Because sometimes your best idea is one you doodled during a boring meeting
You do not have to be an artist, or even particularly organized, to start a print-on-demand business. You don’t need a warehouse. You don’t need to know how to sew, screen print, or schlep 400 mugs to the post office in the rain. What you do need is an idea, a tiny spark of a niche, and the willingness to learn as you go. Which is kind of the secret to all good things, isn’t it?
Print on demand (POD) is a model where your designs go onto products—like t-shirts, tote bags, stickers, mugs, phone cases, and yoga mats—and when someone buys one, a company prints and ships it for you. You make money from the markup. It’s drop shipping for creative people and folks who are allergic to inventory management. And it can be passive income, or at least semi-passive once you get it up and running. That means you can make money in your sleep, or at least while you’re doing laundry, which feels like magic.
So, how do you start? You start the way we start most things: by Googling, spiraling slightly, and then deciding to just try it anyway. You pick a niche, something with personality. Something specific. “Funny shirts” isn’t a niche. “Funny shirts for introverted nurses who like cats” is a niche. The more specific you get, the easier it is to make designs people actually want. Don’t try to sell to everyone. Try to sell to your people. Or the people you secretly wish were your people.
Once you’ve got your niche, you need a print-on-demand partner. There are a lot of them like Printful, Printify, Gelato, Gooten, Teespring. It’s like dating. They all have their strengths and quirks. Some have more product options, some have better fulfillment times, some are just easier to use. Try them out. Place a test order. Hug the hoodie when it arrives. If you wouldn’t wear it, don’t sell it. Your reputation is the only thing scarier to lose than your car keys.
Now you need a storefront. You can either build your own website (hello, Shopify or Wix) or use a marketplace like Etsy, which is kind of like setting up your lemonade stand on the corner where everyone already walks by. Etsy has traffic and trust built in, but you’re also competing with a million other creative weirdos who also think their ghost-themed throw pillows are brilliant. If you have zero tech confidence, start there. If you want more control and less competition, a standalone store might be worth the learning curve.
And now we come to designs. This is where many people freeze. “But I’m not creative,” they say, while staring at a Pinterest board called Aesthetic Things I Love. Let me tell you a secret: you don’t have to be a designer. Canva exists. It is free. It is forgiving. It has templates for days. You can also hire a designer on Fiverr for the cost of a sad dinner out. Or, if you’re the artsy one in the family, dust off Procreate or Photoshop and get going. Start with quotes. Start with minimal graphics. Start small. Done is better than perfect. And funny almost always sells.
You’ve got your store. You’ve got your designs. Now what? You promote. This is the part people dread, because no one wants to feel like a pushy used-car salesperson. But marketing isn’t yelling. It’s storytelling. It’s saying, “Here’s something I made, and here’s why it might matter to you.” Social media is your friend here—Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest. You don’t need to go viral. You need to show up, consistently, with something honest and interesting. Show behind-the-scenes stuff. Show your failed attempts. People love a good underdog arc.
Email marketing also works, especially once you’ve made a few sales. Set up a free Mailchimp account. Collect emails with a little popup on your store that says, “Want 10% off your first order?” People like coupons. They like feeling special. Send a short email when you launch something new. Keep it light, keep it human. Don’t overthink it.
You’ll also want to analyze what’s working. Look at your store stats. Which listings are getting clicks? Which designs are selling? Double down on the winners. Retire the duds. Tweak product titles to include better keywords. Maybe your “Sunshine Dreams Mug” becomes “Positive Coffee Mug for Monday Mornings” and boom, now people find it. SEO isn’t sexy, but it’s powerful.
Now let’s talk about money. You make a profit on the difference between what the print partner charges and what you list it for. So if the mug costs you $7 and you sell it for $18, you keep the $11 (minus marketplace fees). It doesn’t sound like a fortune, but if you sell 10 a day, that’s $110. Scale that across more products and designs and suddenly you’re making a part-time income. Or more. Some people go all in and hit six figures. Others just want enough to cover their Starbucks habit. Both are valid.
But let’s be honest because print on demand has its downsides. Fulfillment can be slow. Quality can be inconsistent. Your margins aren’t huge. And you’re at the mercy of algorithms and trends. Some days it feels like everything clicks. Other days, crickets. It’s okay. Keep going. Keep creating. Keep uploading. The more you put out there, the more chances you have for something to land.
Eventually, you might start hiring help. Maybe you bring in a virtual assistant to handle customer service. Maybe you work with more designers to expand your product line. Maybe you license your bestsellers to other stores or start running ads. This is how you scale. Slowly. Authentically. With trial and error and maybe a few breakdowns in between. But it’s real. And it’s yours.
So yes, you can make money with print on demand. Even if you don’t have fancy skills or a business degree. Even if your first shirt says something dumb like “I like naps” (which, by the way, will probably sell). All you need is an idea, a platform, and the courage to post your first listing and whisper, “Okay, world. Let’s see what happens.”
Camille