Starting a print on demand business is amazing. However, it wouldn’t be worthwhile if you start struggling immediately or your business fails. 

That’s why you need to take all the relevant precautions to ensure that you abide by the law even when making sales. 

Thereby, research on the best strategies to take to succeed in your print on demand business. Have a good business model that takes into consideration everything needed.

1) Licenses and regulations

Just like any other business, there are certain regulations you need to adhere to.  For starter, in every nation, there are licensing policies and business registration.

In as much as you may think you are just running your business online. It is important to have a legal entity. The legal entity will help you whenever you want to outsource some services.

In the case that you also want to form a partnership with another entity, the documents will help you. Hence, if you are new in online business, ensure you get the right licenses and permits needed for operation.

The registration will depend on your country and state. Also, if there is some tax information you need to fill, ensure you do that to ensure you don't get yourself on the wrong side of the law.

2) Copyrights and trademarks

As a print on demand business owner, the prime thing is having designs for your products. Hence, for this, you will either decide to outsource from a designer, design on your own, or seek a print on demand design supplier like tshirtbundles.

Whatever your source of design will be, ensure you adhere to the copyright regulations. If you decide to sign a contract with a POD design supplier, ensure you read their privacy and legal policies.

There might be some regulations that prohibit you from doing one, two or three. Hence, you can use the designs as much as possible.

Also, be cautious not to use designs that have been copyrighted. Not only will it ruin your business, but might have severe consequences. Always be cautious of trademarked items.

3) Size and color

Well, we all want to make our products look appealing and attract our target audience. However, you need to provide the right details. Try to limit the color variants to like a maximum of five. Be realistic about the available colors and sizes.

You may write an enticing description and a customer may order something you can't easily acquire and that will mess you up. Don't cross the line and give customers too many options to choose from, you will easily get frustrated over that. 

Also, if you have specific designs ensure they will blend well with the color variations. Also, try to prevent your customers from getting the analysis paralysis that occurs when it is hard to make a decision.

Make it easier for your customers to make a decision to prevent them from leaving without making any purchase. Don't make your customers feel overwhelmed at all. Try to make them feel as comfortable as possible.

4) Print on demand fulfillment service providers

While starting a print on demand business,  be careful while choosing your suppliers. There are some companies that provide designs like tshirtbundles and there are some like printful and printify that offer print on demand fulfillment services.

What I mean by this, is that they provide designs, print, and fulfill customer orders. All you need is to integrate into their platforms to make this possible. While doing your research also analyze their shipping and delivery limitations.

You may be promoting your products internationally, yet your fulfillment providers don't provide the services all around. The fact that they are based in different places, shows that there might be some limitations in the production.

Thus, in the case that you want to have a broader customer base, ensure to get in touch with suppliers near your customers to fulfill the order. Try to be as diverse as possible. 

Ensure you have your supplier to fulfill the orders. Keep in mind that your selling price is more than the production cost or you will have to reconsider your business model.

5) Payment procedure

Your payment system needs to be strong, secure, and straightforward.  This will help you track the money flow. For example, when a customer pays through your platform the service providers like printify scans your store and sees the customer's orders to fulfill.

Hence, you need to keep track of the billing that occurs on your printify account. You also need to ensure your payment methods, credit card, and all that are in check before starting your print on demand business. One important thing is to keep track of your earnings and operational costs.

6) Minimize on the use of general mockups

I have no dispute on using mockups, however, you need to use photos that look realistic. The trick is ordering samples from your design provider or fulfillment supplier.

When you get them, make your unique photos and use those to promote your products. At times you may use mockups that don't look realistic.

Also, if that's not an option you want to opt for, you can use Placeit that allows you to take artwork designs and add to lifestyle images. The lifestyle photos can be used for products such as t-shirts, hoodies, pillows, tote bags, mugs, and much more.

You don't have an excuse not to do that now. Let your products have a good human touch. This will make people want to try out your products without any issues.

Also, try to use lifestyle images that have something related to your product niche. This will make it look more realistic. This is a great strategy to help you outdo your competitors.

7) Don't invest in just one niche

To say the truth, many people prefer selling t-shirts online. It is profitable because t-shirts are all-season. But you can also try some other products, like leggings, mugs, tote bags, phone covers, scarves, yoga mats, and much more. There are a variety of other accessories that you can try out instead of just sticking to what everyone is selling.  

If it is a new product you want to try out on and diversify, ensure you start with few samples then increase with time.

Do your market research and know the specific price for each. After doing that it will be much easier to bring something new in the market and wait for its prosperity. Try to be as flexible as possible.

Try out to see whether the designs you have can be used on a variety of products. Can it be used in a tshirt, hoodie, leggings, mug, and so on?

The size can vary, but as long as the design fits that's perfect. Also, remember that personalization is important if you want to stand out.

8) Check social media regulations

It is also vital to check whether your specific niche is banned on various social media platforms.

You may try out something and it ends up putting you in trouble. Try your level best to ensure you won't market products on various platforms, then it messes you up.

For example, Facebook has some policies and if your products don’t meet a certain standard it can be bad for you. Try and check what type of niches or products are prohibited.

Conclusion

In as much as you follow all the guidelines and take the precautions. Also, ensure you seek feedback from your customers and also family and friends.

They will always be truthful to ensure you don’t make a mistake in your business. Also, if your business starts failing, you need to track all your steps to know where you went wrong.

Follow all the current trends to know what is working currently and what is already outdated.

 Image courtesy: shopify