Do you know that there is a difference between highly successful online shops and those that struggle to make money. If you want to build your own multi-million dollar print-on-demand business , then you have to reach at least $10,000 a month in sales. But it isn’t too difficult if you follow certain steps.
Here we will discuss seven steps that can help you as shop owners stand out and achieve success.
These can help you avoid being part of the 99% of shops that don’t succeed and instead join the small group of highly profitable businesses.
1. Drop-shipping and POD are oversaturated – A Myth:
Many people believe that markets like drop shipping and print-on-demand are oversaturated, with more sellers than buyers. With millions of competing sellers, it might seem like there’s no room for success.
However, this isn’t necessarily true. For example, if you use AI to make digital download art, print and sell them. It can help you scale up within days if you continuously post product listings for months. When you have something that sets your listings something different to sell, you have a business making opportunity.
Even in highly competitive niches like t-shirts, success is possible. Use simple designs that could be made in Canva or Enigma, and manage to make over thousands in sales in the first year of your business.
The key to becoming a successful seller isn’t avoiding competition or finding a hidden niche. Instead, it’s about finding competitive products with high demand and adding a unique twist. With billions of dollars spent on platforms like Etsy each year, there’s room for everyone.
The real problem is that most people become paralyzed when they see the competition and feel there’s no place for them. However, competition actually indicates demand, and success comes from carving out your own spot in the market.
2. Try and learn:
To reach monthly earnings of $10,000 or even $20,000, the key is to follow a simple method: learn and try. Some shops achieve remarkable success by consistently posting numerous listings, even if they’re similar products. However, for many shops, it takes months of work without immediate payoff. Moreover, the important thing is not to get discouraged if some products don’t sell, as overall success can still be achieved.
Success often comes from having a long-term mindset. This allows you to keep creating products without feeling like a failure or wasting time. A simple meme explains this process: you learn, you try, and eventually, you succeed.
The challenge is that most people reach a stage where they don’t see immediate results and feel overwhelmed by the work ahead. This is known as the “valley of despair.”
However, if you persist in learning and trying, you’ll eventually achieve the results you’re after. The key is to push through this difficult period and keep working towards your goals.
3. Set a long term perspective:
The key difference between the 99% and the 1% in business success is twofold. First, successful entrepreneurs don’t give up on learning and trying, as that’s the essence of growth. Second, they make the crucial sacrifice of time, working through uncertainty without immediate payoff. Growing a business requires allowing time for it to develop.
For example, a successful Etsy shop from Denver, Colorado, selling high-quality prints, has thrived not because of superior products or branding, but due to consistency over time. They’ve posted over 2,000 listings since 2015, taking a slow and steady approach that now yields over $113,000 a month, mostly profit from digital products.
The long-term perspective is vital. Spending years building your own business that eventually pays six figures in passive income is often more rewarding than working for someone else for the same period.
Even posting just one listing per day (excluding weekends) for nine years would result in 2,349 listings, potentially creating a digital download business earning $10,000 monthly. The key is persevering through months without visible progress, sometimes feeling like you’re moving backward.
Those who can’t endure this phase won’t be around when success finally arrives. Even with minimal daily effort, given enough time, you can achieve significant results in digital downloads or print-on-demand businesses. This understanding underlies the importance of developing strategies for faster product creation.
4. Trying random approaches fails after sometime:
One of the main reasons people fail to reach their goals is the lack of a reliable system to fall back on when motivation wanes. A good system allows you to work on your business at various stages, regardless of how you feel.
The “templatized produce post” system is an example of this approach. It involves creating an almost finished product template that can be slightly modified to generate multiple new products.
Top-earning shops on platforms like Etsy have thousands of listings, demonstrating a direct correlation between the number of listings and sales. An effective system should enable you to post more listings while working less on your business.
When starting out, many people work inconsistently on their online shops, feeling discouraged by slow progress. Instead of giving up or switching to a different business, the key is to develop a system that increases your output – the one factor you can control. By working this system consistently, you can predict your output.
A robust system helps you complete tasks even when you don’t feel like it. Most people who start an online business simply try random approaches, hoping something will work.
Only a small percentage invest the time to build a great system that allows for continuous business scaling. This systematic approach is what sets successful entrepreneurs apart from the rest.
5. Master one product at a time:
After generating millions in the print-on-demand business, a crucial but not obvious strategy for success is mastering one product at a time. While 99% of people try to sell multiple products to increase sales, this approach often backfires. The 1% who focus on a single product typically outperform them.
This strategy involves making the product your niche and targeting customers through specific designs and positioning. For example, one shop focusing solely on print-on-demand camper mugs has sold over 21,000 units, with estimated monthly earnings of $111,000. Another shop selling just ornaments has made millions in five years, despite ornaments being a seasonal product.
This focused approach works for various products, from t-shirts to phone cases. Many six, seven, and eight-figure shops have achieved success by concentrating on one product at a time. While it may feel like you’re missing out on other opportunities, you’re actually maximizing your potential with a single product.
Even newer shops can compete and earn hundreds of thousands of dollars in a couple of years by staying focused. This strategy allows you to be more effective than competitors trying to master multiple products simultaneously. As your business grows, you can expand to multiple shops, each focused on a different product, but only after scaling each product past six figures individually.
6. Financial goals:
The final major obstacle preventing people from reaching their financial goals in print-on-demand and dropshipping businesses is a lack of belief.
Many people either don’t believe success is possible at all, or they doubt it’s possible for them personally.
This disbelief often stops them from taking even the first step towards success, as they question why they should start if they don’t think they can achieve their goals.
To combat this, it’s important to showcase real-life examples of successful shops, complete with publicly available numbers and data. Seeing concrete evidence of others’ success can help overcome doubt and inspire action, showing that these financial goals are indeed achievable for those who put in the effort.