Start Your Custom Hat Brand With These 7 Expert Tips

Are you a fashion enthusiast planning to start your cap brand? That is a great plan indeed. But do you know all the nitty-gritty of starting a business all by yourself? No?

Are you afraid to hear crickets on the very first day of launching your brand? Well, you are not alone in being scared of this. But do not worry about it because we are here to tell you everything you need to know about it. Really?

Yes! Embark on this empowering journey by knowing everything that one must know before starting a business. Read below to get acquainted with some expert tips and become a part of the glamorous fashion industry by initiating your own brand. How exciting!

Custom Hat Brand: A Comprehensive Guide

Research Hat Market

The first step that you are going to do when starting with your brand is to conduct thorough market research. Even if you already have the designs of what you want to sell, do not jump in just now!

What if your designs are not what the audience wants to purchase? What will you do then? All of your bulk products will be good for nothing. So, launch your brand by conducting a thorough market survey. We have combined some ideas to help you conduct your customized fitted hats market research efficiently.

• Google Trends: To see what is popular nowadays.
• Facebook Analytics: To discover the interests and likes of potential audiences.
• Etsy or eBay: Conduct competitor research on different online hat businesses to inspect what people like and don’t like.

Know Your Target Audience

Knowing your target audience will help you in many aspects. For instance, if you set up a hat brand selling fashion hats such as sun hats or bucket hats and your audience is mostly athletic, it won’t make much sense to them, would it? This is why it is important to know your target audience before starting a custom hat brand.

Find A Niche

Now that you have conducted the market research and identified your target audience, you have to find a niche that suits them perfectly. Covering the whole market would be extremely challenging, especially in the beginning.

This is why you have to step out of the box and think of a niche that is underserved or has not been catered in the marketplace. Make sure to choose a niche that is not alien to you. Below, we have enlisted some niche criteria to help you come up with your own.

• Demographics: Gender, Age, etc.
• Style: Includes a wide variety, such as bohemian, vintage-style hats, etc.
• Size: Make sure to consider all sizes i.e. small or plus-sized hats.
• Lifestyle Or Hobbies: i.e. trendy hats, fashion hats, or for activewear.
• Values: Organic cotton hats or handmade.

Design Your Hats

Designing a hat to sell to people requires a lot of skill. So, if you are not an expert graphic designer with expertise in creating unique designs, then we do not recommend you design your hats at all. Instead, have them outsourced and let the expert designers handle this job for you.

However, if you are confident enough that you won’t mess it up, then consider the list below as you style your hat yourself.

• Color Profile: Usually color profiles are RGB since it covers a huge range of colors.
• Size: For hat embroidery or screen printing, it is best to stay between 4 to 5 inches in width and 2.5 to 4 inches in height.
• Resolution: Export design files at a minimum of 300 DPI; do not go beyond that level because higher-resolution images are easier to distinguish and sharper in appearance.
• Image format: Usually, PNG or JPEG formats are accepted by the suppliers.

Choose The Printing Methods

The most widely used printing methods are briefly discussed below for your ease. Read them and only choose the one that meets your requirements the best.

• Embroidery: If you want your hat to have a textured logo, then by all means, go for the embroidery method. You can have the designs embroidered by hand or by machine. It is a feasible option for smaller custom cap shop.
• Heat Transfer: For the heat transfer method, your design is printed on a transfer paper and then by using a heat press, it is transferred to your hat. This option is also viable for smaller orders.
• Screen Printing: Using screen and stencil, this method transfers ink directly onto your hat. The prints are long-lasting and vibrant. Screen printing is a cost-effective method and is best for bulk orders.

Connect With The Right Manufacturer

When you are done with all of the above-mentioned steps, it is high time to connect with the right manufacturer. But how will you select the manufacturer? You know nothing about it!

Worry not, because we have combined all the key points that you must keep in mind while you choose a supplier for your hat brand. Read below:

• Product Quality: Low product quality can result in bad reviews, high return rates, and, as a result, affect your sales. We don’t want that, do we?
• Product Offerings: Every supplier has different product offerings. Inspect their product catalog to make sure that they cater to the types of hats that you wish to sell.
• Production And Shipping Times: If the shipping time is too much, then the customers shop from elsewhere. A minimum of 2 to 3-day shipping time is acceptable to the clients. So, look into the production and shipping times of your supplier as you select the best one for yourself.
• Customizability: Some suppliers offer more customizability options than others. Select the ones that offer more options to you so you won’t be restricted to a handful of options for your hat brand.

Build Your Brand

Now is the time for you to make your brand that clients can get behind. Make your color palette, logo, graphics, as well as the brand name. Pick your price points and make a website for your brand too, to make it accessible to customers everywhere. And there you have it, your very own hat brand!

• Is a hat business profitable?

The hat business is a multi-billion dollar market with a huge range of audiences to cater to. So, it is definitely profitable.

• What makes a good hat design?

Clean and sharp pictures work fairly well on hats. Line drawings simplified illustrations, and designs that do not include many small details are great options to feature on your hats.

• What makes a high-quality hat?

A pure beaver hat is able to hold its shape the best and it is most durable and easy to clean. So, the more beaver hair used to make the hat, the more weather-resistant and high-quality it will be.

• What hat size sells the most?

The most selling hat size for females is 7-¼. Whereas, the average hat size for males is 7-⅜.

In A Nutshell

By following the above-mentioned expert tips, we are sure you are all set to initiate your very own hat brand. Leave all your worries of hearing crickets on the first day of your launch, because there are zero chances of it happening. Make sure to keep all the discussed points in mind and make your name in the fashion industry.