A sublimation business plan sets out what you'll print and who buys it, what each piece costs and sells for, the printer and presses, and the first year month by month. Sublimation prints a design into a polymer coating or polyester, so the blanks are made for it: coated tumblers and mugs, and polyester shirts. That makes the blank the biggest single cost, more than the print, and misprints a real line in the budget. It's one of the cheapest print businesses to start, a converted printer and a couple of presses, and the work divides between one-off custom pieces online and bulk logo orders for businesses and teams. In the example below, a shop in Omaha sells tumblers, mugs and polyester tees online and bulk logo tumblers, makes a profit from month 2, and ends the year about $21,300 ahead on $57,300 of sales, after paying $20 an hour for the pressing. Below is a description example, each part of the plan, the projection, the startup budget, and a free template.
The short version
- Describe the business in a paragraph: what you print, who buys it, the workspace, the goals.
- Cost each piece: the blank, paper and ink, a misprint allowance, the box, your minutes, the fees.
- The blank costs more than the print; buy blanks by the case from suppliers you trust.
- Sell custom pieces online for the margin and bulk logo orders for the volume.
- Sublimation needs white or light polyester and coated blanks; it won't print on cotton.
- Startup is small: a printer, a heat press, a mug press and a tumbler press or oven.
- TaroStack keeps blanks counted by size and color and every design costed. More below.
Part 1: the business description
Big Muddy Prints, a made-up sublimation shop in Omaha, Nebraska, I use in these examples, writes:
Big Muddy Prints makes custom sublimated tumblers, mugs and polyester shirts, sold online and at craft fairs, and logo tumblers and mugs in bulk for local businesses, schools and teams. In our first year we plan to fill about 40 bulk orders.
Part 2: what each piece costs
| Per unit | Tumbler, 20 oz, online | Mug, 11 oz | Polyester tee | Bulk logo tumbler |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blank | $4.50 | $2.25 | $5.50 | $4.50 |
| Paper, ink, tape and wrap | $0.55 | $0.30 | $0.80 | $0.55 |
| Misprints, 5% | $0.25 | $0.13 | $0.25 | |
| Box, bag or carton share | $0.75 | $0.60 | $0.20 | $0.20 |
| Pressing and packing, at $20 an hour | 8 min, $2.67 | 6 min, $2.00 | 6 min, $2.00 | 6.8 min, $2.28 |
| Platform and card fees, 8%, or invoice fees, 3% | $2.00 | $1.28 | $1.76 | $0.45 |
| Variable cost | $10.72 | $6.56 | $10.26 | $8.23 |
A bulk tumbler takes about 6 minutes of pressing and its share of 20 minutes of setup over an order of 24. Misprints, a ghosted image or a blowout at the seam, cost a blank and its time; count them by cause for a month to set your own allowance, with a waste log template. How to cost the box properly is in packaging cost per unit.
Part 3: customers and prices
| Product | Price | Variable cost | Contribution | Margin | A month at full speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sublimation tumbler, 20 oz, online | $25.00 | $10.72 | $14.28 | 57.1% | 100 |
| Sublimation mug, 11 oz | $16.00 | $6.56 | $9.44 | 59.0% | 120 |
| Polyester tee, sublimated | $22.00 | $10.26 | $11.74 | 53.4% | 80 |
| Bulk logo tumblers, 24 and up, each | $15.00 | $8.23 | $6.77 | 45.1% | 150 |
A bulk tumbler leaves less than half a custom one, but an order of 24 leaves $162 for under three hours, with one design proof instead of 24. Bulk is where a small shop's weekdays go; custom pieces fill the gaps and the holidays. How to price for businesses that order in quantity is in how to price handmade items for wholesale.
Part 4: the first year, month by month
Fixed costs are $785 a month: a workspace share ($300), marketing and samples ($300), printer upkeep, ink and heads ($60), insurance ($50), the website and online shop ($40), and software and card fees ($35). Sales start at 15% of full speed and reach it by month 11:
| Month | Tumblers online | Mugs | Tees | Bulk tumblers | Sales | Profit | Cash, year to date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 15 | 18 | 12 | 23 | $1,272 | −$104 | −$104 |
| 2 | 20 | 24 | 16 | 30 | $1,686 | $118 | $14 |
| 3 | 25 | 30 | 20 | 38 | $2,115 | $347 | $361 |
| 4 | 30 | 36 | 24 | 45 | $2,529 | $570 | $931 |
| 5 | 40 | 48 | 32 | 60 | $3,372 | $1,021 | $1,952 |
| 6 | 50 | 60 | 40 | 75 | $4,215 | $1,473 | $3,425 |
| 7 | 60 | 72 | 48 | 90 | $5,058 | $1,924 | $5,349 |
| 8 | 70 | 84 | 56 | 105 | $5,901 | $2,376 | $7,725 |
| 9 | 80 | 96 | 64 | 120 | $6,744 | $2,827 | $10,552 |
| 10 | 90 | 108 | 72 | 135 | $7,587 | $3,279 | $13,831 |
| 11 | 100 | 120 | 80 | 150 | $8,430 | $3,730 | $17,562 |
| 12 | 100 | 120 | 80 | 150 | $8,430 | $3,730 | $21,292 |
The year's sales are $57,339 and the profit $21,292, on top of $20 an hour for the pressing. December is the month the template understates: custom mugs and tumblers are gifts, so set December's share higher if your shop sells to consumers.
Part 5: the startup budget
| Item | Example |
|---|---|
| Sublimation printer | $1,200 |
| 16 × 20 heat press | $800 |
| Mug press | $300 |
| Tumbler press or convection oven | $400 |
| Blanks, first order | $1,000 |
| Ink and sublimation paper | $300 |
| Design software | $200 |
| Website and photos | $400 |
| Working cash | $2,000 |
| Total to start | $6,600 |
Get the template
Download the sublimation business plan workbook. Four sheets: your products with price, variable cost and monthly volume at full speed; the year, month by month, with sales, profit and cash; your fixed costs; and your startup budget with working cash. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.
Where this stops working
Tumblers in two sizes and six colors, mugs, shirts in five sizes, blanks from two suppliers at different prices, a bulk order for 48 due Friday, and a December rush. A sheet can't say whether there are 48 white 20-ounce blanks on the shelf, what the last case of blanks cost, or whether bulk or custom earns more.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack keeps blanks counted by size and color and every design costed.
Blanks in stock. Each blank is an item, counted on a phone and kept at what you paid, and units convert: blanks bought by the case, used one at a time. A price-creep report per supplier shows whose blanks are getting dearer.
Designs as recipes. Each product is a recipe of its blank, print and box, so recording a run takes them off stock at what you paid. Bulk orders are sales orders that show whether the blanks are on the shelf while you're still typing, and a misprint is an adjustment with a reason, reported by reason and item.
And what each line earns. The reorder list works in days of cover against each supplier's lead time, and margins are reported by product and by customer.
| The job | Notebook | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| 48 white 20 oz blanks for Friday? | Count the cases | Sales order, checked against stock |
| Misprints, and which blanks cause them | A tally | Adjustments by reason and item |
| Blanks before December | Found short | The reorder list, in days |
| Bulk or custom, which pays? | A feeling | Margins by product and customer |
Recipes, batches, sales orders, adjustments and margins by product and customer are on every plan, from $49 a month. The first 30 days are free, with no credit card. If you'd like a hand setting up, ask, and we'll do it with you.