How to Start a Print on Demand Business in 2025: The Ultimate Step-by-Step Guide
Heard a lot about the Print on Demand (POD) business, but not sure how to start? We are here with a comprehensive guide to help you start your print-on-demand business from scratch.
It’s a step-by-step guide for beginners that will help them understand the business model, the steps to set up the business, the mistakes to avoid, and how to scale further after their initial sales.
We have included everything you need to know before starting the business and how to make it successful.
What is Print on Demand? (And Why It's a Killer Business Model)
Print on Demand (POD) is an incredible business model that even beginners can start. It requires minimal effort and has minimal risks, which is why almost everyone can turn it into a profitable business.
The business model involves selling first. Which means once you get the order for a certain product, you start producing it. That said, there is no need for an inventory or massive upfront investment.
But that’s not it. You don’t even need to make the product yourself and ship it to the customer. All these things will be done by your POD partner.
First, you need to create some attractive designs and list them online or in your store. Once a customer places an order, it is automatically sent to your POD partner, who is responsible for printing and shipping the product to the customer.
Finally, you pay your POD partner the cost of the product and shipping, and keep your profit.
It’s an extremely simple model that does not require much hassle. You only need to know how to sell your products.
It’s much better than traditional models, as you have a low financial risk. You don’t need to pile up a huge inventory. You can discontinue any product whenever you want and add new designs in no time. You have complete control and exceptional flexibility.
You have the opportunity to go global. The scalability in the POD model is much easier. You can test your products in a wide audience with minimal risk.
All these things make POD a beginner-friendly and revolutionary model for modern e-commerce and customized printing.
How to Start a Print on Demand Business Step by Step
Step 1: Finding Your Print on Demand Niche
The first thing you need to decide is the niche. If you are thinking about catering to everyone to gather a massive audience, you won’t be able to sell to anyone.
The best way to keep your print-on-demand business thriving is to select a niche and stick to it. For instance, you can make printed items for any specific sports, gaming community, pet owners, moms-to-be, etc. You need to find a segment to have a targeted audience.
It’s difficult to find a niche, but it’s the foundation of your business. You need to do proper market research to select the right niche.
You can start with a niche you are passionate about. For instance, if you like gaming, you can make print-on-demand apparel for the community. This way, you will be able to understand what the community needs.
For selecting a niche, you can look at Google Trends, Facebook communities/groups, Amazon best sellers, etc. Look at what people are talking about on Facebook, Reddit, TikTok, and other social media platforms.
Once you know what your niche is, analyze the competition. Create your business strategy to outrank your competitors and build a profitable business.
Step 2: Choosing Your POD Products and Partners
After deciding on a niche, you need to choose the POD products.
For instance, you can make printed T-shirts, hoodies, jeans, caps, jerseys, tote bags, mugs, phone cases, notebooks/diaries, pens, etc. There is a massive variety, and you can start with a few things.
In the POD model, you are not the manufacturer or the person who prints. You need a printing partner for this purpose that will handle everything and ship the final product.
Finding the right partner is a big deal. Because your business relies on it, any problem with the product, printing, or shipping will affect your reputation, not your partner’s. Because you are the face of the business, and the partner is working like a ghost.
You can find various print-on-demand service providers. Research about them, talk to them about the business, and check their quality and services. Each service provider will have a certain price, depending on the quality, product catalog, shipping, etc.
Make sure to go with a reliable service provider that offers exceptional service, even if you need to pay a bit more than others. Talk about the pricing, payment conditions, returns, and other policies.
You should also consider the type of products that the service can print and the volume it can handle. Keep the future scalability in mind.
Once you are satisfied, make sure to get some samples and check their delivery service. It is necessary to do it before you start your business.
Step 3: Crafting Designs That Actually Sell
Your USP (Unique Selling Point) is the design. You need to attract customers through your captivating designs and compel them to buy.
Once a person lands on your website, you can turn them into a customer with the designs. Thus, you need to pay special attention to it.
According to your niche, you can think about some ideas. Research the market, talk to the community, take advice, etc. You can look at the trends on the market, check out your competitors, and find something that your audience will love.
You don’t have to be a designer, but if you are, that’s a big plus. If you are not, you can hire a freelance designer on Fiverr or Upwork. Later, as your business grows, you can have an in-house design team.
However, you should know the basics of designing. It is necessary to convey the message to the designers or check their work. It helps in creating the designs that align with the target audience.
Step 4: Setting Up Your Online Storefront
You need to showcase what you are selling. And you can do that either by building your own website or listing your products/designs on a marketplace.
Starting with marketplaces, like Amazon Merch on Demand, Redbubble, TeePublic, and Etsy, is extremely easy. You just need to list and start selling. But there is fierce competition with other sellers that have already built some reputation.
You can also start with your own website. It’s a great option to build your brand. It gives you full control of customer data, marketing, and business dealings. You can select the theme for your website and make it as you like to attract customers.
It’s easier to build a store using Shopify, WooCommerce, Squarespace, or Wix. You can make your website on your own or hire someone to do it for you.
Once you have the website ready, list all your designs, write descriptions, set pricing, etc. You need to pay attention to the return policy, shipping, privacy, payment options, and other things for your website.
If you are going with the website, you also need to connect your POD partner. This integration helps in sending orders directly. Otherwise, you’ll have to communicate through other methods.
Step 5: Driving Traffic and Making Your First Sale
Here comes the most important part. Your designs, websites, listings, and partnerships are all useless until you get orders.
You have built everything, but the real struggle starts from here. You need to drive traffic to your website to get customers.
There are numerous ways to reach your audience. You can start making content on social media platforms, such as TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram, to show your designs to your target audience and compel them to visit your website and buy something.
Start with organic and try to build a presence on different platforms. Create brand awareness as much as you can. For quick results, you need to do paid marketing on these platforms. You can run ads. You can also collaborate with some influencers within your budget to give your brand better recognition.
Along with social media, work on SEO. Try to rank your web pages and products on different keywords related to your niche. SEO takes time, but in the long term, it is worth it as it offers organic traffic to your site. You will be discovered by people on the search engines.
Keep in mind that you can also opt for paid ads or Search Engine Marketing (SEM) at the start. It will show your website on top as a result of a keyword search. It could be helping in getting your first sale.
Pay special attention to your marketing strategy. This is the only thing that decides whether you’ll have a successful POD business or not. The better your marketing is, the more you sell, and the profit you make.
Print on Demand Pitfalls: Mistakes Every Beginner Makes
Not Selecting a Niche
Beginners often ignore selecting a niche. They think that by doing so, they can have a wider audience. In reality, it kills the focus. There are already millions of brands doing generic printing, so the only way to stand out is to do something different. You need to make designs that can connect with a targeted audience.
Neglecting Product Samples
After selecting your POD partner, you need to check the product quality. It is important to ensure the fabric is top-notch and the printing is durable and detailed. Often, POD services do not have high-tech machines to match the color.
The best way to check the product quality is to get samples from the POD partner. Test those samples by washing the fabric. You can also wear it to get to know how it feels. It will give you a better idea of the product before you ship it to customers.
Underestimating Pricing
Beginners usually do not have any idea of pricing their products. They could end up with a very low price that couldn’t even cover the expense, or a very high price that no one will buy. Either of these is bad for your business.
Take some time and calculate the right pricing. Consider the cost of the goods, POD partner’s printing cost, shipping fee, marketplace commissions, cost of running the website/store, payment process fees, marketing expenses, and everything.
Then, you will be able to put the right price on the product that will bring some profit.
Ignoring Shipping Costs and Timelines
You need to pay close attention to the shipping. First, check if your partner is charging you the right price for the shipping. Otherwise, your profits will be low.
Secondly, ensure the product is delivered at the right time. If it is getting delayed or undelivered, it will affect your reputation.
Using Low-Resolution Images
Beginners often neglect the quality of images. And that’s where they fail.
Your design should stand out. It should be extra clear and detailed. For this, you need an excellent printer and high-resolution images. The better the image is, the better the print will be.
Copyright Issues
Do not go with free designs and ideas you see on the internet. They are not for commercial use. You can get into legal issues.
For commercial purposes, you need to have your own designs. Or if you are getting from any source, it should have a commercial license.
Do not copy popular or trending designs. Create original and unique designs to stand out from the rest.
Scaling Your POD Business Beyond the First Sale
If you have the first few sales, that’s great. But you have to work harder to scale your POD business. To keep it thriving and make a living from it, you need to do it on a large scale.
Here’s what you can do.
Expand Your Products
Over time, you can expand your SKUs. If any specific product is winning, you can create something similar and more specific. If you are just printing T-shirts, look for other options like hoodies, mugs, tote bags, etc.
Test different designs, product varieties, colors, and sizes. It will give you a better idea to focus your attention in the right direction.
Go for Email Marketing
When you select a niche and work on building a strong community, you get a loyal audience. It’s likely that your previous customers will buy from you again if you have met their expectations.
Thus, invest in email marketing. Gather the emails of your customers and create a database. It will help you reach out to them when there is a new product, discount, special event, etc.
Put Efforts into SEO
Often, beginners only pay attention to the paid ads and neglect SEO. But in the long run, SEO is the most cost-effective traffic-driving strategy. There is no doubt that it takes time, but it is worth it.
Explore More Sales Channels
If you are only on marketplaces, you can think about creating your own site or vice versa. You need to explore more channels where your customers exist.
Partner with other brands and businesses to boost your sales. For instance, if you are making printed products for gym freaks, you can partner with gyms to display your products.
Win New Customers with Paid Ads
You need to spend consistently on paid advertising. It helps in getting new customers. Winning customers with ads is easier at the start. But as you go forward, you need to master it.
You need to test different ads, which is called A/B testing. It gives you better results and the right direction to spend money. You can retarget people who have shown some kind of interest in your brand but never purchased anything.
Implement Data-Insights and Automation
Over time, you will be able to gather data on your customers. And you must use it to improve your business. Get to know the right time to place ads, the perfect event to increase your sales, and other strategies.
For instance, if you know which month has the highest number of sales for a specific product, you can be ready next time. You can learn about the customers’ favorite categories and reach out to them when there is a new product.
Also, automate your tasks for faster scaling. For instance, you can outsource customer service or design. You can hire a virtual assistant for admin tasks. Due to these automations, you have more time to spend on things that can increase your profits.
