Ann Arbor’s Spirit Shop growing at 25 percent a month, hopes to grow payroll

Selling T-shirts is one the oldest, get-rich-quick-while-putting-in-minimal-effort ideas around. But one Ann Arbor entrepreneur believes he has found a way to make it work.

Todd Sullivan started Spirit Shop two years ago. The web-based start-up partners with schools and similar organizations to sell T-shirts to their students. The key is the printing technology that lets the business hit its profit margins.

“The secret sauce is you can create one of a product in any color at the same price a normal T-short company can make one in volume,” Sullivan says.

The company’s website lets schools or clubs design their own shirt and then order any number of features or fashion statements they want. Spirit Shop reimburses 15 percent of the proceeds back to the school, acting as a sort of fundraiser.

The business plan has worked well so far. Spirit Shop has grown to eight employees and hopes to add a few more soon. It has grown about 25 percent a month and is looking to take the next step with angel investors or venture capital.

“We’re on the verge of profitability,” Sullivan says. “We can continue to crawl along but with a surge of capital we can continue our aggressive growth.”

Source: Todd Sullivan, CEO of Spirit Shop
Writer: Jon Zemke