How to Start a Print on Demand Business in 2025: Step-by-step

In 2025, few business opportunities are as exciting or as accessible as print-on-demand (POD). Imagine designing anything from shirts to mugs and plates and having a customer buy it instantly from anywhere in the world. And all this without you ever needing to touch stock, packaging, or shipping! That’s the appeal of POD: no tedious inventory filing, low costs, and total scaling flexibility.

And even though POD is packed to the brim with opportunity, it’s not all that simple. There’s fierce competition, quality control issues, and shipping problems, and all of this might cause you a headache.

Luckily, our guide is here to give you a roadmap to success. So, if you’re thinking about turning your creativity into a full-time job, dive in and learn how to start a print-on-demand business by the end of the year.

What is print on demand?

Print on demand is, as the name suggests, a business model where products are created only when someone orders them. This means you don’t have to invest time and money in stock inventory, warehouses, and packaging. You can run everything straight from home. All you have to do is focus on creating amazing products and their promotion, and let your POD supplier handle everything else.
This approach significantly lowers the risks for small creators. So, you can experiment with new designs and test different products without worrying too much.

What can I sell with my print-on-demand business?

Another great advantage of POD is that you can sell pretty much anything. The most popular items include:

• Apparel (shirts, hoodies, caps, etc.)
• Tech accessories (phone cases, laptop sleeves, etc.)
• Home decor (mugs, pillows, blankets, etc.)
• Accessories (tote bags, jewellery, scarves, etc.)
• Stationery (notebooks, journals, stickers, greeting cards, etc.)

But you don’t have to limit yourself to these. The possibilities are endless, especially now that POD isn’t limited to just small items. As printing technology evolves, more premium products become available. Just imagine all the different amazing products you can now make!
Want to register your business quickly?
Set up your POD business company easily with ANNA - fast company registration, invoicing, and sorted tax: all in one place.

The basics of POD

In the POD business, most of your success will depend on choosing the right partners. These are the key players in the POD system:

Suppliers and fulfilment services

Once you have your designs, you need someone to turn them into products and ship those products to your buyers. Suppliers are working behind the scenes to ensure your products are printed, packed, and shipped to your customers. Choosing a reliable supplier ensures quality, fast shipping times, and, therefore, many happy customers.

Marketplaces

Nowadays, there are numerous platforms, such as Etsy, Redbubble, and Amazon Marketplace, that offer instant access to millions of potential customers. This might sound like a win-win, but keep in mind that where there’s a lot of traffic, there’s also a lot of tough competition, as well as higher fees that might end up eating into your profits.

Online storefronts

Going for your own online store might seem intimidating at first. However, when you take into account the freedom it gives you to run your online business however you want, it’s worth considering. The control you can have over branding, pricing, and scaling means there’s more long-term growth potential and higher earning potential.

Once you choose your preferred selling method, it’s time to set up your business. Here’s a quick financial overview to give you an estimate of how much it costs to register a company in the UK.

How to start a print-on-demand business: Step-by-step

A POD gig can be an easy, low-investment business, but setting it up can get tricky. Luckily, the whole process becomes much simpler when you break it down. Think of it as a simple flow:
Researching your niche - Choosing your supplier - Designing - Setting up your store - Marketing

Let’s walk through each stage together. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to start a print-on-demand business this year.

Step one: Find your niche

Before you start creating, you need to identify a niche that your business can fit into. Ideally, this niche will be just popular enough to drive sales, but not too oversaturated. Identifying a niche will help you stand out from other sellers and target your specific customer base.

Finding a niche is all about self-exploration. Think about it: would you want to make designs that you wouldn’t personally wear or carry around? Probably not. So if you want to create authentic designs and appeal to customers, start by exploring your own interests. Then you can search online on marketplaces and social media to see what’s currently trending. Find the sweet spot where people are passionate and ready to buy, but that isn’t dominated by big, established brands.

Before you fully commit, take these steps to confirm you have the right niche:

• Test your choice: Create a few sample designs, run some ads to see how much interest there is, and collect feedback through surveys.
• Find a balance: Once you strike a balance between passion, profitability and scalability, you’ll know you’ve struck gold. If you take the time to find this balance before starting your brand, you’ll save yourself a great deal of trouble later on.

Step 2: Choose your suppliers

Once you have your niche locked in, it’s time to think about which partners you want to work with. Suppliers are the foundation of your POD business. They handle everything from the customer’s click to buy to the shipping of the product. That’s why their reliability is crucial, so when choosing suppliers, pay attention to:

✔️Product quality - Always get some samples to check the quality of the print and materials.

✔️Product type - Some suppliers excel at apparel, others at home decor or accessories, so choose one that matches your niche and target audience.

✔️Printing options - Different suppliers offer different kinds of printing, so check them out and pick what best suits your products.

✔️Shipping times and fees - Shipping that’s both affordable and fast improves customer satisfaction.

✔️Platform integration - Make sure your supplier easily integrates with your chosen platform for seamless automation of order processing.

Blending the right supplier and platform will help your business thrive, so take the time to research different options.

Step 3: Get creative

Because the POD market is so competitive, your brand identity and designs have to set you apart from all the other sellers. There are some general rules to making high-quality, eye-catching designs that will draw buyers in, so let’s dive right in.

1.Design

To make sure your designs stand out and look good on your products, pay attention to:

🎨File resolutions and formats - High-resolution images in PNG or JPEG formats will typically yield the best results.

🎨Design tools - For more artistic work, make use of tools like Adobe Illustrator, Canva or Procreate.

🎨Mockups - Create realistic mockups that showcase how your designs transfer to real products.

🎨Trends - Keeping up with trends is important, but make sure you add your unique twist!

2.Branding

Creating a recognisable brand helps build customer trust and loyalty, and helps with marketing your business. This is what makes a strong brand image:

🏷️Logo - Creating a recognisable, memorable logo helps draw the attention of new customers and improves the chances of previous customers returning to your shop.

🏷️Brand colours - Keeping your brand’s visual identity consistent with your colour palette through your website, products, and packaging makes your brand even more memorable.

🏷️Brand voice - Is your messaging professional, playful, or mysterious? Decide on an overall tone for your creations to draw in more customers.

🏷️Packaging - Consider how your branding style can shine through your packaging, thank-you notes, and packaging labels.

3.Protecting your designs

There’s no point in learning how to start a print-on-demand business if you don’t know how to protect it. And the first part of protecting your business is protecting your designs.

🔒Copyright - Copyright applies automatically to your original designs. However, if you plan to scale your business (especially if you want to sell internationally), you should consider registering with the UK Copyright Service or Copyright House.

🔒Trademark - If you want your POD business to become a large brand, you can register a trademark to gain exclusive rights to your brand name or logo.

💡Pro-tip: Use the ANNA name search tool to check if a brand name is already registered. For trademarks, you can use IPO’s trademark search tool.

A good, strong brand image will help you stand out and encourage repeat purchases and social media shares, which will boost your business growth potential.

Step 4: Setting up your store

Once you have your designs ready, it’s time to set up your store. There are three main points to cover when creating your POD marketplace: building your store, setting your policies, and making sure your business is legally compliant.

1.Building your store

🛒Product pages - Focus on creating clear, attractive product pages with great quality images. If you don’t have a professional setting for taking pictures, don’t worry! You can always use online mockups instead. It’s also super important to include accurate sizing instructions for clothing and detailed descriptions for items.

🛒Checkout experience - Make sure the checkout process is seamless, mobile-friendly and simple.

🛒Payment options - Include multiple payment options from trustworthy providers like PayPal, Apple Pay, or digital wallets. Make sure your own business bank account is fast and reliable, in order for all payments to work efficiently.

2.Setting policies

📃Refunds & returns - Outline your policies regarding returns and refunds clearly, especially for personalised and custom-made products.

📃Shipping details - Make sure your shipping details, like processing times, delivery estimates, and international options, are transparent and available to customers.

📃Personal data - If you collect any personal information, protect your customer data by following UK GDPR rules.

3.Legal compliance

⚖️Registering your company - You’ll have to register your business by deciding whether you’ll be a sole trader or set up a limited company - each has different rules for tax, growth, and liability. And if you want the process as easy as it gets, ANNA’s company registration is the way to go.

⚖️Ensuring tax compliance - Stay on top of taxes by tracking your income and keeping up with VAT registrations, or let ANNA+Taxes handle things for you while you focus on creating.

⚖️Protecting your designs - Safeguard your designs with copyright and trademark, and always double-check to make sure you’re never infringing someone else’s work. Save yourself trouble in the future by checking your name for free on ANNA’s website in advance.

Once your store is set up, you can start sharing them with the world! But for anyone to see them, you’ll have to tackle another topic: marketing.

Step 5: Marketing

Nothing will sell itself, not even your most amazing POD designs. To really launch your print-on-demand business, you need a solid marketing strategy. Of course, in the hyper-digital world of 2025, digital marketing is the most effective way to reach your audience. Even if you’re marketing on a budget, you can see amazing results if you focus on:

📱Social media ads

Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook: all of these platforms allow targeted campaigns that can reach audiences in your niche quickly and efficiently. Many POD sellers create short “pack an order with me” or “new design reveal” videos that quickly go viral on TikTok and other social media, driving sales.

📱Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

Invest time into optimising your product pages to appear in organic searches across Google and marketplaces.

📱Influencer marketing

If possible, collaborate with influencers in your niche to gain trustworthiness and authentic exposure for your brand. You can even send your upcoming products to different influencers or vloggers, who can show them to their followers.

📱E-mail marketing

Your most loyal customers will want first dibs on your new products. Build a mailing list to announce new designs, limited editions or promo codes.

📱Include social proof

Encourage your customers to leave reviews, share their products online via pictures or unboxing videos to build trust among your customer base. Repost your customers’ content and add trending hashtags to gain even more exposure.

2025 trends for POD businesses

Now that you know how to start a print-on-demand business, it’s time to look at how to make it thrive in 2025. Keep a lookout for these trends:

🌱Eco-friendly products - Modern shoppers are trying harder and harder to be sustainable and eco-conscious. Items made from recycled materials in sustainable ways have never been more popular. Many supplies offer eco-friendly collections featuring organic cotton shirts, tote bags and more. So create some nature-inspired designs and connect with sustainable buyers.

🖌️ Customisation & personalisation - Personal designs and limited editions keep brands on customers’ minds, which makes them come back for more. Try to appeal to your buyers’ personalities by celebrating hobbies or unique quirks they might have. You can also offer customisable patterns, so your buyers can add their own personal touch.

📦Fast shipping - Today’s customers expect quick and safe deliveries, so partner with suppliers who can meet these expectations. Keep in mind that customers value sustainability, so if you can, opt for plastic-free packaging and eco-friendly materials.

🖼️Artistic collabs - Partnering with other independent artists to create co-branded products gets customers excited and exposes your products to new eyes. So reach out to artists who have a similar style, and get creative together!

Let ANNA help you start your POD business:

Keep your POD business finances simple and stress-free with ANNA!

With ANNA, you can:

✅Register a UK limited company online in minutes
✅Open a business account and send invoices, receive payments, and stay on top of cash flow
✅Get help with taxes like VAT, PAYE, and Corporation Tax
✅Get 24/7 customer support

Save time on admin and focus on your designs and customers!