CNNmoney: Jake Nickell and Jacob DeHart were fresh out of high school seven years ago when they had the idea that would make them millionaires. After entering an Internet T-shirt design competition, the two Chicagoans thought maybe that was the way all T-shirts should be made.

Most stores print a bunch of shirts and lose money on the ones people don't like. Instead, they figured, why not let customers rank designs ahead of time and then print only the winners?

The idea grew into an online store called Threadless that struck a chord with Web-savvy designers in Chicago and beyond; last year Nickell and DeHart sold $16 million worth of T-shirts.

The key to their success? High profit margins -- the shirts cost as little as $4 each to make and sell for $15 and up -- and a business model built on the care and feeding of an online community.

'Project Runway' for the t-shirt crowd [CNNmoney]

• 0 Comments

  

Comments

 Add your own comments

Name:

Email Address:

URL:
Remember Me? YesNo

Comments: (you may use HTML tags for style)

What next?

 Digg it

 Save This Page

 Subscribe to GetEntrepreneurial.com

 Leave a comment

Next Article: Entrepreneur Profile: Linda Byerline »

Previous Article: GetEntrepreneurial.com Newsletter Issue 1 »

Steven Teo is a GE Network Expert. View Steven Teo's profile or read more articles from Steven Teo. Learn more about the GE Experts Network.

Have an expert opinion on issues entrepreneurs and small business owners face everyday? Join the GetEntrepreneurial.com Experts Network and share your expertise with the community!

The new GE Experts Network is inviting seasoned entrepreneurs and small business owners to come on board and contribute small business advice to our community of aspiring entrepreneurs. If you have an effective way of generating sales or you know how to use social networking to connect with your customers, join us in providing wider entrepreneurial content that would benefit small business owners worldwide.

Click Here to Learn More >>

Related Articles

 Calendar Marketing » Calgoo In-Calendar Marketing is a new, permission-based marketing platform to promote time-sensitive products and services to your customers. This new marketing concept enables...

 uWink Interactive Restaurant » Springwise: At the prototype uWink restaurant in Woodland Hills, California, customers use tabletop touch-screen terminals with a proprietary user interface to self-order...

 Happy Socks » TrendCentral: This Swedish hosiery company, Happy Socks, makes us want to never wear plain black socks again. Offering a literal rainbow of...

 Planet Phone Design » Hallyu Tech: LG Japan hosted a Mobile Design Contest and with the winners announced the phones were put on display at a Tokyo...

Need more brand new promising business ideas and innovations around the world you wish you'd thought of? Visit CoolBusinessIdeas.com now!

Ever wanted to be the CEO of your very own Starbucks or Amazon.com? Fire your boss and be your own boss? Now you can, with BIZNESS! - the free biweekly business newsletter about new business ideas, opportunities and innovations from around the world. More than just new business trends, BIZNESS! helps the aspiring entrepreneur (you!) with small business advice, business tips, and entrepreneur resources and opportunities.

   Subscribe for free now!    

---