Strategy

Podcast: A Business Guide for Screen Printers

One of the things screen-printing supply company Ryonet is known for is a robust online education presence. The company frequently posts how-to articles and tutorial videos, often hosted by founder Ryan Moor. But there's another aspect to screen printing, beyond the technical, Moor says, which is why he decided to write a book dedicated to the business side of apparel decoration.

In Made to Make It, available from Ryonet's website and Amazon, Moor talks with successful screen-printing shops and delves into his own experience to provide valuable business-growth lessons for the up-and-coming decorator. Moor's journey is an interesting one. He got his start in the industry as a high-schooler in the 1990s, printing band T-shirts in his mom's kitchen. "They weren't good-quality shirts," he recalls. "Luckily, we were a punk band, so no one really cared about quality."

From there, Moor started selling DIY printing kits online to help other bands make their own merch. The online business rapidly took on a life of its own. Today, Ryonet is ranked as one of the top 1,000 e-commerce websites in the nation.

I spoke with Moor to learn more about why he wrote this book, some of the main lessons he hopes readers will takeaway from reading it and the unexpected challenge of recording your own audio book.