Survey for T-shirt Designers

[menkey18]

Hello,
I am developing a business idea that will benefit T-shirt designers.
But I will need your opinions to see if the service is benefitial enough to you.
Here is the survey address:

http://FreeOnlineSurveys.com/rendersurvey.asp?sid=h56zydsguz9br13396290

Thank you and waiting for your reply!

[PrintDriver]

"Will you use our service" would be considered an ad if this was an up and running site. Since it is not, yet, I'll let this go unless someone else complains.
It certainly isn't a survey of what your potential clients need or want.

As posted in other threads started by you, what do you offer in terms of expertise in this field? Do you have these 'buyers' lined up or are you assuming if you build it they will come? How will you market the site? Have you identified potential exposure for your clients? etc. etc. etc.

[menkey18]

yes I do have many buyers keen to use the service. And if I don't have solid proof from the buyers, I will not have to do this survey anyway. Some buyers are very happy with my idea and keen to see it happen.

I will have to say I am not an expert in this field, but I will hire a professional T-shirt industry expert for the company. There is nothing more important than being professional. The goal of the business is to satisfy both you designers and the buyers.

[SurfPark]

Hello, I am currently doing a marketing survey for starting a website service.
This website brings you the opportunity to sell your designs to buyers online and build long term relationship with your favorite buyers. And I would like to have your opinions on my ideas.
Here is the concept and the possible benefits you can get from my website:
You have your home page to upload your designs and sell them. For each design, you decide the price, and sell it for how much you deserve. A design will be sold to just 1 buyer, with copyrights. This makes no difference than selling your T-shirt designs to a local T-shirt business, but the buyers will be the T-shirt business owners all around the world. They might offer higher prices to your designs if they recognize the value of them.
You can choose to sell the design to any buyers, and that might be 1 click away. Alternatively you can require buyers to put down their offers, and you choose your favorite buyer to sell your designs. In their offers they might ask you to modify your designs to the way they want it, or they might negotiate for the price. If you think the deal is still pretty good, you can modify your designs and upload again, until the deal is done. But if you think you don¡¯t like the deal, you can simply close it and take another offer.
You can use your current selling designs and sold designs for self promotion. It is the same as showing your designs on your blog, but with many more potential buyers visiting every minute. The buyers will see a sample picture for each of your design. On each sample picture, there will be water marks on it, and the website will be secured enough to prevent your designs being copied.
If you are really good your reputation will build fast, your work will be recognized by the T-shirt companies straight the way. You can add your favorite buyers onto your favorites list, with their agreements. So as the relationship comes along, you can offer your designs to just your favorite buyers instead of any buyer. Besides purchasing your existing designs, your favorite buyers can offer you projects to enquire more designs, and you can negotiate with the price of the projects. When you complete the projects, simply upload the designs and sell them.
For each design you sell, the website will charge 5% of the price for its service. This rate is just suggested, do let me know if you like it.
So if you like what I am offering here, please reply me with some feedbacks.
And most importantly, will you use our services?
Thank you very much and waiting for your reply.
Regards
Menkey18

Ok, I'm very confused here. Why are you asking for business model ideas at a graphic design community? Why is this a survey? Shouldn't you have a business proposal and develop ways to make it work?

I've read your plan and despite best efforts, there are several legal issues with your plan. While this site may function as a middle man for t-shirt companies and designers, there are legal implications you're not considering.

On the site, Threadless, they have users submit t-shirt designs. The highest voted ones by the community are purchased by Threadless and sent to press. The designer can take a flat fee or a percentage of sales. At one point in their history, Threadless had been caught selling a t-shirt that had a stolen design. Apparently someone submitted the stolen work as their own, it was voted on, won, and then sold. The original artist was nice enough to not press charges against Threadless in lieu of profit sharing for the t-shirt sales. Likewise, this business plan has no legal protection from thieves.

I had to laugh a little bit when you said watermarks would protect all submissions. Either you're really new to this industry or you have a lack or experience with design thieves. I could look at any watermarked image and bring it back in bitmap or vector format if given enough time. I could also completely re-draw the concept. Design isn't just the finished work...its the process. Its the problem and the solution.

While I'm not suggesting that your site will have the same troubles, you're talking about having unconfirmed buyers selling to unconfirmed designers. Aside from the copyright issues you'll have for all countries involved, you'll also find you'll need a way to control the submission process. You only need one designer to submit stolen material to dillute the pool of work.

This plan needs some serious re-tooling before it goes public. Its the design process in reverse. This business isn't really for graphic designers...its more for artists. Graphic designers create art with an intent to commnicate....artists make art to express thoughts and feelings.

I'm sure everyone here would like to help you, but I think you're asking the wrong people. You should be asking business questions to business professionals. You're suggesting opening a world-wide company that auctions off intellectual property. Lawyer up fella.

[menkey18]

Yes I will have to say I am new to this, that's why your opinions are important to me cause otherwise I can't do this.

If I want the opinions from just the business people I will go straight ahead there. But the thing is I need your point of view to see where the real issues are and how will you be happy to use my services.

As long as I see I got a few issues here:
1. How to protect your intellectual property from being stolen or copied.
2. How to identify your designs are original, in other words to control the submission process.

oki, I guess this is not a survey anymore cause there are too many issues.
But do let me know your point of view if there are other issues you can see, or how to fix it.

Thanks!

[CkretAjint]

honestly, flat out, would I use something like this? No. If I wanted my shirt printed, I would print them myself, period, end of conversation.

[DesignStudio]

I agree with CkretAjint and Surfpark. I don't think graphic designers are the right market for what you're proposing. Most professional designers are so anti-spec that anything that involves work without a guarantee of pay is a turnoff. Additionally, any designer really serious about their shirt designs, who truly believed their "work will be recognized by the T-shirt companies straight the way" and sell "around the world" would more than likely be proactive and invest in printing and marketing their own line directly.

Additionally, aside from the legal issues already addressed, you have to consider that it is practically impossible to sue a foreign company. So, if you base your company in the US, and a company in Thailand steals your all the designs from your site, prints and sells them, you have no real recourse. Technically you could sue the company provided they're based in a country who signed the Hague Convention treaty, though this generally takes years and would very likely be more expensive than it's worth. Or if the foreign company happens to have a US subsidiary, you can serve papers to the Secretary of State who can compel the parent company to show up in court- provided they're not well isolated (which most parent companies are- since litigation is the main reason for foreign companies use subsidiaries when dealing with the US). This also is an expensive and not highly successful possibility.

All that pessimism aside, I don't think your idea is an entirely lost cause. But I think in order to interest any serious designers, you'd have to pair potential buyers to designers based solely on existing portfolio- and let them work out the details on their own. There is no harm in a designer having more exposure to their portfolio, and there is no semblance of spec work involved. Additionally, if all you do is create a pairing based on portfolio work, and a buyer steals work from a designer later in the process once they're working on their own- you're not responsible legally.

So my suggestion would be to create a site where artists can upload a limited "portfolio" of existing presold work, and based on those designs buyers can be put in contact with artists who they'd like to hire to create a new design.

[menkey18]

Thank you sooo much DesignStudio, you really point me to the right directions. Ok I will work on the idea with your advices and come up with something more appropriate.

Cheers!

[DesignStudio]

Well you're lucky that I'm not more ambitious, or I'd have taken the modified idea and run with it myself. You'd have seen "DesignStudio's t-shirt portfolio website extravaganza" up on the web in no-time.

[PrintDriver]

So you're not looking for our advice. You want us to give you our ideas for a business model that you don't have. Based on one person's post you have just changed direction. ONE person's post.

What just happened to all those buyers you had lined up?

Based on your other posts to this forum it sounds like you are trying the get-rich-quick scheme in the t-shirt industry.

[SurfPark]

I had the same vibe PrintDriver. To make this idea a reality, there needs to be a lot more thought into it. The reason we're bringing up the legal aspect is because the current plans does not protect anyone involved. Both designers and buyers could be sued for selling or purchasing stolen material. No where in the business plan is there an effort to screen any of the users. Wouldn't it be more advisible to only work with screened buyers? I'm not sure if this is an auction, staffing agency, spec work content, or something else. Its a mess!

I think its time to STOP asking graphic designers for advice. We cannot help you. Check out Inc Magazine's guide (http://www.inc.com/guides/write_biz_plan/20660.html). I can tell you're not from the U.S., but you'll have to abide by every country's laws when you go international, so this is a place to start.

[DesignStudio]

I agree Surfpark. I think that menkey is looking for a get rich quick scheme, which is alot more obvious after his reply to my suggestion. It was a joke when I said I would steal his business idea, since there's really little more than an idea here to steal.

To menkey, honestly I think you're in a bit over your head, and you're not really prepared for what it takes to develop and implement a successful new business idea. As a freelancer I work with alot of startup businesses, and unfortunately now and then I have a client who wants work for a business I can tell off the bat isn't ready to make it. In your case you're not a client, so I have the luxury of being completely frank with you; you're nowhere near ready to start a business with these ideas. Surfpark provided you an excellent resource to move on, but if you're determined to have other people help do your preparation, then you'd be better off trying a small business forum. Sorry if it sounds like we're picking on you, this is just the reality of the situation, and it'll save you some headache to figure it out sooner.

[menkey18]

Yup, I have to say this isn't a ready to go business plan, that's why I need business ideas here.

I was originally looking for advises, or just a yes or no for my services here, and it's clearly a no here. Yes the idea was favoured by the buyers. Of course they want to buy designs online, of course they want good designs.

But I guess I just had not think it through the freelancer's part of the plan. And if the idea doesn't work then certainly I will need more help.

The thing is I am not trying to offense anyone here, but if the intention of this thread does not align with the purpose of this forum, fine I will go somewhere else.

[CkretAjint]

...that's why I need business ideas...

You ain't gonna get any from us. If I have a business idea I am going to use it, and if need be have my real life, in person, friends help with it. Not tell it to some guy I don't know on an internet forum...

[budafist]

As a new business looking to be the middleman between designers and buyers, you need to offer something that both buyers and designers cannot do on their own. Otherwise, why should either buyer or designer invest?

It's almost always better for everyone involved to cut out the middleman. Well better for everyone except the middleman!

[SurfPark]

Can we please lock this thread. I honestly feel like we're having a discussion with someone that doesn't know what we're saying. The crimes against grammar are enough to shut this down. It also seems like this is going nowhere.