How to start a printed socks manufacturing business
Demand for custom printed socks is on the rise. More people want personalized clothing for themselves and to give as gifts, and they’re happy to pay a little bit more for customization.
Now has never been a better time to launch a printed socks manufacturing business, but the question is – how do you get started? It all starts with market research.
Market research
Before launching any kind of business, it’s important to understand the market. Researching the market will help you gauge demand and your competitors to determine whether there’s an opportunity for your business to grow and thrive.
Understanding the sock market
The printed socks market is expected to grow now through 2030. The Global Custom Socks market was valued at $44.7 billion in 2022 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.4% from 2023 through 2030.
The demand for custom socks is high, but you must also consider the competition.
Competitor analysis
In the pre-planning stages of a business idea, it’s important to conduct a competitor analysis. Performing a competitor analysis will help you better understand the market, identify gaps in your competitors’ offerings, help you develop your unique value proposition and stay ahead of the market.
When evaluating competitors:
- Create company profiles
- Identify their marketing strategies
- Outline their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT)
A thorough analysis will help you move on to the next step with greater confidence.
Business plan development
Now that you understand the market and your competitors, you can move on to developing your business plan. A business plan should include your:
- Market analysis
- Financial plan
- Products you want to offer
- Goals
- Marketing strategy
- More
All of these components are important, but your marketing and sales strategy will play an integral role in your success and should demand more attention.
Marketing and sales strategy
To stand out and start building brand awareness for your sock printing business, you’ll need a solid marketing and sales strategy.
Look to leading custom sock manufacturers for inspiration. For example, Custom Socks has a design team that will send over 6-8 custom sock designs based on the customer’s logo. They focus on their free designs and revisions perks in their marketing messaging to attract more customers.
When creating your business plan, make sure that your marketing and sales strategy is thorough.
Legalities and paperwork
Incorporating your business and ensuring that you have all of the necessary paperwork in place is also important. You’ll need to:
- Incorporate your business
- Obtain any relevant licenses or permits
- Secure insurance
You’ll want to discuss the legalities and paperwork with a lawyer who specializes in this area.
Setting up the manufacturing unit
Custom printed socks manufacturers must have manufacturing units unless they outsource the fabrication process. You’ll need a vast team that will handle all aspects of the manufacturing process, including but not limited to:
- Pattern and sock design
- Knitting process or machine linking
- Embroidery
- Boarding
You’ll also want the unit to handle sock pairing and labeling. It takes a lot of work and manpower to run a sock-manufacturing business.
Computerized machines can assist with the knitting process and are programmed to operate at high speeds, but your socks may need to be manually sewn, which will require more workers.
Sourcing materials
Printed socks have two key elements:
- Designs
- Fabric
Where will you source your materials? You’ll need to add this information into your business plan, including:
- Multiple suppliers
- Pricing
- Average delivery time
You can request samples from many suppliers to learn more about the material quality and if it’s up to your company’s standards. If you can’t source materials reliably, it will be challenging to grow your business.
Quality control and standards
Print on demand socks must be made to a quality standard that you are able to reproduce time and time again. What will your quality control look like? Will you:
- Review each sock individually?
- Review a certain percentage of the socks fabricated per batch?
You’ll need to put strict quality controls and standards in place because if customers receive subpar socks, it can lead to a tarnished reputation and plummeting sales.
Marketing and promotion
You have a product and a quality control system in place, the next step? Work on making sales and promoting your content. Businesses have a lot of great options to generate sales and build their brand, such as:
- Google Ads
- Social media ads
- Influencer marketing
- Search engine optimization
- Sponsorships (athletes/teams/etc.)
- Commercials
Marketing and promoting your products can also be done organically, such as building up your social media or online presence.
People will always need socks
Owning a print on demand socks business is not for everyone. You need to have a passion for the industry and find a niche market to serve. If you work your way through the business plan development and think, “I want to do this,” start small, and see where it takes you.
After all, people are always going to need socks.
