u/GarryGrandi

Hello!

I'm not exactly sure is this the appropriate sub (since "small business" can mean something way bigger than I have), but here we go:

I tie-dye and airbrush t-shirts by hand. I have modest goals, merely to get enough to get by without welfare and to get by on my studies. I'm apparently unemployable, and all income or savings I have on welfare, will be fully deducted from my next welfare check. So combining welfare and getting business income is a hassle with very little reward.

The overhead is small, and my profit margins are high. 5€/month for a website, 10€ a year for domain, and 4- 5€ for every shirt I sell for 20 - 30€. I haven't even thought of trying to use Etsy or Vinted, because then I would have to appeal to the algorithm and compete with all the AI slop and dropshipping as well.

Due my situation with my welfare, and the fact that I'm literally broke, I've been hesitant on going all-in with the business, like having social media presence or active marketing, because I don't want to compromise my chances of getting welfare. So I try to get income "off the record" and in cash, out of necessity. I literally live by with 400 - 800 € a month, so I can't eat proper food, I can't drive a car. I literally used clamps and old bicycle tire to DIY fix my shower pipes that got destroyed last winter.

This summer, I stopped collecting welfare altogether, as a little experiment on how much I can sell these shirts. My plan was to go to raves and underground parties, as a kind of a living advert, and hustle these shirts like they were drugs. I was probably too confident with this plan, since I sold all my shirts (that were way worse) a year ago at a festival, just like that. But now, I just don't feel like people are in the mood to buy shirts at random parties, and I don't really feel like they're the kind of places to actively sell something. Maybe if they somehow related to the theme of the party or I actually had a little kiosk, but not when they're just random shit I make and sell from my backpack. And obviously, there's less parties and especially festivals on winter time, so I don't think it's a good plan.

So far, most buyers have been pre-orders instead, sometimes with custom logos. Biggest customers have been members of my student association, who want to have shirts with its logo (or my custom version of it). The personal trainer we pay to give our students group exercises also wanted to buy two with custom logos. Then there has been bands and rave organizers who have wanted to buy custom shirts with their logos for sale. I have asked whether they want a slice of the pie because it's their logos, but so far everyone has been very generous and I've kept all the money myself.

So this is probably the right course of action... The problem however is, that are these shirts then associated with my brand, or are they associated with whatever entity they represent? Will they make me stand out as an artist, or am I just an unknown worker for others? Depending on customers, I do have some room for my own creativity, but still... Every shirt has my website url in them (and boy is the domain memorable), and it's part of my brand to be ironically aggressive with my marketing. "Buy product, give money!" kind of way...

My long term plan is to sell other handcrafts and ideas as well (basically capitalizing on all the creative hobbies I have done all my life), as a kind of a phenomenon that is associated directly with my neurotic character and brand, and I fear I might go to opposite direction and ruin this prospect if I end up just making shirts for others. Why even bother wasting time and effort on making my own shirts, if that doesn't create income?

My monthly expenses are on the league of hundreds, and so are my income. My income has been around 200 € this month. I stopped getting welfare, so I'm free to do whatever I want with my money.

On top of making and selling t-shirts with 400 - 800 % profit margins, I'm also thinking of putting few euros here and there to investments. Just for the fun of it, and also to put some money aside so I don't use it constantly. So far I've only done that with cash whenever I get it from little favors or from my parents or from selling my shirts.

I'm not a big fan of the modern over financialized casino economy, but I've read extensively about economics over the last few years. Not so much about any investor or cryptobro jargon, but more about actual economic science and university course books. 10 - 12 years ago I used Plus500 to invest fake money and I really liked it.

Is Trading212 a good platform for a little side hobby like this?

The one day I had scheduled to making shirts, my airbrush decided to stop working. I thoroughly cleaned up every tiniest bit imaginable, but it's just not working. Seals seem to do their work. The needle is intact. The nozzle looks undamaged. I don't see a single trace of paint clogging anything.

I didn't even take the thing apart before it stopped working... And on top of that, the only store selling new airbrushes closed early today, around 15 minutes ago...

What can I do? Other than hitchike my way to the other side of the country to some other place or private seller that sells an airbrush, and stay up until morning before I can get my shirts done? I'm fed up.

Edit: Still no luck. Beeswax is out of the question to seal the nozzle. Glue? Cement? Locktight?