Is it character traits, resolve, or a specific mindset that a person needs to run a business flawlessly?
I don’t know the answer, but that’s why I’ve invited Printful’s CEO, Dāvis Siksnāns, to help us understand his way to success.
What do you think is the future for print-on-demand and ecommerce?
Print-on-demand I think is just becoming more relevant these days than ever before. We see energy costs going up.
We see shipping costs going up. Supply chains are becoming more expensive and breaking down.
While print-on-demand is essentially about producing items closer to your customer and producing them only when somebody has bought them.
So that’s becoming more relevant, especially when companies struggle with keeping items that are in demand in stock,
or if something happens these days, which is happening faster and faster in pop culture.
You really cannot wait until you order something in bulk from overseas, then it’s put on a ship somewhere, arrives at a warehouse, and then gets sent to the customer.
You know, shows that are on streaming services, they go viral, and then this hype is over. To monetize the merchandise, you need to really react fast.
So print-on-demand actually comes in really handy in those cases.
All right. So it’s clear that the print-on-demand model and ecommerce in general has a lot of potential as an industry.
But some of our viewers are wondering why Printful’s price point is a little bit higher or on the higher end?
The main competitor of Printful really is the bulk production.
Where you can get one item on a piece basis cheaper because you're ordering in bulk.
But a lot of people just don’t really consider the total cost of ordering something in bulk, the cost of inventory and storing that, and especially the unsold inventory.
So if you compare to that, print-on-demand and Printful actually make sense because you are not risking a lot of things.
Compared to other print companies we’re focusing on quality. I often use this example of leggings.
I like to think that our leggings are actually leggings. If you make a comparison of leggings from other services, they are tights at best.
When we pick a fabric or decide on how these items will be made, we are not going for the cheapest fabric that’s going to yield the lowest price possible.
We’re trying to make things that we would ourselves also buy. But when you also think of the cost in general,
I remember reading a post in our community on Facebook. People were asking:
“How much did you spend to start a print-on-demand store with Printful?”
The majority of answers were like: “I didn’t spend anything. There was zero investment. No money upfront, just my time.”
So you have to look also from that perspective. Yes, the products might be a little pricier
because they are not produced in bulk and are produced in higher-cost areas like the United States, the UK, and Europe.
But you are not putting up any investment yourself. That risk bears on the shoulders of Printful.
By mitigating this aspect of overproduction and maybe some unsold stock when things are produced in bulk,
we’re kind of taking a little bit of the burden off of sustainability aspects that are very important to sellers nowadays.
It’s a very big point, especially for our larger customers that still sit on a lot of bulk production.
For a very long time, you will not be able to hide those piles. Especially public companies these days that are in the apparel space.
They have to publicly report how much stuff is unsold, and now it just increasingly has a bigger light to shine onto that.
Print-on-demand is an excellent way to start transitioning towards more sustainable production methods.
So I feel like it’s positive for companies that they can bear a lower risk of having this all unsold stock
that they have to get rid of, and also it’s a benefit for the planet.
Yes, and not only just that they are decreasing the amount of inventory risk, but they’re also increasing the inventory online.
Again, going back to the retail segment, you’re always limited by space. Every single design you cannot put up online.
Fashion retailers have a large inventory of designs that they had over the years,
and print-on-demand allows them to just be put up for sale indefinitely.
So for many people, running their store is their very first business.
And sometimes what helps is having someone to coach you through the process.
Do you think having this kind of coach or mentor is still relevant?
And do you have any tips for finding someone who would be a good mentor?
If you’re just starting out, maybe you’re a first-time entrepreneur, finding a good mentor is not that easy.
Like, you know, getting somebody really seasoned to commit time for you. It’s going to be really hard.
My recommendation’s actually to go for communities first. In our case, it’s ecommerce communities.
We do have our own, right on Facebook called Printful Insiders. So that’s a good resource for that.
But otherwise, I mean, there are online accelerators.
Maybe these days in-person accelerators are back for ecommerce stores specifically, or you can make your own.
In the early days of Printful, I both participated in a Mastermind or tried to form my own CEO Mastermind.
People of similar size companies would gather and exchange opinions and ideas, and basically try to help each other.
So maybe, you know, don’t focus on finding a single mentor, but go for a larger group. And these days you can do that online or in person.
And lastly, if you were to create a store today, what would you focus on?
What would you do that you think is a little bit different than what you would have thought to do like ten years ago?
Well, Printful actually started as a store per se. What inspired starting Printful was our own store “Startup Vitamins”.
So we do have a bit of that experience. Something that’s changed in the last ten years?
You know, we would focus likely just on a higher quality product and also involve a lot more sustainable items,
recycled items, organic items, or other sustainability aspects of the actual products you choose to put up for sale.
Something that’s also changed is that advertising costs have gone really up in not just the last two years,
but over the course of ten years. And they’re likely going to go up and continue to go up.
So you really need to focus on building your brand, adding items that are probably of a little higher quality and higher price point, and a more unique story.
I wouldn’t go for just the cheapest shirt with a simple design.
That way, you go down this rabbit hole of cheapest stuff and very ads-driven business.
The model for the now and the future is a very social media-driven business. So if you look at conversions on ecommerce stores
and how they’re actually generated and what influences them—social media is at an all-time high.
So you need to think about what you can do that is going to resonate with niches and audiences on social media.
Because that’s probably your best driving force for growth instead of just pure advertising.
OK, that sounds like super sound advice for anyone, who is starting a business in today’s day and age.
Thank you so, so much for coming, for joining us on an episode here. And where can people find you?
Where can people learn more from you and from your advice?
Well, thank you. These days I’m probably the most active on LinkedIn.
It’s a good resource. So just type my name on LinkedIn and follow me there.
So what do you think of this episode? Feeling excited and motivated enough to start your own print-on-demand business?
Follow the first link in the description to make that happen. If there are other intriguing topics you wish to see covered in future episodes,
the comment section is all yours. Thanks for watching. See you in the next video.