As any new business owner, you are probably wondering where best to invest your money to get the most out of it. A company shirt might not be especially high on your list of priorities when things like logos and websites need attention - but you shouldn't dismiss the idea too quickly.
Branded shirts can bring huge returns for a business for very little investment, and those returns go beyond just money in the bank. A new company has to establish its culture, create a positive team vibe, as well as spread the word of its arrival as far and wide as possible.
A custom-designed t-shirt can help you achieve all those things, so consider these top benefits of a company shirt to see it might be just the thing you need!
1. Versatility
Do you need a staff uniform? Promotional gifts for customers? Prizes for competitions? Merchandise for the window? Something to wear to the gym? Setting up a new business is expensive, so if there are solutions to several problems at once, you should probably go with them.
A company shirt can change its function in a huge number of ways. Try doing that with a logo.
2. Built-in, Indefinite Marketing
Selling or giving out company shirts in a way is the message in a bottle of marketing: Most of them will stay in your business's radius and thus be seen where they create local buzz. Some might disappear forever. And then there's the ones that still pop up on the other side of the world, 15 years later.
The great thing about company shirts is they have neither a time limit nor geographical scope to their reach. As people travel, share pictures on social media, and walk around their neighborhoods, a well-designed shirt they actually like to wear can be a real workhorse for marketing, still reaching an audience long after your boosted Facebook posts have disappeared into the infinity of the internet.
If you're aiming to use your shirt for marketing, make sure to add your company logo or your tagline on the design.
3. The Great Equalizer
The great thing about many startups is they're seeking to destroy prior notions of how a company should look.
Gone are the days where the CEO wears Armani suits and talks down to his inferiors from behind a mahogany desk. Having everybody wear company t-shirts goes one step further into equalizing a work place and making everybody feel important. And a collaborative workspace is a happy workplace, is a creative workplace, is a successful workplace.
4. Team Spirit
During the filming of Lord of the Rings, weeks of taxing night shoots in cold rain and mud, while wearing heavy armor and costumes, caused someone in the production to create "I survived Helms Deep" t-shirts for all cast and crew involved. It must have been unbelievably stressful.
You know what else is really stressful? Setting up a new business. You know what really helps offset co-workers turning on each other under pressure? Great team spirit.
If everybody feels like they're in the same boat, it's much more likely they'll be able to share the burden rather than start to blame each other for the stress.
A t-shirt can be a nice way to remind everybody they're on the same team. This also works well for larger companies that have outgrown their first office, city or even country.
5. Big Bang for Your Buck
A custom-designed shirt need not be expensive at all, in fact there's many ways you can make sure to keep the cost manageable.
Crowdsourcing your initial design and specifying dimensions for maximum versatility and easy reproduction is a great first step, as it gives you an abundance of expert designs to choose from.
Using standard dimensions like A4 or Letter Size as your guide will allow you greater freedom to look around for print shops. They will also be most cost-effective and easily re-produced at a later date.
Want More?
Setting up a business is about more than a great idea. If you need some advice, we're here to help:
6 Ways to Improve Your Visibility Online
5 Tips to Go From a Winning Idea to a Successful Business
How To Create a Company Culture With Only 3 People
Written by Jane Murray on Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Jane Murray is a freelance copywriter based in Sydney. Apart from writing up a storm for the DesignCrowd blog on anything from logo design to Michael Jackson's shoes, she enjoys reading literary science fiction and hanging out with most animals except wasps. Get in touch via LinkedIn.
