If you’re tired of your 9-to-5 job and dream of financial freedom, learning how to start a hoodie business could be the perfect solution.
While it may seem challenging at first, it’s much easier than you think. With Print on Demand, anyone can start their own business without inventory or in-depth entrepreneurial knowledge.
In this article, we’ll show you how to start a hoodie business by covering all the bases. These include finding a profitable niche, selecting and designing hoodies, choosing a sales channel, plus additional tips for success.
1. Research and find a profitable niche
With a carefully chosen niche, you can reduce your competition and earn more by appealing to a specific audience.
While definitions differ, a niche typically refers to a small and specialized market segment for a particular product that appeals to a certain group of people. This group has its own identity, needs, and preferences.
For example, a niche can be 1960s true crime, off-grid van life, or winter CrossFit. The narrower you go, the easier it is to appeal to a specific group.
Begin research by:
- Analyzing search engine results. Use market research tools like Ahrefs or Semrush to find out what people search for and check the popularity of your niche and business idea.
- Exploring best-selling products. Start with a Google search. Check other hoodie stores on Amazon, Etsy, and eBay. If you research them well, you may discover profitable, upcoming trends.
When it comes to starting a successful hoodie business, finding what your target audience is passionate about is the easiest way to win them over.
Quick tips
– Take a look at our article What Is a Niche? to learn more.
– Gain inspiration for your hoodie styles by exploring the top 15 print-on-demand niches for generating a handsome income in 2024.
– Learn how to design a hoodie with Print on Demand.
2. Source and design hoodies
After you find a profitable niche, it’s time to find and design hoodies. We’ve gathered detailed information on how this can be done.
Try Print on Demand
With this convenient business model, you can start a custom hoodie business without any inventory or logistical worries.
Print on Demand is an order fulfillment method that allows anyone to design, create, and sell custom apparel, accessories, and even home decor. Print Providers take care of the printing, packaging, and shipping.
A few advantages of the print-on-demand business model include that it’s easy to start and manage. You don’t need to invest in storage space or equipment, so it’s much less costly than traditional fashion business models.
Additionally, you can create as many hoodie designs as you like and add them to your online store with just a few clicks.
Quick tip
Take a look at the success stories of people who use the print-on-demand model and gain inspiration for your own clothing business.
Set up your Print on Demand hoodie business today!
Choose style variations
While everyone loves hoodies, customers’ preferences are different. Increase your likelihood of sales by providing a large selection of hoodie styles, appealing to a range of customers.
Our Printify Catalog has a wide selection of comfortable hoodies in various styles, sizes, colors, and materials.
Filter them not only by style, but also by print area, price, thickness, and available branding options like gift messages, inserts, and neck labels.
We have some of the most popular brands, like Gildan, Hanes, Champion, Stanley Stella, and Lane Seven, which means you can sell hoodies people are familiar with and trust.
We offer two printing methods:
- Direct-to-garment. Produces photorealistic-quality prints. Note that designs are restricted to certain areas.
- Dye sublimation. Produces all-over-print hoodies. Designs cover the entire product.
Whether you’d like to design pullovers, zip-ups, or even hoodie dresses, we’ve got you covered.
The design process
With our beginner-friendly design tool, the Product Creator (previously known as Mockup Generator), creating a custom hoodie is easy. You can upload images, graphics, text, or a combination to bring your ideas to life.
Our Product Creator’s features include:
- AI Image Generator to create designs from text prompts.
- Pattern Tool for creating all-over-print designs.
- Fit and Fill option for fast image placement.
- Text Editor with various fonts.
- Graphics Library with over 150 free images.
When your design’s ready, you’ll see a realistic mockup of how the hoodie will look in real life. Use them for your online store or on social media platforms to showcase your products.
For design inspiration, check out these great websites:
- Dribbble. A social networking platform where you can view designs from professionals.
- Pinterest. A visual discovery engine with a wealth of hoodie design ideas.
- Behance. A portfolio platform where designers showcase their work. Good for both inspiration and hiring a talented designer.
Or, save time and trouble with our Shutterstock integration, where you can choose from a vast collection of high-quality images. Note that when selling hoodies with a design from Shutterstock, the production cost will contain a fee. Learn more from our article on Shutterstock integration.
Quick tips
– Take a look at our graphic design tips to learn how to create your first product with our design tool.
– After you finish designing, don’t forget to order samples to make sure you’re happy with the final result.
Create hoodies today!
3. Establish your brand
Branding is the process of forming a strong and positive perception of your online business.
With a strong brand identity, it’s easier to stand out from the competition, gain new and retain existing customers, and it helps people identify the quality you offer.
To make your clothing brand stand out, consider these aspects:
- Vision. What’s the vision of your hoodie line? What’s your long-term goal? Clearly define the motivation that drives your business to provide the best for their customers.
- Values. What do you stand for? Climate change or mental health awareness? If your brand’s values align with your audience’s passions, you’ll likely gain their support.
- Voice. Develop a communication style that reflects your values and resonates with your customers.
- Visuals. Create visual assets, like a logo, illustrations, images, and icons that tell a brand story. Use them on your online store, social media accounts, and marketing materials to establish a cohesive brand identity. Use design tools, like Canva or Pixlr, to create them.
4. Select a sales channel
When selecting a sales channel, carefully evaluate its pros and cons – each has different pricing, fees, and features. Take a look at the best sites to sell online to find a sales channel that fits your needs.
We provide seamless integrations with all the major eCommerce players, so you can set your store up quickly.
eCommerce platforms.
With an eCommerce platform, you can create a store easily. Typically, they come with easy-to-use templates, and provide all the features a business requires. However, each platform has its own capabilities and limitations.
Advantages:
- Customization options.
- Easy to target existing customers.
- Ability to gather customer data.
Disadvantages:
- Takes time to set up.
- No pre-existing traffic, higher marketing costs.
- May require technical knowledge.
A few great platforms:
You can also create a Printify Pop-Up Store and start selling with no upfront cost.
eCommerce marketplaces.
With an eCommerce marketplace, anyone can start selling customized hoodies quickly and reach a wide audience easily. However, you’ll have less control over the store’s design, content, and the data you can collect.
Advantages:
- Quick setup.
- Pre-existing customer base.
- Beginner-friendly.
Disadvantages:
- Fewer personalization options.
- Higher competition.
- Strict rules and policies.
A few great marketplaces:
Quick tips
– If you’re tech-savvy, Printify API can be integrated with a custom-built website, app, or become a part of other third-party solutions. Create custom functionality and automate processes.
– Follow our integration guides to get started.
5. Market your business
When starting a hoodie business, marketing is vital. Tell the world about your brand and attract customers by using various marketing channels.
- Social media marketing. Use Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok ads to reach your target at the right place and time. Also, create content that encourages them to purchase a hoodie by running engaging challenges and posting captivating product photos.
- Influencer marketing. Gain broad exposure by collaborating with influencers who endorse your business.
- Email marketing. A cost-effective way to advertise. Use tools like MailerLite or Omnisend.
- Content marketing. A time-consuming approach, yet it’s affordable and effective. If you consistently deliver creative content like articles, product reviews, and videos, you can establish yourself as a leader in your niche.
- Search engine marketing. Increase business visibility in search engine results using search engine optimization (SEO) and advertising (Google Ads). Learn more from our SEO Masterclass for Driving Sales.
Quick tip
Our blog’s Marketing Hints and Tricks section provides useful advice for online businesses of all sizes.
6. Don’t forget the legalities
Disclaimer
To avoid legal troubles, we strongly advise consulting a qualified professional who can provide guidance specific to your case.
Each country, state, and city has different rules and regulations, so it’s vital to understand the legal requirements in your jurisdiction. Visit the U.S. Small Business Administration’s website and explore their guide on registering a business.
Registering a business isn’t always necessary, but without doing so, you could miss out on personal liability protection and legal and tax benefits.
Be sure to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of the most common business structures to find the one that’s right for your hoodie business.
The most common business structures are:
- Sole proprietorship
- Partnership
- Limited liability company
- Limited liability partnership
- Corporation
In some cases and jurisdictions, you might need a business license or a permit.
If you plan to use copyrighted material on your hoodies, get proper licenses to avoid copyright and trademark infringement. Take a look at our article on merchandising to learn how to obtain these.
Additionally, explore our article on how to avoid copyright infringement to be on the safe side.
Quick tip
Learn how to trademark a name to secure your brand’s identity.
7. Analyze performance and visitor behavior
Analyzing performance plays a significant role in your store’s success, helping to identify strengths, address weaknesses, and improve your business strategy.
A few key metrics that are important to analyze:
- Conversion rate. Helps to see if you’re driving people to the right pages. Calculate the conversion rate by dividing the number of orders by the number of unique store visitors.
- Customer acquisition cost. Calculate this by dividing all marketing and advertising expenses by the number of new customers acquired within a specific time.
- Shopping behavior metrics. Includes the average number of products added to carts, average session duration, cart-abandonment rate, and best-selling products.
Depending on the platform or marketplace, you’ll be able to use their built-in tools to analyze your store’s performance.
Alternatively, try these eCommerce analytics tools:
- Google Analytics. A popular analytics tool that provides a wide variety of insights, useful for understanding the customer’s journey. Track how many people visit your site, what device they use, and which page they spend most time on.
- Matomo. Provides a suite of eCommerce analytics. These include real-time flow of visits, internal search engine tracking, and geolocation to help you understand your target audience.
- Smartlook. A powerful tool offering a range of features, including session recordings as well as heatmaps that show where visitors click, scroll, and move their mouse.
By analyzing visitor behavior and the store’s performance, you can evaluate what works, what doesn’t, and adjust the store to improve customer experience and increase sales.
8. Expand your product selection
While selling hoodies is a great way to appeal to a wide audience, adding additional products to your store’s collection can attract even more customers.
With Printify, you can quickly turn your hoodie store into a business that sells a world of customizable products.
Our Print Providers use high-quality materials and state-of-the-art printing technology, so your designs will feel right at home on any of these.
Here are just a few from our collection of more than 900 high-quality products.
- Custom apparel. T-shirts, sweatshirts, tank tops, shorts, joggers, pajama pants, sportswear, shoes, and swimwear.
- Accessories. Stickers, mugs, magnets, phone cases, mouse pads, bags, hats, pouches, socks.
- Stationery. Journals, postcards, notebooks, calendars, clipboards, bookmarks, note cubes.
- Home decor. Wall tapestries, lamps, candles, wall clocks, yard signs, window curtains, banners.
- Pet products. Collars, tags, bowls, feeding mats, beds, leashes.
FAQ
Start a hoodie business in a few easy steps:
- Sign up for a free Printify account.
- Select a hoodie from our Catalog.
- Create hoodie designs with our Mockup Generator.
- Choose a sales channel, either an eCommerce platform or a marketplace.
- Add products to your store. Start marketing and selling.
With Printify, designing and adding hoodies to your store is 100% free. Plus, you only pay for the product after you make a sale. However, the cost of starting a hoodie business will depend on the sales channel you choose and the marketing strategy you intend to implement. Some fees may apply.
Establish your own hoodie brand by finding your vision, values, voice, and visuals for your business. Create a unique brand identity that sets your clothing line apart.
Ideally, all of these should appeal to your target audience. Learn more from our article on brand identity.
Our Printify Catalog has a wide variety of blank hoodies that cost from around $20 to $40. Of course, we offer more affordable and expensive options, too.
The production costs vary per hoodie, brand, print areas you customize, and Print Provider.
If you subscribe to Printify Premium for $29/mo, we offer up to 20% discount on all products, so your hoodie clothing line can make a better profit with each sale.
Closing thoughts
While fashion industry trends come and go, custom hoodies are here to stay, providing entrepreneurs with a profitable business opportunity.
A quick recap of the steps you should take to start a hoodie business:
- Source, select, and design hoodies.
- Create a recognizable brand.
- Select a sales channel.
- Market through various channels.
- Deal with the legal aspects.
- Analyze performance and adjust accordingly.
- Expand your product selection.
With the right mindset, anyone can learn how to sell hoodies online and embark on a rewarding entrepreneurial journey.
Choose a profitable niche, create hoodies that stand out, and market your business right – then, success will follow.
