90 people search “start print on demand business” every month. This clearly shows the interest of entrepreneurs in exploring this industry and making an income out of it.

Print on demand industry is something that requires less investment compared to other industries. There are no extra efforts in managing orders and deliveries.

Even though it is pretty easy to start a print on demand business, you must analyze the market, product, and everything that will make your business profitable.

You don’t want to get lost in a huge billion dollar market.

We are here to share with you all the information you need to start print on demand business.

Chapter 1: Setting up your business

Choosing a profitable niche

There is no way you can serve all kinds of audiences with your products. With no specific target audience, there won’t be any brand USP.

So, when you start a print on demand business, the first thing to focus on is finalizing a niche. If you already have one in mind, then you are halfway through.

Setting up an online store

The next thing on the list is to set up your web store. For that, you will need to make some investments.

If you are starting from scratch and hold no inventories of your own, your will need this to start print on demand store:

  • Website
  • Product Designer Tool
  • ERP Software

Rather than investing at three different places, we have an all-in-one solution for you and i.e. BYI One – Web to Print solutions. We will set up a storefront for you, give you a product designer tool, and printing ERP software, thus taking care of all the necessary requirements.

But in case you already have a web store, irrespective of the technology (Magento, WooCommerce, Shopify, BigCommerce, PHP, Prestashop, or OpenCart), we can still integrate our product designer tool with your store with our custom API. With minimal effort, you will have a web to print storefront in a few days.

Registering your business and obtaining necessary licenses

Now that you know how to set up a web to print store, it is time to make your store legal!

Depending on the state, country, or province you live in, figure out the official documentation that needs to be done from your end to avoid any problems in the future.

Finding a supplier or printing service

When you talk with any suppliers, there are a few things you should consider:

  • Printing and product price (static or variable based on the number of orders)
  • Shipping standards
  • Quality of products they use
  • Customer service in case you have queries
  • Review their work and working ethics closely

Chapter 2: Choosing What to Sell

Now it is time to narrow down your products that fit your niche. You can obviously sell multiple products at a time, but you need products that are right for your target audience.

Deep dive while researching about products, take as many suggestions as you can, especially from your target audience, and try to understand the market size. It will give you some idea of how far you can go and how much profitable it will be for you to start print on demand business.

Also read: 10 St. Patrick’s Themed Custom Products For Your ECommerce Business

Chapter 3: Shipping & Product Price

Deciding the Base Product Price & Personalization Prices

When you start print on demand business, an important thing to keep in mind is the product price. The retail price you decide will be the actual product price + cost of customization + shipping charges + your profit margin.

Thus, it is crucial to monitor prices closely.

Handling customer service and returns

If a customer returns, exchanges, or cancels the product, they will either visit your website to do the said process or contact customer service.

So you have to set up the service center to handle customer queries and inform the supplier about the issue.

Chapter 4: Marketing and Promotions

Developing a marketing strategy

If you want people to find your store or products, marketing and promotions are unavoidable. As the margins in this industry are less, it is hard to spend a big chunk of money on paid promotions.

But you have to start from somewhere. A pocket-friendly and almost free option is taking photos and making fun videos with your products.

Running promotions and sales

The most eye-catching words are FREE and SALE!

The old and most trusted technique to boost sales, increase brand recognition, and increase business revenue is giving some discounts or giving something for free with the order.

There are some brands in their early stage that gave some of their products free, an

Chapter 5: Scaling Your Business

Plan to expand

Starting with a few types of products is okay. But you don’t want to stick to that only! In order to grow your business, you need new products.

Customers always want something new and interesting. After adding a new product line, you will observe an increase in sales as well. Apart from your current customers, the new product line will add a new customer base.

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