Did you know? You can put your designs and inspiration into various items and products. That’s the power of print on demand!
Currently print on demand business model is trending today. It allows anyone to have their printed products to be shipped without the hassle of maintaining printing equipment.
Let’s discuss what is POD, and its pros & cons.
What is Print on Demand?
Print-on-demand or POD is a business model wherein the sellers create and design their own custom products. They are doing partnership with a printing provider to process and ship the products with customized prints.
The POD process starts when a customer places an order with the seller. After that, the POD provider then begins printing the product as needed. So technically, the final product is just being made after it is bought.
In this business model, there is no excess inventory or wasted resources since the printed products are yet to be made.
Usually, the products frequently featured in print-on-demand businesses are mugs, t-shirts, hoodies, and bags.
Pros and Cons of Print on Demand
Every business has advantages and disadvantages and this includes print-on-demand business. Continue reading as we will list out the pros and cons of print-on-demand business.
Pros of Print on Demand
Easier to market
An entrepreneur who just starting a print-on-demand business does not need to worry about demand and customer base. The reason for this is that there are a lot of potential buyers in this niche.
It is relevant no matter what season of the year it is. There are many occasions and events throughout the year that create demands and buyers for this type of business.
Some of these are seasons such as Christmas and summer events, and some occasions such as birthdays that require personalized gifts, souvenirs, and much more… There will always be a market for POD business.
In addition, since the product is not yet printed, it is easy to experiment with printing designs that will fit the trend, making it easier to make a sale.
Perfect for solopreneurs
It is a good business to start even for a solopreneur. Reason for this? It doesn’t need a lot of employees to run a print-on-demand business. And the workload? It is very tolerable for solo individuals.
The good thing for solopreneurs is that POD has a low entry barrier compared to other business models. This allows anyone to start with minimal investment while still offering high-profit potential.
In addition, POD is easy to scale. It offers flexibility in resources and effort, especially for very small teams. Since the printing equipment is ready on demand, there’s no need to print in bulk beforehand. This eliminates the worry about excessive inventory stock.
POD unleashes creativity
One major advantage of print on demand is it promotes creativity for those who start this business. Since most of the time, you will spend a lot of time designing the content to be printed.
It is also easy to express your creativity by creating your unique brand identity. You have the creative freedom to choose what designs you want to print.
For every order, you can also personalize it based on your customer’s wants. This pushes you to be creative to satisfy your buyers on their personalized printed products.
Plus with passion, you can make every printed product full of color, artistry, and creativity.
Wide variety of products to choose from
Print-on-demand doesn’t limit you to t-shirts only. Once you are committed to this type of business, you can explore more products such as mugs, bags, stickers, product labels, and much more. Anything that can apply print can be your business.
Cons of Print on Demand
Let’s also discuss the disadvantages of print-on-demand since there are also ups and downs, risks, and rewards for this kind of business.
High fees for platforms
One disadvantage of print-on-demand is the fees, if you’re not careful about choosing the selling platform. In the Philippines, you can sell your printed products on Shopee or Lazada. The fees on this platform can go up to 7%
From a business standpoint, it can be bad if the fees eat up all your profit so be careful to choose a platform where you can showcase your printed products.
Seller dependence on printing partner
Another downside of POD is when you have a third-party printer provider. Since you don’t have actual printing equipment, the quality of your products and prints heavily depends on your printing partner.
For this reason, you should expect some downtime sometime. There will be a time that your order fulfillment may take longer if there is a lot of demand from the printing provider.
Because of dependency on third-party printing partners, you may experience unsatisfied customers. This major con of POD can be avoided by having a trustworthy and reliable printing partner.
Reduced profits margin
Just like every profitable business, you will face challenges that can impact your success such as reduced profit margins. These barriers often require careful planning and strategic solutions to overcome.
In the print-on-demand (POD) model, partnering with a printing provider introduces shared profitability concerns. Printing providers need to cover their expenses and earn a profit, which can affect your margins.
You must consider factors like equipment maintenance and the rising costs of raw materials. The reason? Because it can further influence your earnings.
However, this disadvantage of POD business is easily manageable. By finding the right balance between your pricing, production costs, and profits, you can build a sustainable and thriving business in the long run.
Conclusion
We hope you learn something about Print-On-Demand business today.
It is exciting to see the potential of this kind of business. There are sure ups and downs, but the challenges make it more compelling.
Ready to start a print-on-demand business? Contact us so we can help!