Q1: A potential problem that may get in the way of starting my business is that there is a similar company close to campus. People tend to avoid going there for clothing since it is so expensive, however, it is established and that may be create competition.
Idea Description
I attend school at a small campus and many of the organizations on campus and groups outsource to h have apparrel for their groups printed. By opening my small business, T-Shirts Etc. I will be able to cater to those groups driectly on campus in person and at a low fee. I will order all of the t-shirts from an outside source for very cheap and print them with my own materials. The designs of the T-shirts will be turned in by the various groups. Communication will be easy since it will be run by students on campus and costs will be very low since there will not be as many fees and markup on the t-shirts. A deposit of half of the cost of the full order will need to be put down, when ordering.
What will you do if you win $10,000 for this idea?
If I won $10K I would buy a store location next to campus and expand to the surrounding community and high schools for printing. Also, I would expand the business to all types of apparel and I would purchase my own equipment.
Vote for it now.
Why not think about doing all of this without a store front? It would allow you to do things that much cheaper than your competition. You could have catalog or virtual catalog of options from which people could choose...you could engage in massive geurilla marketing all over campus...approach groups directly, etc. Once you've got the system down, you could hire people to do the same thing on other campuses...kind of like a franchise system.