SLU University Students Opportunities Active Learning Discussion

(Kody Farmer)Every successful product comes from creating a problem to a solution, for example the vacuum, which made cleaning the floors easier and more efficient, or building off an already established idea to make it easier, such as the Roomba (automatic vacuum) for those who wanted clean floors but did not want to use the time and effort to vacuum their floors. This was one of the ideas behind Teespring. 

           Two Brown University students, Walker Williams, and Evan Stites-Clayton, wanted to memorialize their favorite bar that was closing, but there was no established clothing that they liked in order to remember it, so they decided to make their own. They created a site that offered people the opportunity to order and posted it online. Overnight, they were flooded with orders for their shirts, along with hundreds of other people trying to order other clothing designs. Because of this, they knew that they had something that they could turn into money. They created a platform that allowed others to upload or create designs and create their own clothing. Their clothes were made to order, so no one had to worry about inventory, and the turnaround time was manageable. They were so successful; they were even able to open their own factory in Kentucky. They were able to employ over 300 people and had an annual revenue of $100 million. Along with the designing and manufacturing, the company allows for the investors to not have to invest any upfront money, only having to secure the money when the orders for the clothing came through. 

           One of the ways that Teespring was so successful was because of the minimal amount of money that they had to spend on advertising. Their successes came from word of mouth, as well as a few paid ads on Facebook. Another way that they were successful with their creative leadership was by just becoming the platform in which people ordered their clothing, instead of creating or designing the clothing themselves. If they were to do this, they would have to spend money on the time, advertising, manufacturing, and holding the projected inventory until their orders came in. Along with this, they also made the technology work for them.

           The biggest ways in which Teespring made the technology work for them was by use of the internet. This is how they did their small amount of advertising (on Facebook) and created a way for individuals to do all their own work in creating all of their own clothing, while all the company had to do was to make the clothes and ship them out. With doing this, they saved money on the entire designing and marketing process. This has also created a way for Teespring to become a long-lasting and sustainable company. With advertising and marketing always being a needed venture, there will always be a need for companies or organizations to get their product’s name “out there” on clothing and cloth designs. People will always support their favorite companies, and many of these ways come in form of clothing. Not only this, but people will also always be creating clothing for causes that they support. For example, I have been diagnosed with a somewhat rare connective tissue disorder known as Ehlers-Danlos. This means that my joints do not like to stay in place, extremely stretchy skin, and many other related health issues. If I were to create a shirt, I would have the motto, “Skin of a newborn, joints of an 80 year old,” on it. Just something to bring awareness to the disease with some humor.

           Companies that show initiative and social awareness such as Teespring will always have a place in the American market. With their creative thinking and ideas, they will go far. The idea is to generate more money, while doing less work, which is something that they have achieved.