Price of a T-Shirt - possible to start business?

[boisian]

Yet another member of the biggest (and apparently still growing!) ATM network in the word, the "farang walking ATM network".

yep

you saw it here first.

making her go and sell these on the street for 300 THB to farang has a kind of poetic justice.

And tell me any of you would not shell out for one of these rippers!!!!

I might follow it up. the only flaw is that it is specifically tailored to the expat market - not the 65 million thai population.

I am in OZ, and will be for a while. Work commitments. My GF bounces back and forth. We will marry, I will get her a work permit for here, and then I will unleash her som tam skills into the local food market, where I think she will rake it in. But until I can get that sorted, I am open for ideas as to how a girl who has had failed Thai businesses might get ahead without too much risk.

Great idea about getting her into basic accounting practices.

Great idea about BBQ - but will save that for OZ

I am eyes wide open as to the liberties this girl is taking, but she has the charms to get away with it (nearly)

I should really have kept this design under wraps.....(I prefer kasikorn bank really but this is a prototype) but i couldn't keep it to myself.

If any of you jump on this idea and make a fortune, well once again it was my own dumass fault for running my mouth off and good luck to you.

[boisian]

If this isn't exiting, I don't know what is. We all have the privilege to witness another formation of another Farang/Thai Business venture.

.......................different place, different actors, same story. Yawn !

Cheers.

your exciting post was a lost opportunity for creative input. I am as yet unsure if my OP was rhetorical and a vent, or a genuine request for information. I suspect both.. See above ^^, with your cynical attitude I would be very surprised if you would not buy a Tee Shirt as displayed above. Yawn ! Bleerrrt (that was me seeing your yawn and raising you a wet fart)

[whoisyourdaddy]

Making funky shirts in foreigner sizes i would guess will be a much better idea.

I can not buy a nice funky shirt to fit me for years.

When i go to those 5 XXXXX Large shops, putting aside that its big enough to fit an elephant, most are the ugliest designs and patterns one could see.

I am European XL which is XXXL Thai, it does not mean i am 3 meters tall though

[pigeonjake]

i think she,ll end up selling used cars,,,lol

[impulse]

I think someone selling "I Survived the Flood of 2011" T-shirts could have had a narrow time window to make a small fortune- back in 2011.

Some variation of "I Survived the Bangkok Shutdown", in sizes for foreigners would have sold like hotcakes last month on Suk.

Getting custom printed T's isn't difficult and the markup potential is great. But, as others have pointed out- you'll be copied almost immediately, so there's a small window to make the dough, then move on to the next design.

Pick up the newspaper, see if there's anything a tourist would consider T-shirt worthy, get them printed that week in small quantities, strike while the iron's hot, then move on.

I had a buddy in California who made great money doing just that. But his graphic arts skills were also amazing.

Right now, I'm thinking "Songkran 2014", or "Songkran 2557". I suspect we'll see bazillions of "Songkran" T-shirts, but none with the date, (so they can roll out the stale inventory next year and the year after...) Whatever you don't sell on the street, put them on EBay for the tourists that missed you while they were in country.

Edited March 22, 2014 by impulse

[boisian]

I think someone selling "I Survived the Flood of 2011" T-shirts could have had a narrow time window to make a small fortune- back in 2011.

Some variation of "I Survived the Bangkok Shutdown", in sizes for foreigners would have sold like hotcakes last month on Suk.

Getting custom printed T's isn't difficult and the markup potential is great. But, as others have pointed out- you'll be copied almost immediately, so there's a small window to make the dough, then move on to the next design.

Pick up the newspaper, see if there's anything a tourist would consider T-shirt worthy, get them printed that week in small quantities, strike while the iron's hot, then move on.

I had a buddy in California who made great money doing just that. But his graphic arts skills were also amazing.

Right now, I'm thinking "Songkran 2014", or "Songkran 2557". I suspect we'll see bazillions of "Songkran" T-shirts, but none with the date, (so they can roll out the stale inventory next year and the year after...) Whatever you don't sell on the street, put them on EBay for the tourists that missed you while they were in country.

Great feedback. Good thing about limited runs is it limits expenditure too. Can't imagine her working songkran tho. Or selling wet tee shirts

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[samran]

I think someone selling "I Survived the Flood of 2011" T-shirts could have had a narrow time window to make a small fortune- back in 2011.

Some variation of "I Survived the Bangkok Shutdown", in sizes for foreigners would have sold like hotcakes last month on Suk.

Getting custom printed T's isn't difficult and the markup potential is great. But, as others have pointed out- you'll be copied almost immediately, so there's a small window to make the dough, then move on to the next design.

Pick up the newspaper, see if there's anything a tourist would consider T-shirt worthy, get them printed that week in small quantities, strike while the iron's hot, then move on.

I had a buddy in California who made great money doing just that. But his graphic arts skills were also amazing.

Right now, I'm thinking "Songkran 2014", or "Songkran 2557". I suspect we'll see bazillions of "Songkran" T-shirts, but none with the date, (so they can roll out the stale inventory next year and the year after...) Whatever you don't sell on the street, put them on EBay for the tourists that missed you while they were in country.

Great feedback. Good thing about limited runs is it limits expenditure too. Can't imagine her working songkran tho. Or selling wet tee shirts

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Do the car repayments take a break in songkran as well? Edited March 23, 2014 by samran

[choochoo]

Hold on... she bought a car without first asking, which will cost you bt10,000 a month, and now you want to give her more money to set up a business??. I think you are asking the wrong questions, and possibly not thinking straight

totster

Are you implying op is an IdIoT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If this isnt politicallly correct i apologize. But its true!

[namdocmai]

http://www.rudedogthai.com/

I like these high quality shirts.

They are inspired (i guess) by superdry from japan who cost a fortune.

[choochoo]

So girl has had failed business ventures before. How did she get those financed? Was other farang s involved?

I think we dealing with a bargirl businesswoman here.......................lol. They really know how to start a business going but have no idea how to keep em going. They profit from the foolish-ness of the men who actually think they want to run a business.

She got a car she doesnt need to pay for. Why she want to run a business?

I JUST dont get the mindset of the men.

[samran]

So girl has had failed business ventures before. How did she get those financed? Was other farang s involved?

I think we dealing with a bargirl businesswoman here.......................lol. They really know how to start a business going but have no idea how to keep em going. They profit from the foolish-ness of the men who actually think they want to run a business.

She got a car she doesnt need to pay for. Why she want to run a business?

I JUST dont get the mindset of the men.

There is a thread running over in general about Thais being the most illogical people. The op just proved that isn't true.

[boisian]

So girl has had failed business ventures before. How did she get those financed? Was other farang s involved?

I think we dealing with a bargirl businesswoman here.......................lol. They really know how to start a business going but have no idea how to keep em going. They profit from the foolish-ness of the men who actually think they want to run a business.

She got a car she doesnt need to pay for. Why she want to run a business?

I JUST dont get the mindset of the men.

Wrong, Nope, not a bargirl. But I think of the same demographic that seems to produce most bar girls, so your comment on ensuring ongoing commitment it taken.

Nope, no other foreigner involved in the previous venture. Not that it is relevant to this post. How does anyone finance their first major venture? A bit of family backing and bank finance. <EDIT - deleted a nasty comment - i just figured you might be a female by your last sentence, and I try not to talk down to ladies> If ur a guy let me know and I will edit the jibe back in.

Previous source of finance is also (unfortunately) irrelevant to this post, as the assets backing the first business venture (which was a much larger commitment than a few Tee's) have unfortunately been lost to her family. But I am looking forward to helping get them back, and more.

She has been burnt in the past losing money through business, so is "twice shy" at the moment, but with some guidance in running a business, some backing and monitoring, a good business plan and a low risk venture that can slowly ramp up, I am hoping she might get back on the horse.

Why does she want to run a business? Why does anyone want to run a business? Pride, Money, Fun, social interaction. But it is a good point. It is vitally important I ensure she is motivated before I start throwing money into a venture. The previous business was doing an activity she loved - food - and this would require a different motivation.

So your troll did have some merit behind it (which is why I love TV so much)

Edited March 23, 2014 by boisian

[boisian]

So girl has had failed business ventures before. How did she get those financed? Was other farang s involved?

I think we dealing with a bargirl businesswoman here.......................lol. They really know how to start a business going but have no idea how to keep em going. They profit from the foolish-ness of the men who actually think they want to run a business.

She got a car she doesnt need to pay for. Why she want to run a business?

I JUST dont get the mindset of the men.

There is a thread running over in general about Thais being the most illogical people. The op just proved that isn't true.

Your cat's breath smell's like catfood. (ur sig)

Wow - logic is really taking you a long way.

But point taken anyway, for what it's worth. It is illogical to expect someone to want to be assisted in going out and making a bit of money through a creative outlet grounded in a financial market.

Or please explain to me the lack of logic if I am missing your point - maybe I actually am illogical. (By the way, humour I appreciate is illogical. I love the absurd)

[boisian]

Hold on... she bought a car without first asking, which will cost you bt10,000 a month, and now you want to give her more money to set up a business??. I think you are asking the wrong questions, and possibly not thinking straight

totster

Are you implying op is an IdIoT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If this isnt politicallly correct i apologize. But its true!

I'd accept fool. as by definition a fool and his money are soon parted. But why idiot?

Ahhh.... as you think I could not rely on her financial reporting. Yeah well that is a reason I would be looking at low startup costs and low risk venture

[samran]

So girl has had failed business ventures before. How did she get those financed? Was other farang s involved?

I think we dealing with a bargirl businesswoman here.......................lol. They really know how to start a business going but have no idea how to keep em going. They profit from the foolish-ness of the men who actually think they want to run a business.

She got a car she doesnt need to pay for. Why she want to run a business?

I JUST dont get the mindset of the men.

There is a thread running over in general about Thais being the most illogical people. The op just proved that isn't true.

Your cat's breath smell's like catfood. (ur sig)

Wow - logic is really taking you a long way.

But point taken anyway, for what it's worth. It is illogical to expect someone to want to be assisted in going out and making a bit of money through a creative outlet grounded in a financial market.

Or please explain to me the lack of logic if I am missing your point - maybe I actually am illogical. (By the way, humour I appreciate is illogical. I love the absurd)

buying a car before having an income to pay for it....well that is absurd...and illogical.

[kannot]

Nothing you just said makes any logical sense.

ahem we are in Thailand so it makes perfect sense here.

[tim armstrong]

An interesting thread. I've thought about this one too. My angle was to get away from the cheap crap and go a bit more upmarket in terms of T shirt quality, only produce 2 colours, black or white and in farlang sizes. The idea was to have simple and original one line satirical messages on the front only, in English. Like the one produced in Pattaya a while ago that read - 'I smile a lot because I don't know what's going on" So many tees in English, have nonsensical, or just boring sexual stuff that must appeal to someone ? but maybe there is a market for something just a tad more sophisticated. So good idea if the g/f goes in for better quality t shirts, but don't know if my idea is viable or not.

However, I did 'shoot myself in the foot' about this recently. My wife bought me some fairly plain black tees at a market. I didn't take any notice of the writing, as I was just pleased that they were big enough. About 2 weeks later, my visiting son said - 'Dad! why are you wearing the T shirt?- What I said? - It says in large letters with stars around it - 'Queen of the Universe'.- Nothing against gay people, and I still wear it often.

Just a quick question about your farang peculiar spelling "farlang"

I've never heard this word pronounced that way but I read it from time to time on this forum. Is there a special region in thailand where they randomly add Ls in the middle of words?

About the OP : the only way to make money with a business is to either sell a ton of stuff with a small margin or a few stuff with a high margin. Unless you have a huge t shirt factory in china or know a few hollywood stars who could wear you tshirts so that you become the next Ed Hardy and sell crap tshirts for $100, you're never gonna make any money with this niche.

Yes farang in our area is sometimes farlang, but I'm never sure as most english spelling is only a phonetic translation anyway.

[choochoo]

very basic.

Why doesnt girl have to pay for the car SHE bought? They not married.

op is being taken to the cleaners and is making alll kinds of excuses to make us believe he isnt. There really cant be guys like this..................lol.

Low risk business is like selling gums packs to SEX tourists. is that what op is looking for.? lol!!!

[DLock]

If my wife ever bought a car without my approval...it would't be me paying for it...but she would never do that. Only I do that.

How much money (per day/week/month) will "motivate" her to get out of bed and actually work?

What does "she doesn't mind working" mean in terms of hours and effort per day/week?

Why do you think she is "entrepreneurial" (besides getting a free car) and it won't be you pushing her every inch of the way?

You may be setting yourself up for taking on something that she really doesn't want to do, but is just saying what she thinks you want to hear.

Sounds like you are well meaning, but trying to push something on someone that really doesn't want to do it. Could be wrong, but you haven't given us much to go on, and what you have given us isn't encouraging.

Good luck...

Edited March 24, 2014 by DLock

[jimbeam1]

An interesting thread. I've thought about this one too. My angle was to get away from the cheap crap and go a bit more upmarket in terms of T shirt quality, only produce 2 colours, black or white and in farlang sizes. The idea was to have simple and original one line satirical messages on the front only, in English. Like the one produced in Pattaya a while ago that read - 'I smile a lot because I don't know what's going on" So many tees in English, have nonsensical, or just boring sexual stuff that must appeal to someone ? but maybe there is a market for something just a tad more sophisticated. So good idea if the g/f goes in for better quality t shirts, but don't know if my idea is viable or not.

However, I did 'shoot myself in the foot' about this recently. My wife bought me some fairly plain black tees at a market. I didn't take any notice of the writing, as I was just pleased that they were big enough. About 2 weeks later, my visiting son said - 'Dad! why are you wearing the T shirt?- What I said? - It says in large letters with stars around it - 'Queen of the Universe'.- Nothing against gay people, and I still wear it often.

Just a quick question about your farang peculiar spelling "farlang"

I've never heard this word pronounced that way but I read it from time to time on this forum. Is there a special region in thailand where they randomly add Ls in the middle of words?

About the OP : the only way to make money with a business is to either sell a ton of stuff with a small margin or a few stuff with a high margin. Unless you have a huge t shirt factory in china or know a few hollywood stars who could wear you tshirts so that you become the next Ed Hardy and sell crap tshirts for $100, you're never gonna make any money with this niche.

You will find that in most of S/E Asia that R is pronounced as L. As in the Chinese restaurant joke. Flied Lice.

jb1