Print On Demand - Kinda
- Print On Demand
- a business model that involves printing products only after an order is placed. This model allows businesses to avoid the cost of holding inventory and only produce items once they're ordered.
In full disclosure, I’ve had a printing business in a previous life. I did make money and am very familiar with how quantity discounts work. As I’ve also discussed, this isn’t my full time gig. In real life, I sell and develop software for marketing departments to personalize websites, apps, statements, etc. My point in telling you this, is that I’m very familiar with the pitfalls of the printing and personalization industry.
What I’ve decided to start with is something I’ve been doing for my daughters and as promotional items for trade shows for a long time. I’m going to create and sell stickers. More specifically I’m going to create sticker sheets. At first glance, I don’t really see the value in one off stickers. I have to use a sheet to print just one, so why not sell the whole sheet and cut them out.
Not A Normal POD
I don’t plan on operating exactly like a typical POD. I want to be the printer. Yes, I want to create and assemble to finished goods. That means that I’ll be doing the following:
- Source the materials to create stickers
- Design the art to be put on sticker sheets
- Print and cut the sticker sheets
- Package and deliver all orders
- Play accountant along the way
Where Will I Sell
Deciding what to sell was the first major hurdle. Now it’s time to figure out where to sell it. I know about all the normal places like Etsy, Shopify, eBay, etc.. I’ll probably use at least Etsy to get started, but ideally I’d like to sell everything on my own. The idea of paying a middle man just doesn’t sit well with me.
I’m saying this before even having a single product to sell. This may change very quickly. However, I do have plans to leverage social media heavily as well as solid SEO. I do have a background in this and I plan to take it as far as I can.
What’s Next
My agenda is to get my creative juices going and making some designs. By this time next week, I want to have something to sell. I’m going to start with stickers, and I’m pretty sure I’ll start with some sort of online shop like Etsy. But first some designs. One item won’t do it, I’m going to need a few.
It’s time to get cracking.