Startup Brand Kit: What You Need in Year One
A practical checklist for what a startup should order right after the logo is ready: business cards, stickers, team apparel and a few promotional products, with rough prices.
The minimum startup brand kit for the first year consists of five elements: business cards (100–250 pcs), logo stickers (500–1000 pcs), one roll-up banner stand or banner for events, team T-shirts or hoodies (5–20 pcs), and a small batch of promotional products for meetings with clients and investors. In Latvia, the total budget for such a kit usually falls within 350–900 EUR excl. VAT, and most items are ready in 1–3 business days; catalogue items with logo printing take 6–10 business days.
What to order right after the logo
Once the logo is ready in vector format, the first two things almost every startup orders are business cards and stickers. Business cards still do the job at conferences, demo days and client meetings, and in the first year there's no point printing 1,000 pieces — the team changes, job titles change. 100–250 pieces per person is a realistic amount.
Stickers are the cheapest way to get your logo onto product packaging, a laptop, a mailbox or a shipping box. If the startup is in IT or SaaS, a round 50 mm sticker on a roll with contour cutting costs a few cents per piece and works well both at office events and for shipments.
What can wait
Leave catalogues, thick brochures and large printed brand books for year two. In the first year, positioning is still evolving, and a printed 32-page catalogue tends to go out of date within three months.
Rough budget for year one
Below is a typical kit for a team of 5–10 people. Prices are approximate, excl. VAT, and depend on material, number of colours and quantity.
| Item | Quantity | Approx. price (excl. VAT) |
|---|---|---|
| Business cards, 350 g, double-sided | 250 pcs | from 35 EUR |
| Logo stickers, PP film, contour cut | 500 pcs | from 60 EUR |
| Product/ingredient stickers on rolls | 1000 pcs | from 90 EUR |
| Roll-up banner stand 85×200 cm with cassette | 1 pc | from 75 EUR |
| A2 posters for an event | 20 pcs | from 45 EUR |
| T-shirts with chest print | 20 pcs | from 12 EUR/pc |
| Hoodies with embroidery | 10 pcs | from 22 EUR/pc |
| Promotional products (pens, sticky notes) | 100 pcs | from 0.35 EUR/pc |
Altogether that's roughly 600–900 EUR if you order everything. With a 300 EUR budget, prioritise business cards, stickers and 10 T-shirts for the team.
Team apparel: how much and when
Apparel printing serves two purposes for a startup — team spirit and visibility at events. In practice, this proportion works well: one T-shirt per team member, and a hoodie or polo shirt for the events team (3–5 people).
Choosing the technology:
- DTF transfer — cost-effective from 1 to 30 pcs, full-colour logo with no extra charge per colour.
- Screen printing — cost-effective from 50 pcs, lower price per piece, but each colour is a separate charge.
- Embroidery — for hoodies, polo shirts and caps, the most durable option, up to 90×90 mm.
Standard print areas: left chest 110×90 mm, front or back up to 280×210 mm, sleeve 80×60 mm.
Files and deadlines
Submit your logo in vector format: .ai, .eps, .pdf or .svg. Colours in CMYK or specified as Pantone; raster images need at least 300 dpi at actual size. If you only have a PNG from a designer, let us know straight away — we can vectorise a simple logo, but a complex one needs the original file.
| Product | Production | Total with delivery |
|---|---|---|
| Stickers, business cards, posters | 1–3 business days | 1–3 business days |
| Roll-up banner stands, banners | 2–3 business days | 2–4 business days |
| Printed apparel | 3–6 business days | 4–8 business days |
| Promotional products from catalogue | 4–7 business days | 6–10 business days |
When planning your first conference or product launch, allow at least two weeks with a buffer. Rush jobs are done by arrangement.
How ordering works
Add the items to a request on the website, or just write to us in free form, telling us how many people are on the team and what event is coming up. Within one business day, we'll send you an online quote and a PDF with product photos, prices, print area, setup fee and lead time for each item. If needed, we'll create a 3D mockup with your logo so you can see how it will look. The artwork is approved by email before production starts.
FAQ
How much does a full startup brand kit cost?
A typical first-year kit for a team of 5–10 people — business cards, stickers, a roll-up banner stand, T-shirts and 100 promotional products — costs roughly 600–900 EUR excl. VAT. A minimal version with business cards, stickers and 10 T-shirts comes to around 300 EUR. Prices are approximate and depend on quantity, material and printing method.
Can I order just 1 piece?
Yes. Digital printing and DTF printing work from 1 piece — for example, a single sample T-shirt or one thermal mug. Socks with a woven-in logo are an exception, with a minimum of 100 pairs.
When is screen printing worth it, and when DTF?
Up to about 30 T-shirts, DTF transfer works out cheaper, since there's no need to prepare screen printing stencils. From 50 pieces, with a simple 1–2 colour logo, screen printing becomes more cost-effective, and the price per piece keeps dropping with quantity.
What format should the logo be submitted in?
In vector format — .ai, .eps, .pdf or .svg, colours in CMYK or Pantone. Raster images need 300 dpi at actual size. Without a vector file, precise contour cutting for stickers and engraving isn't possible.
How long do promotional products with a logo take?
Usually 6–10 business days: production with logo printing takes 4–7 business days depending on quantity, plus 2–3 days for delivery. Our own in-house printing — stickers, business cards, posters — takes 1–3 business days.
Should I order a large quantity right away to get a lower price?
Price per piece drops with quantity, but in the first year, your brand and contacts keep changing. It's more practical to order smaller batches more often, and only go for larger quantities on items that definitely won't change — such as product stickers.
