In 2011, two Brown University seniors, Walker Williams and EvanStites-Clayton, were sad that their favorite bar in Providence,Rhode Island was closing. To commemorate the closing, the twofriends decided to print T-shirts, but they were struck by theupfront costs, and the need to estimate how many of each size theywould need to order. Williams built a website to take orders andmeasure demand, and also posted a link to the site on Facebook. Bymorning, hundreds of orders were received, along with a few e-mailsrequesting that he create similar websites for the T-shirt ideas ofother people. The Aha Moment arrived for Williams, and heimmediately knew that he had hit upon a commercially viable idea.The company Teespring soon followed.
Today Teespring is one of the top T-shirt vendors in the UnitedStates, and prints approximately 7 million shirts annually, withannual revenues estimated at $100 million. T-shirts have beenshipped to more than eighty countries worldwide. The company hasgrown to over 300 employees. The business model is that individualscreate Internet campaigns to sell custom T-shirts and relatedclothing on the Teespring website. Campaign creators are requiredto design and market the product themselves, but they are notrequired to invest money upfront, paying only when they havesecured orders for their T-shirts.
Teespring’s role is to fulfill order for campaigns that haveattained their sale goals, and then ships the T-shirts to thebuyers. T-shirts are printed on demand, thereby avoiding theproblem of inventory accumulation. Teespring does all the T-shirtmanufacturing and shipping for the designer, whereas the designercreates the idea and helps market the T-shirt through social mediaand word-of-mouth. However, the company also contributes toadvertising on Facebook.
Tools on the Teespring website enable the T-shirt designer toupload their ideas and slogans. The designers can select whichquality and type of shirt (traditional hoodie, or tank top) theychoose to print on, and many different fonts and icons arepossible. The designer then chooses how many T-shirts he or sheaspires to sell, and sets a sales goal. If a minimum of fiveT-shirts are preordered, Teespring produces the items and shipsthem directly to customers, charging the designed about $9 perT-shirt. The T-shirt designer sets the retail price per item.
The Teespring model has been so successful that the foundersbuilt a printing facility in Kentucky, where all the shirts can beproduced and shipped efficiently. An example of a Teespring successstory is restaurant manager Benny Hsu, who earned more than$120,000 in one year with a Tee-shirt bearing the slogan, “Keepcalm and let the radiation therapist take care of it.”
What is your evaluation of the prospects of Teespring beingsustainable in the sense of lasting a long time as a business?
