How I Sold 100,000 T-Shirts Using Print On Demand

The speaker, a successful print-on-demand entrepreneur, shares five critical mistakes to avoid in the business. These include not selecting a specific niche, which hampers targeted marketing, and maintaining a slow website, which deters customers. They emphasize the importance of choosing a reliable printer, as unreliable services can lead to delays and dissatisfied customers. Monitoring finances closely is crucial to avoid unexpected financial discrepancies. Lastly, they highlight the risk of offering unique colors that may become out of stock, causing logistical nightmares. The speaker encourages sharing experiences to help others in the print-on-demand community.

• Selecting a niche is crucial for success in print on demand; a lack of focus can lead to a disorganized product offering.
• A niche allows for targeted marketing and better traffic optimization, saving time and money.
• Passion for the niche can enhance product appeal and marketability.

"When I was first starting out in print on demand, my first store had absolutely no niche whatsoever. I simply went on to Etsy, went on to Google, I was looking up different t-shirt designs and basically just picking out what I liked and thought other people would also like."

• The speaker's initial approach lacked strategic focus, leading to a disorganized product range.

"There was no rhyme, no reason; there was florals, there were humorous shirts, there was plant shirts, car shirts, you name it."

• This lack of niche resulted in a chaotic assortment of products, hindering effective marketing.

"If you're super passionate about it, I'm sure other people are also super passionate about it."

• Passion for a niche can resonate with customers, fostering a dedicated audience and enhancing sales potential.

• Slow website speed can deter customers, leading to lost sales and revenue.
• As businesses grow, increased data and applications can slow down site performance.
• Best practices like optimizing image sizes can help maintain site speed.

"Have you ever gone to a website and you're trying to, let's just say, look for a cute top to wear out for one night, and you're trying to get on the website and it just simply isn't loading?"

• Slow site speeds frustrate potential customers, leading to abandoned visits and lost sales.

"This is something that happens as companies get bigger and bigger and they need more data and more space for all the products that they're putting on their site."

• Growth can negatively impact site speed due to increased data demands, requiring proactive management.

"If it's not loading, then people aren't going to be checking out."

• Ensuring quick site loading times is essential for converting visits into sales, preventing revenue loss.

• Monitoring Shopify analytics is crucial for understanding and improving your store's performance.
• Site speed is a key factor in conversion rates; faster loading times can lead to higher conversion rates.
• Regularly check and optimize site speed by compressing product photos and removing unused ads to improve customer experience and save time and money.

"Seeing that your conversion rate is really low, your site speed is really low. Chances are if you fix that site speed, more people are going to convert."

• Improving site speed is directly linked to increasing conversion rates, as faster sites retain more visitors.

"Don't be sleeping on those Shopify analytics. They're there for a reason."

• Shopify analytics provide valuable insights that should be actively used to enhance store performance.

"Shopify recently changed what their site speed looks like... loading speed, and it gives you a rating of good or great or bad."

• Shopify provides a clear rating system for site speed, which can guide improvements.

• Selecting a reliable print on demand provider is essential for maintaining customer satisfaction and operational efficiency.
• Experience with multiple providers reveals that not all deliver on promises of better pricing, faster shipping, or expanded product offerings.
• Prini is highlighted as a dependable choice based on personal experience, offering reliable service and customer support.

"Mistake number three, this would simply be picking a bad printer. I've worked with numerous print on demand companies, and some of them just do not live up to what they say that they can do."

• Choosing the wrong print provider can lead to operational issues and customer dissatisfaction.

"I still to this day use Prini. I've started with Prini, I've left Prini, and I found out that the grass isn't always greener on the other side and came back to Prini."

• Personal experience underscores the reliability of Prini compared to other providers.

"It should not take 30 days to print a T-shirt and get it to a customer's doorstep in the United States."

• Delays in product delivery, especially domestically, can harm customer trust and satisfaction.

• Keeping a close watch on finances is critical for the success and sustainability of a print on demand business.
• Detailed financial oversight can prevent overspending and ensure profitability.

"But remember my last mistake is the biggest mistake that I've made so far in my print on demand career, so don't miss out on finding out what that is."

• Financial mismanagement is implied as a significant mistake, highlighting the importance of financial vigilance.

• Maintaining accurate financial records is crucial in managing a print on demand business.
• A balance sheet is essential for understanding cash flow and ensuring it matches the profit and loss statement (P&L).
• Discrepancies between balance sheets and P&L can lead to financial stress and confusion.
• Regularly checking financial statements can prevent small errors from becoming significant problems.

"When I finally ran a balance sheet, I would almost throw up because my balance sheet was not matching my P&L, which they're supposed to correlate with one another."

• This quote highlights the importance of ensuring that financial documents align to avoid financial discrepancies.

"I missed out on like accounting for $20,000 from Printify... this was a rookie mistake."

• Demonstrates the potential financial impact of oversight in accounting, stressing the need for meticulous financial tracking.

"I highly suggest running a daily P&L and a daily balance sheet that way you're keeping a very close eye on your finances."

• Emphasizes the importance of daily financial monitoring to quickly identify and resolve discrepancies.

• Choosing popular colors for products can prevent inventory issues.
• Uncommon colors may lead to out-of-stock problems, especially when scaling ads.
• Reliable inventory management is critical for customer satisfaction and business success.

"If you are picking a color that only one or two printers have, you may be digging yourself into a huge hole."

• Warns against selecting niche product options that may lead to fulfillment challenges.

"There's a chance of running into the issue of out of stock... if you have an ad that scales and does really well."

• Highlights the risk of popular campaigns being hindered by inventory shortages, affecting sales and customer experience.

• The speaker experienced a significant logistical issue with a popular T-shirt design that caused a major disruption in their print-on-demand business.
• A specific T-shirt color, "tropical blue," became unexpectedly popular, leading to a massive increase in orders that exceeded the printer's stock availability.
• The lack of inventory management and communication with the printer resulted in customer dissatisfaction, refunds, and financial losses.

"The tropical blue T-shirt with the design that I had on Facebook ads completely scaled like I mean we probably sold 30,000 t-shirts with this color and design so of course it turned into a huge logistical nightmare."

• This quote highlights the unexpected success and subsequent challenges of scaling a specific product in a print-on-demand business.

"I ended up having to go in and refund all of these customers orders because we just could not keep up with the pace."

• The speaker emphasizes the financial and operational impact of the inventory shortage, leading to refunds and customer dissatisfaction.

• The speaker learned to avoid selecting unconventional colors that may not be readily available in large quantities.
• They now prefer to stick with more common colors that are typically well-stocked by printers to prevent similar issues.
• The experience taught them the importance of understanding inventory levels and having reliable communication with suppliers.

"To this day, I very, very rarely will pick colors that are outside of the norm."

• The speaker has adjusted their product strategy based on past experiences to avoid similar logistical challenges in the future.

"We don't know the inventory, we don't know the stock, but you can work with their customer service to get an idea of how much they have."

• The speaker advises engaging with customer service to better understand inventory levels and prevent stock-related issues.

• The speaker encourages others to share their business mistakes to help prevent similar issues for others in the industry.
• They believe that discussing challenges and solutions can foster a supportive community among entrepreneurs.

"I think talking about these mistakes will help prevent others from stumbling into the same mistakes and situations."

• The speaker advocates for open communication about business challenges to create a learning environment for others.

• The speaker invites listeners to join a community for networking and support among those involved in print-on-demand.
• They provide resources and a platform for connecting with others facing similar business challenges.

"I've linked the school community on this description if you would like to join and network with other people who are in print on demand and new to print on demand."

• This quote highlights the speaker's efforts to build a community where entrepreneurs can share experiences and resources.