I have chosen to do my project on the process of getting my fall apparel line for my nonprofit out. This is a real time task and getting it done will be one that is very important to our store portion. I have launched t-shirts/sweatshirts, mugs, tumblers, and wristbands before, but I have never did full outfits and I have been very hesitant to pull the trigger on this venture. But after many questions and requests from my team to put out more merchandise that held our logo, we decided that it was finally time. We have had a timeline of 2 months to get this on the website and make sure that all of the pieces are there and everything fits appropriately. We started this 9/15 and expect to be done 11/15. We are more than 3/4th of the way through this process, so I am eager to see this timeline built out since a lot of this was based on me being the primary resource.
In order to get this project started, we went through a soft rebrand that required some overhauling of the logo. This was the first step in getting new apparel out. We are wanting to capture the audience that wants to represent the brand of the nonprofit and see exactly what we stand for and who we are. While we have other apparel, there is nothing outside of event shirts that has a logo on it. In the past, the logo has always been something that was bright and colored and when we went to print, we would incur a higher price due to all of the colors that would need to be used. So, in updating this logo, we decided that we wanted something that could work in black, white, pink, or purple (as these are the staple colors of the organization). I gave myself two weeks to work through the ideas I had and finalize the logo. If this wasn’t met, we would not be able to hit the target goal of getting these products on the site.
When this logo was reworked, the next step was to go through the website and update places where the logo was as well as update initiatives that were finalized in the rebrand phase. The date for me to have access for my board to see the changes and vote on the changes was October 5th. After a few tweaks, we were able to come to an agreement October 11th. This was great and allowed to put this part of the project to rest until it is time for it to go live. From here, I am able to fully focus on the apparel and figuring out which vendor is the best option for color, sizing, availability, shipping timeframe, and quality. I gave myself a week to look this up and place a few practice orders to see what the timeline would for shipping. I was working on this simultaneously while finishing the website process. In my head, it made sense to test vendors since this would have to be done no matter if the website was approved or not. This allows us to move to the next phase.
Now that we have the apparel for testing as well as the logo, we are able to do some demo products. The goal was to have this piece finalized by October 25th. Thsis will allow me to try different products as well as make adjustments on materials used. The process of creating demo products is me using my Cricut machine, sublimation machine, or embroidery machine. I’ve been seeing what is called puff vinyl and I wanted to see how this would respond as I didn’t want the sweat suit to have a flat logo. After using the Cricut to cut and my heat press, I was very impressed with this. I used my sister as a tester for the product for sizing and look appeal. We were thoroughly impressed in what we were able to produce.
As we are nearing the end, we have an official drop date of November 15th. We have ordered apparel for my team who will help get photos done for the shop on the website. I have precut the material so that when orders start to come in, we are able to press as quickly and efficiently as possible. In getting these done prior to launch day, it allows me to have the product on hand and mitigates not being prepared for an influx of orders. Since I am the only one who does the pressing of apparel, it is important for me to prepare as much as I can. I did outsource some of the logos that will go on shirts to a vendor who has a 4 to 5 day turnaround with orders as well as embroidery patches that will go on hats. This will help me to still reduce overhead pricing, but not be responsible for the cutting of the images which can be the most time consuming if you are running on limited products when in your house.
While we are at the end, I can’t wait to update you and see how we did with this launch!