How to Start a Print on Demand Business?

Summary: Launching a print-on-demand business in this highly competitive world can seem like a daunting task. Whether you are a print professional or a newbie, this blog will cover everything from initial planning and setup to strategizing for business growth. Keep reading to discover a step-by step approach on how you can start your very own profitable print-on-demand business in 2025.

Are you thinking of starting an online printing business but worried about the huge investments involved in it and the hassle of inventory management?

Imagine an end-to-end automated print business where you can offer personalized print products, keep only the required inventory, reach more customers and maximize sales – with very few investments.

Recent research indicates that the rising demand for customized products is driving growth in the print-on-demand market, with an expected growth from USD 8.3 billion in 2025 to USD 59.3 billion by 2033.

Unique print on demand products such as photobooks, caps, vinyl banners, wall decals, and car door graphics can be seamlessly offered by leveraging a powerful print e-commerce solution.

In this blog, we will be discussing in detail about the most popular business model in printing, i.e. print on demand, how you can start one in 2025 and everything in between. So, without further delay, let’s get started.

What Is an Online Print on Demand Business?

An online print-on-demand business or a POD business is a digital model that allows print shop owners to produce prints only after an order is placed. This eliminates the need for inventory management and helps reduce overall costs.

Modern print shop owners find this approach to be convenient and cost-effective, due to the minimal investment requirement and less chances of order returns. This model is popular for its low risk, less investment, flexibility, and scalability, making it ideal for first-time print business owners wanting to sell personalized products.

Significance of a W2P-driven POD Business & Sustainability

The sustainability benefits of a print on demand business are numerous. Here’s how web-to-print contributes towards making POD businesses environment-friendly.

Reduce Raw Material Wastage with Easy Print Design Customization

W2P system simplifies the design creation process for customers and provides a 3D preview to make their final purchasing decision. This avoids any errors in POD order placement and chances of returns which ultimately minimizes reprints and material wastage for print shops.

Avoid Physical Paperwork with Digital Proofing and Approval

The main advantage of a web-to-print driven print-on-demand business is the ability to digitally proof designs and provide feedback for approvals using a new-age design proofing software. This technology digitizes and automates the approval workflows without any physical paperwork or multiple emails, thereby promoting eco-friendly practices.

Avoid Stock Expiration with Efficient Inventory Management

W2P software streamlines the inventory management of a POD business with operations like automatic inventory tracking, and alerts for low stock levels. Furthermore, it optimizes resource allocation, supports integrations with suppliers and provides data-driven insights on the inventory usage to plan for upcoming orders and prevent overstocking.

How do Print on Demand Businesses Work?

To better understand the working of print on demand businesses, imagine the below given scenario.

Let’s say, John wants to run a print on demand business model for selling large format printing products. He starts by setting up an online storefront with a unique domain, and showcases the product listings with a print-on-demand supporting modern large format printing software provider like OnPrintShop.

Scenario #1: When Producing In-House Products

He can invest in printing equipment, raw materials, and the required storage space.

After setting up a print on demand business with a full-fledged print ecommerce storefront and capabilities like design customization, setting product prices and profit margins, customers can browse and place orders.

By utilizing OnPrintShop’s innovative print workflow automation tools, John can automate the entire workflow from start to finish.

On receiving the order from customer’s side, john produces the print items in his facility and prepares it for shipping. By integrating a shipping provider from OnPrintShop, he handles the packaging and shipment.

Scenario #2: When Partnered with a Third-Party Supplier

If John wants to use the dropshipping model, he can still run a successful POD business with less control over the design personalization. A great option to get started would be OnPrintShop’s progressive 4Over integration.

Once a customer places an order through his online store, the order information are automatically sent to the print-on-demand provider, who takes care of printing, packaging and shipping the products directly to John’s customer.

This enables John to save a lot of investment in handling inventory, production, and shipping. Also, John, being the storefront admin, can set a profit margin for the products and stay profitable.

Easy Steps to Start a Print on Demand Business

If you are thinking of starting a print-on-demand business, but don't know how to get started, here’s a step-by-step approach you can follow.

Step 1 - Decide What to Sell

Perform thorough market research and choose the products that you wish to sell to your customers. Popular print-on-demand products include mugs, large-format prints, textile prints, mobile covers, calendars, photobooks, booklets, business cards, and more.

Step 2 - Set Up an Online Store

Customize and set up your print ecommerce store with OnPrintShop as per your branding requirements. Select the storefront themes, add the product listings, integrate payment gateways, shipment providers and all the functionalities for your online store.

Step 3 - Check the Quality of Your Products

Partner with a print on demand supplier that integrates with OnPrintShop’s web to print solution and order the sample products to evaluate its quality. Ensure your customers receive high-quality products with precise colors, materials and dimensions.

Step 4 - Market Your Products

Once you know that your products are working well, scale your marketing efforts to reach a wider audience. Leverage OnPrintShop’s advanced marketing automation solution to execute powerful marketing campaigns and personalize your strategies.

Step 5 - Monitor Your Online Store Performance

Utilize robust reporting and analytics capabilities to track the performance of your storefront. With metrics like user’s online behavior, sales rates, and most in-demand products, you can make better decisions for optimizing your online store's performance.

Top Trends Shaping Print on Demand in 2025

For running a profitable print-on-demand business, print shop owners need to keep up with the popular trends. Let’s discuss the booming trends that are reshaping the print-on-demand industry.

Personalization at Scale

Providing personalized experiences to customers based on their online journey is one of the growing trends in the print on demand industry. Utilizing AI, machine learning and smart algorithms, print shop owners can offer targeted marketing and increase customer engagement.

Sustainable Practices

Meeting customer demands while following sustainable practices is another major trend that is booming right now. Print shop owners running a print-on-demand business can utilize W2P solutions that offer digital proofing methods to reduce material wastage and maintain environment-friendliness.

AI and Automation

Leveraging AI and automation for optimizing print on demand operations is a rising trend in 2025 due to its capability to speed up complex tasks. W2P solution providers like OnPrintShop offer AI-driven content & image generating tools for launching products and automated print workflows from start to end for maximizing print efficiency.

New Product Categories

Introducing new product categories in a print on demand model is highly advantageous and can allow print shop owners to meet the growing demand for personalized items. By integrating OnPrintShop’s web-to-print solution with a print on demand supplier like 4Over, you can expand your product range, target various customer segments and stay competitive.

Why Should You Choose OnPrintShop for Your POD Business?

OnPrintShop is a #1 automated web-to-print solution provider that helps print shop owners like you to set up and successfully run their online printing business. By choosing OnPrintShop for your print-on-demand business, you get access to everything under one place without having to switch between multiple systems.

It doesn’t matter at which stage you are in your print business right now – whether you are planning to start your print-on-demand business or want to scale it by reaching more customers and offering diverse products, OnPrintShop can get you covered.

Here’s why you should consider OnPrintShop -

• Ready-to-use templates and easy design customization tools
• User-friendly interface and compatible across multiple devices
• End-to-end print automation with AI-enabled functionalities
• Get support for integration with suppliers for product expansion
• Customized print e-commerce storefronts for global customers
• Reporting and analytics feature for enhanced decision-making
• Integration with existing and 300+ third-party applications
• Get support and training 24x5 from skilled professionals
• Get access to multi-language & multi-currency support... and a lot more

That’s not it! You name your requirement, and OnPrintShop will create a bespoke web-to-print solution for you.

Wrapping it Up!Print on demand is the talk of the town but very few know how easy it is to start one. By leveraging OnPrintShop’s advanced print ecommerce solutions, print shop owners can not only start but take their print-on-demand business to new heights of success.We hope this guide was helpful in providing you with all the necessary information about launching your print-on-demand business. If you have more questions in mind or need personalized guidance, feel free to request a demo with OnPrintShop and learn how we can help you in this journey.