From web developer to entrepreneur: The print-on-demand way

Making the leap from 9-to-5 to full-time seller

Before going all in on entrepreneurship, Ryan managed to juggle several income streams at once. 

“I’d be at work building websites for nonprofits, and with my spare time, I spent as much as possible building my print-on-demand business on the side and my FBA business.”

Even as his side hustles grew, he remained cautious about leaving a steady paycheck too soon. “I usually tell people to hold on to your day job as long as you can, as long as it makes sense,” he explained. 

Ryan felt that uncertainty firsthand. “For me, the first day was by far the scariest,” he said. “The back end of it is the finance side – understanding expenses, projected income, and whether I can cover my costs.”

However, by 2019, those ventures were outpacing his full-time income. But Ryan waited until 2020 to officially take the leap. Ironically, he left just a month before the pandemic hit, but never looked back. “I was happy to really embrace learning print on demand,” he said. 

Why patience and steady growth paid off

Ryan’s journey was built slowly, through trial and consistency. He often reminds new sellers that sustainable growth matters more than overnight results.

“People see me now and think it was overnight,” he said. “But it really was a very slow grind, and I was very methodical. I didn’t try to push it too hard initially.”

For the first two years, he handled everything manually. That hands-on approach helped him understand how print-on-demand worked from the ground up. “I faced the learning curve and took it slow,” he noted. 

Over time, as he learned and refined his process, the effort began to pay off. “It’s a completely different business today than it was back then,” Ryan said. “I was happy to embrace the slow phase.”

Research is at the core of Ryan’s approach to print-on-demand. He relies heavily on data, trends, and simple tools to decide what to create next. 

“I love a good research tool,” he said. “Amazon is especially my favorite because they make publicly available two data points that are extremely valuable. The date a listing was published and its Best Seller Rank.”

Those two metrics help him identify early signals before a trend becomes saturated. “If a listing was uploaded yesterday and already has a BSR, that means it sold,” Ryan explained. “That could be a sign of a coming trend.”

He also emphasizes the importance of due diligence – checking trademarks and avoiding copyrighted material before launching any product. Beyond research tools, he uses accessible design software like Kittl or Canva for quick creation, while occasionally turning to Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator. 

Scaling a print-on-demand business with Printful product templates

Managing thousands of listings across multiple marketplaces required a system that could save time without sacrificing quality. Printful’s product templates proved to be one of the tools that made this possible.

“I love talking about Printful templates,” he said. “You can open an account for free, integrate it with your eCommerce platforms, and create products rapidly.”

Using templates, Ryan can upload a single design and apply it to several products at once (like a t-shirt, hoodie, tote bag, or mug) with just a few clicks. Each product starts with a selection from the Printful Product Catalog, which he says makes setup simple. “You can create up to five products at a time,” he explained. “Then you can title each product once and publish it to your store directly.”

This process helped him scale faster while keeping operations simple. “Printful has accomplished something I really appreciate as a former web developer,” Ryan said. “They built a user-friendly interface that lets you do everything in as little time as possible.”

Expanding reach through multi-marketplace selling

“I have a mantra,” Ryan said. “Occupy as much online real estate as possible. In real life, real estate is expensive, but online real estate is cheap.”

That mindset led him to list his products across Amazon, Etsy, eBay, and even Walmart when the integration was available. “If somebody finds a trending t-shirt on Amazon, I also want that same shirt available on Etsy and eBay,” Ryan explained.

Thanks to Printful’s integrations, he managed all these stores from Printful’s Order tab. His products now reach customers across multiple marketplaces without multiplying the workload.

Beyond sales, the multi-marketplace presence helped his SEO (search engine optimization) rankings. “All of my product listings on Walmart were getting indexed on Google,” he said. “Same with my eBay, Etsy, and Amazon listings.” The more listings he published, the more touchpoints he created for customers searching online.