Print-on-demand is a growing business for people who want to share their creations but aren’t ready to handle their own products. If you’re interested in supporting these creators by building your own print-on-demand service, keep reading to learn the main ideas behind POD services. We’ve compiled some of the best tips for starting a print-on-demand hat business. These tips can help you understand the POD landscape and industry on a better foot so that you can get your business off to a strong start.

What Is a Print-on-Demand Business?

Print-on-demand (POD) services are for sellers who want to offer products on a per-order basis rather than keeping a physical inventory on hand. These services work as pre-orders, where sellers won’t need to pay for the product until they receive an order. As the print-on-demand supplier, you would oversee receiving these orders, customizing the designs, and shipping and fulfilling these orders. This means you’ll need a steady supply of products, a way to customize these products, and a shipping system to send them to their original customers. As more and more creators and designers are introduced to the option of POD, the demand for these services continues to increase.

Benefits of a Print-on-Demand Business

Many creators choose to use print-on-demand services because doing so allows them to focus on creating and takes the stress out of selling products. For this reason, these services have become increasingly popular in recent years. This is why it is now an excellent time to consider starting your own print-on-demand business. As the printer and customizer, you’ll also take a portion of the sales from every order you receive. This is how POD businesses generate income to buy more products and continue taking orders. The more orders you receive, the more revenue your business will generate.

How To Start Your Own Print-on-Demand Business

While it may seem overwhelming to start your own POD service from scratch, all you need to do is break down the process step by step. Before you know it, you’ll have everything you need, and your service will be ready to go live. Here are some of the key steps to consider when starting your own POD business.

Choose Which Products To Offer

Many print-on-demand services offer a wide range of products, such as t-shirts, hats, mugs, and more. If you want to focus on a certain product, such as hats, consider stocking up on distinctive styles to appeal to your customers and add variety to your service. For example, hats come in many unique styles, from beanies to ball caps. Consider offering a range of hats in assorted colors to give your customers more options.

Print-on-demand services are all about fast-paced ordering and shipping, which means you need to keep a steady stream of products on hand and ready to customize. This means ordering your hats in bulk so that you always have the styles your customers are looking for. Ordering wholesale products also helps keep your costs per order down, meaning you can make more off each sale.

Obtain a High-Quality Printer or Embroidery Tool

Once you’ve decided to focus on headwear, you’ll need a design and customization tool that supports hats. Two of the most popular ways to customize hats are embroidery and printing machines. You’ll need a commercial embroidery or printing machine that allows you to import your customers’ designs. When it comes to hat printing, there is a range of machines to choose from. You can find commercial heat presses for hats, screen printing machines, and more. Consider which types of hats you want to work with and which machines will accommodate your products best. For example, embroidery machines are ideal for working with knit hats and other unstructured headwear types.

Create a Design Studio

One of the biggest draws of working with a print-on-demand service is getting to submit your own designs and watch your creations come to life. To offer this benefit at your own business, you’ll need to have a space where customers can submit their own designs to be featured on your products. When creating your business’s website, be sure to include a space where customers can submit their files for customization. You may also want to include the option of previewing their design on a 3D model or stock image of your hats. This can help when it comes to picking color, sizing, and more.

Start With Samples

Before you start listing your POD products, be sure to preview your own samples first. Creating samples will help you iron out issues with your design quality before you list items on your print-on-demand website. This also allows you to create samples for potential customers who wish to preview their own designs before partnering with your business. Samples are a smart way to market your high-quality designs and encourage more creators to partner with your business. More partners and orders mean more income, so focusing on the quality of your products is crucial to the success of your POD business.

Testing your design equipment can help you perfect sizing requirements so that you can create a guide for your customers too. Finally, creating samples will also help you get a better idea of timelines to ensure you can deliver an accurate shipping forecast to your clients.

Where To Find Bulk Hats for Print-on-Demand Businesses

To start your print-on-demand service, you’ll need a steady source of bulk products so that you can offer a wide selection to your customers. If you’re looking for a headwear supplier who offers a wide range of hat styles, sizes, colors, and more, partner with KBETHOS for your print-on-demand business. Through KBETHOS, you can order hats in bulk at discounted prices so that you always have your products ready to meet your print-on-demand needs. Our private label services can ship samples to you quickly and efficiently, ensuring you have sample products when your customers need them.

If you’re interested in helping new artists and creators share their designs with the world through headwear customization, consider starting your own POD business. Remember these tips for starting a print-on-demand hat business as you step into the industry and begin exploring everything you need to provide your services. Trust KBETHOS with your print-on-demand business and bulk buying needs to support your future creators and customers.