In order to succeed in screen printing, you need to distinguish yourself from the crowd. Find a niche!

The trick is to make your business stand out from other screen printing shops. With a little thought, research and dedication, you can find your client base and build your shop’s business.

Find Your Niche

If you’re going for mass appeal and trying to be everything to everyone, it’ll be difficult to make your shop stand out among the competition. The trick to becoming a standout shop is to find your screen printing niche. Find what your shop’s focus will be and dedicate yourself to that.

If you haven’t given much thought to creating a niche for yourself, there are some simple steps you can take to help develop your unique screen printing market. To find your niche:

• Think about what you’re passionate about. What aspect of screen printing do you really enjoy? Did you prefer the more subtle colors and soft feel of printing with water-based inks? Do you prefer to print with environmentally friendly techniques and materials? Do you like to work with bands or local businesses on branding? Did you get into screen printing because you like to make fashionable, wearable art? One of the best ways to develop your niche is to focus on what you enjoy doing and to do it well.
• Find a need in the market. Think about what screen printing needs aren’t being met in your community. Talk to your customers about what they’d like to see. Look at your competitors to see what they are and aren’t offering. If you see a gaping hole in local screen printing services, you may have found your niche.
• Network. Go to local businesses or local business gatherings and network. Talk to other business owners about what they feel is missing from the community. What services do they need that you could provide? What do they hear from other people is missing from the community?
• Talk to your customers. Your customers chose you for a reason, and they keep coming back for a reason. Talk to your customers about why they use your services, and find out what services you’re not offering that they’d like to see. Not only will that help you find a niche, it’ll make your customers feel valued and help set you up as a responsive business dedicated to their needs.
• Think about your customer base. If you’ve already been serving members of a niche community, think about what types of products they might like to see. Outdoorsy groups like hikers and bikers might like to see more sweatshirts, fleeces and jackets. If you’re serving groups that tend to be earth conscious, consider environmentally friendly inks, and natural and organic fibers.

Cashing in on Your Screen Printing Niche

Once you’ve found your niche, make sure that’s what you become known for. All your marketing materials and outreach should help to develop your brand image as the go-to place for people looking for the type of screen printing services and products you offer. Not only will it help you stand out in the marketplace, but customers who are seeking out specialty products or services are generally willing to pay a higher price to get what they want.

And of course, make sure you focus on quality. You want your customers to not only know what you do, but to know that you do it well. That applies not only to niche products, but to all services you provide. You don’t want customers to feel like they can come to you for “specialty” products but feel they have to go elsewhere for other screen printing services. Your niche will be what gets customers’ attention. The quality of your products and service will be what brings customers back to your screen printing shop time and time again.

Looking for more ideas on how to grow your screen printing business? Check out our blog: 7 Ways to Grow Your Screen Printing Business!