The right location for your screen printing business can largely determine your success. In addition to sending potential clients a message about your business and what it does, your location affects your ability to create screen printed products easily, efficiently and well. The wrong location can interfere with your production and your final project, causing you frustration and costing you money.

In our first blog on choosing a location for your screen printing business, we discussed finding the right type of location for your screen printing business. Once you know which area you might like to set up shop in and what type of space you’re looking for, you will have to consider individual locations and determine whether they will support your screen printing shop and the type of work you do. In deciding whether a space is right for your business, you will have to look at several factors.

Space

Screen printing equipment takes up a lot of space, but having enough space for your screen printing operations means renting space that will accommodate more than just your equipment. You will want to figure out how many square feet each piece of your screen printing equipment takes up. When looking at potential locations, you will need enough square footage to accommodate each piece of equipment, along with a buffer around the equipment to allow for easy movement of your production staff.

Anatol’s Titan automatic press was designed with a small footprint to fit shops
of all sizes, with an optional collapsible base to fit through small entryways.

You also will need space for storing inks and cleaning chemicals, as well as reclaiming screens. You’ll also need office space and potentially a space for meeting with customers. As you choose a location, you will want to determine how much space your business needs now and how much it is likely to need in the near future. A year from now, you won’t want to be restricted on your ability to add a new piece of equipment due to a lack of space in your shop.

Electricity

A regular home or commercial space might not provide your screen printing business with the power it needs to operate without electrical modifications. Pay attention to the electrical requirements when shopping for machinery. Some equipment may be wired to run on three phase power, others on single phase. If you’re looking to locate your screen printing business in your home, you may have to hire an electrician to make modifications. Most industrial spaces will already be wired to meet your equipment’s electrical needs, but you will need to ask questions about the electricity available in other commercial spaces.

Water

A residential or regular commercial property also might not provide the water power needed to run a screen printing shop. You’ll need enough water pressure to wash out and reclaim screens, and large sinks and drains to accommodate the water runoff. Not having the water power you need to accommodate screen printing can result in a lot of frustration; you will need to evaluate potential locations’ abilities to provide your business with enough water and drainage.

Waste disposal

Waste disposal can be a headache, and the larger your shop, the more hazardous waste you will produce. The space you choose can make the hassle of hazardous waste disposal easier. First, know what the hazardous waste regulations are for your business location, and determine which of your chemical processes will require special disposal. As you evaluate locations, you will have to evaluate how they impact your waste disposal. Some industrial facilities might already be equipped with water filtration or recirculating systems that will make waste disposal easier. If not, you might want to look for a location that will allow you to add your own recirculating or water filtration systems, particularly if you are running a medium or large operation. At the very least, you will need enough space to store hazardous materials until they can be collected or disposed of, and you will need access to your building for hazardous waste pick-up and removal.

Loading docks

Will you be having inks, shirts and other supplies delivered right to your business? Do you ship off large orders to customers or third-party sellers? Depending on the volume of deliveries and shipments you anticipate, you might want to consider a location with loading docks. Regardless of the volume of your deliveries, you will need to have adequate access to your location for deliveries and for pick-up of your finished products. If your location doesn’t support your logistics, regardless of how big or small your operation is, it can make running your business next to impossible.

Parking

Your business’s parking needs will depend on what type of screen printing business you’re running. You might only need adequate parking for your staff and the occasional visitor to your business. Or you might need plenty of parking for the steady stream of customers in and out of your storefront. In addition to the parking needs you anticipate, your local government likely has parking restriction in place for each type of business. Before you select a location, check with your local building and zoning office to see how many parking spaces you will be expected to have for your business and be sure that your selected location fits within those parking parameters.

You have a lot to think about when choosing the right location for your screen printing business. The best place to start is to make a checklist of your shop’s needs. As you discuss properties with your realtor or begin to tour available business spaces in your desired location, review your checklist to determine which spaces will or will not meet the demands of your shop’s equipment and operations.