Start a Decorated Apparel Business – Without Losing Your Shirt

ATLANTA - Hundreds of aspiring business owner/operators enter the $46.1 billion decorated apparel and promotional products industry every year, but many lack a clear understanding of what it takes to succeed in this attractive but highly competitive marketplace.

To help would-be entrepreneurs get off on the right foot, IMPRESSIONS and EMB, the leading trade magazines in the commercial screen printing and embroidery fields, have teamed to produce the StartUp Decorator Workshop, a one-day event covering the basics of starting an apparel decoration business.

Now in its second year, the StartUp Decorator Workshop offers attendees the opportunity to learn about the three most popular apparel decoration processes — embroidery, screen printing and heat-applied graphics — as well as the latest digital direct-to-garment printing technology.

“Decorated apparel offers would-be entrepreneurs the opportunity to run their own business — whether from their home, retail or commercial/industrial location,” says Richard Lebovitz, editorial director for the publications. “Its low cost of entry — from less than $1,500 for heat-applied graphics to less than $25,000 for other technology — makes this industry especially appealing to a wide variety of people.”

According to Lebovitz, the industry appeals equally to corporate refugees, stay-at-home moms, retirees, moonlighters and existing companies seeking to grow new business. “Our surveys indicate that 50% of decorated apparel professionals are home-based, and 27% are part-timers,” he says. “But it’s important to note that franchises, which provide turn-key startup packages, represent the fastest growing facet of the business.”

The first StartUp Decorator Workshop will take place January 19 at the Long Beach Convention Center in conjunction with the Imprinted Sportswear Show, which runs from January 20 to 22. Cost to attend the all-day workshop includes a box lunch, course materials, free admission to the Imprinted Sportswear Show and a gift bag with hundreds of dollars worth of samples and special discount offers on equipment, apparel, software and supplies. Plus, attendees will have the chance to win a Stahl's Hotronix heat press.

Additional workshops are scheduled to take place throughout the year in Orlando, Fla. (February 16); Atlantic City, N.J. (March 16); Schaumburg, Ill. (August 9); Atlanta (September 13); and Fort Worth, Texas (October 11).

For StartUp Decorator Workshop registration information, and information on the Imprinted Sportswear Shows, visit www.impressionsmag.com or www.embmag.com.


The StartUp Decorator Workshop is an educational extension of the IMPRESSIONS family, which includes IMPRESSIONS and EMB magazines and the Imprinted Sportswear Shows, among other media designed to serve the decorated apparel industry. The IMPRESSIONS group is part of VNU Business Media, a business unit of VNU NV, a global information and media company with headquarters in Haarlem, The Netherlands, and New York.