal pride be the reason your growth stagnates.

Read the full interview ➜

#6: Chris Durso, founder of The Foodnited States:

We chatted with with Chris, founder of The Foodnited States ($5K/month). In our interview, Chris says:

Success can be attributed to minimizing, strengthening the core and then expanding slowly.

Read the full interview ➜

#7: TJ Mapes, founder of RIPT Apparel:

We chatted with with TJ, founder of RIPT Apparel ($200K/month). In our interview, TJ says:

So one way or another, you’ve just gotta get over your fears and go for it because, in the end, regret will probably feel much worse than failing.

Additionally:

I’ve struggled with imposter syndrome for years. I think it’s easy to fall victim to it especially if you’re more an introvert like me. I also believe that time is limited and we only get one shot at life.