Are you ready to start a business of your own, but you don’t want to deal with the headache of actually creating products and shipping them to customers yourself?

Maybe you’re looking for a convenient, low-effort (and low-cost) way of earning cash from your creativity.

Launching your own print on demand business could be the answer. POD is one of the few ways to launch your own business with virtually no upfront costs.

In 2025, as the dropshipping space grows more saturated, and interest in sustainable, creative, and personalized products continues to grow, I can see POD becoming more attractive than ever.

That’s why I’m going to show you how to set up your own POD company, using one of my favorite platforms – Gelato.

What is Print on Demand?

Print on Demand (or POD) is a business model, similar to dropshipping that allows you to sell products without having to actually purchase or create your own inventory in advance.

You simply partner with a vendor (like Gelato), that gives you a range of customizable products to choose from, add your own designs, and sell them through your own ecommerce website.

When customers place an order for one of the products you sell, you send their information to your POD partner, and they print your design onto a pre-existing product (like a t-shirt, a mug, or a sweater), package it, and ship it to your customer. Simple!

Interest in this business model has skyrocketed in recent years. In fact, by 2031, the market for POD solutions is even expected to grow to a value of more than $39 billion.

The reason for this is that print on demand, like dropshipping, gives you the freedom to launch your business with virtually no upfront costs or hassle.

You don’t have to manage your own inventory, or purchase any specialist machinery or warehousing spaces.

Plus, just like with dropshipping, it’s easy to scale your business, experimenting with new products with absolutely no risk.

Plus, unlike dropshipping, you’re not limited to selling the exact same product as everyone else. You can customize every item you sell with unique designs, making it easier to stand out in the industry.

Benefits of Choosing Gelato for Your POD Business

Gelato isn’t the only print on demand partner out there. I’ve used a lot of different platforms over the years, including similar options like Printful and Printify, and marketplace-style platforms like Spring (TeeSpring) and Redbubble.

But there are a few reasons why I consider Gelato to be a premium choice for POD beginners.

First of all, Gelato is a company that puts sustainability first. I don’t just mean they use sustainable materials and inks to create products.

They actively minimize carbon emissions by working with local manufacturers to reduce how far products need to travel to reach customers.

This focus on sustainability is going to be really important in the years ahead, particularly now that customers say they’d happily pay 9.7% more for eco-friendly goods.

Beyond that, with Gelato, you get:

• High-quality products: Gelato has a fantastic reputation for delivering consistently high quality. Check out the thousands of reviews on channels like TrustPilot and you’ll notice plenty of people mentioning “top-tier” printing quality and materials.
• Reduced costs: Recently, Gelato reduced its product costs by around 40% site-wide, meaning higher profit margins for businesses. Plus, you even get access to free resources, like editing tools, graphics, and Shutterstock images.
• Fast delivery times: Gelato’s global network of printing partners ensure your products reach customers quickly (often within just a few days). Delivery fees are low too, so you can even potentially offer customers free shipping to increase conversion rates.

On top of all that Gelato integrates with a range of ecommerce platforms like WooCommerce, Shopify, TikTok, Amazon and Etsy, and the platform is packed with educational resources for beginners.

You can even choose to use the platform for free, or take advantage of premium plans for extra benefits.

Comparing Gelato with Other POD Platforms

Honestly, Gelato does have a lot in common with some of the other popular print on demand platforms I’ve tried, like Printful and Printify.

Those platforms also have global fulfillment networks, offer integrations with a range of channels, and even offer eco-friendly products.

However, there are a few areas where Gelato really stands out. The pricing for Gelato’s is extremely competitive, for instance, particularly now that the company has reduced base product costs across its portfolio.

The delivery times are a lot faster than you’ll get on other platforms too – about 90% of orders reach customers in less than five days.

Plus, while other companies ship products worldwide, Gelato is one of the few companies to actually partner with local printing companies – which has a huge impact on its sustainability.

One other thing I really like about Gelato is how easy the platform makes it to customize products.

As mentioned above, you get a suite of free editing tools to work with, endless Shutterstock images and graphics you can use on your products, and there’s even a “personalization studio” you can add to your store, so customers can customize products themselves.

If you’re still not sure about Gelato, I’d recommend checking out some of the amazing customer success stories on the company’s website.

There are tons of great examples of individual sellers who have made a fortune using Gelato for print on demand.

Step-by-Step Guide to Setting Up Your POD Business with Gelato

The good news for anyone thinking of setting up a print on demand business with Gelato, is that it’s extremely easy to get started.

This step-by-step guide will walk you through each stage of the process, and give you a few handy tips for success, based on my own experience.

Step 1: Preparing to Launch your POD Business

First, you’ll need to figure out what you’re going to sell, and who you’re going to target with your print on demand products.

The most important thing you can do here is make sure you don’t go too “broad” with your business straight away.

The print on demand landscape might not be as saturated as the dropshipping space, but there’s still a lot of competition out there.

Choosing a specific niche to focus on is a great way to set yourself apart from the crowd. For instance, you might focus on high-quality sustainable clothing, maternity wear, or artistic home décor products.

To find your niche, I recommend starting by identifying what you’re passionate about, like watercolor art, or clothing, then find out what’s trending.

Use tools like Google Trends to learn about customer demand and identify whether your idea is actually profitable.

Research your target market, and find out what matters most to them – for instance, do they care more about sustainable products, high-quality materials, or low prices?

Develop a business plan, pinpointing specific goals or targets you want to achieve, and remember to consider your budget. Although POD has minimal startup costs, you’ll still need to invest in things like an ecommerce platform, marketing campaigns, and branding.

Step 2: Setting up your Gelato Account

Now you know what you want to sell and who you’re going to be targeting, head to the Gelato website and click on the “Sign up for free” button.

Choose whether you want to sign up with an existing account (such as Google or Facebook), or enter your email address and a new password.

When you first sign in, Gelato will ask you a few questions about your goals, what kind of products you’re interested, and so on.

Next, you’ll be sent to the Gelato dashboard, where you can check out the products you can customize, experiment with the personalization studio, and start experimenting with the features.

I’d recommend taking some time to try out Gelato’s product templates, explore branded packaging options, and visit the resource center if you’re a beginner.

Step 3: Connecting Gelato with your Online Store

Unlike some alternative POD platforms, such as Spring, Gelato doesn’t have a marketplace you can list your products on.

Instead, you’ll need to connect an existing ecommerce platform or marketplace to your Gelato account, you can do this by clicking the “Stores” button on the Gelato dashboard and choosing the integration you want to take advantage of.

Choosing a direct integration probably the easiest option if you’re new to Print on Demand. Gelato will walk you through the process of connecting your store, step-by-step, but the process does vary depending on the platform you choose.

For instance, if you pick Shopify, you’ll be taken to the Shopify app marketplace, where you can install the Gelato app on your existing website. You’ll be asked to enter some details, and sign into your accounts on both platforms to get started.

Once you’ve connected both platforms, you’ll be able to add products from Gelato into Shopify, and set up automated fulfillment processes.

The whole process is really straightforward, and there are some handy guides on the Gelato website for getting started with each integration option too.

Step 4: Designing and Adding Products

Now it’s time to start actually designing your products (the fun part!) If you’re new to Gelato, I’d definitely recommend taking a look at their wall art collection.

Gelato has the widest selection of wall art available worldwide, and a huge range of unique options to choose from. You can experiment with wood, aluminum, foam, and fine art Giclee.

These products are very competitively priced (considering the quality), and they’re delivered quickly to customers. Gelato has some of the fastest turnaround times of any POD company – particularly in Europe.

Head back to your Gelato dashboard, and click on “product catalog” to start browsing through options. You can filter through products based on the category you’re interested in, your shipping region, and even colors.

Choose a product and click “Create Order” to customize the item.

You’ll be taken to Gelato’s design tool, where you can choose different printing technology options (like DTG or Embroidery), colors, and sizes.

You can also select where you want to add designs to your products (such as on the front, back, or the sleeves), and upload designs straight from your PC into the designer. Alternatively, you can use Gelato’s existing design resources.

For instance, you can browse through a selection of stickers, shapes, free graphics, font options, and even images straight from Shutterstock.

Once you’ve chosen the designs you want to add to your product, you can drag and drop them into different positions, change the sizes of different images, and even experiment with new color palettes.

What I really love about Gelato’s design tools is they show you in real-time how much your base product is going to cost based on the elements you’re adding.

Plus, the design tool rates the quality of the images you’re uploading, so you know straight away if they have a poor “DPI”, which could lead to a problematic (low-quality) print.

After you create your products, save your template, and head to the “Templates” section in your dashboard to add the item to your store.

You can also place orders manually from Gelato in this section, if you want to order a sample before uploading anything to your website.

Step 5: Setting Up Pricing and Shipping

After you add a product to your store from Gelato, you’ll be able to set your prices, and adjust shipping policies for anything you want to sell.

Gelato gives you complete freedom when it comes to setting prices. I’d recommend aiming for a profit margin of around 30% or above, based on the base price of your product.

However, you might want to experiment with different pricing strategies to begin with, based on what you know about your competitors and their prices.

Setting up shipping profiles is really simple, particularly if you’re using an integration like Gelato’s connection with Shopify.

You can take advanced of pre-configured profiles, that help to streamline fulfillment and keep delivery costs low (and delivery speeds high).

You can also integrate Gelato’s live shipping rates into your checkout process, to show your customers exactly what they’re going to pay for each item immediately.

Here’s a quick guide to integrating the live shipping rates feature.

Step 6: Launching and Promoting your Store

Finally, all that’s left to do is launch your store and start promoting your products. Make sure your website is well-designed and user-friendly, and start experimenting with different promotional methods. Some of the top options I recommend include:

• Social media marketing: Set up an account on the social networks where you know your customers will be looking for products and recommendations, like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Pinterest and even YouTube. Show off your products with regular posts, run competitions, and tell your customers what makes your business unique.
• Email marketing: Set up a landing page or form that offers customers access to something in exchange for their contact details (like a discount on their first order). Use an email marketing tool like MailChimp or Klaviyo to nurture your audience with regular newsletters where you introduce new products, highlight upcoming sales, or share news about your business.
• Influencer marketing: Influencers can be fantastic for scaling your business. Work with people who have the same values as your business (such as a focus on sustainability), and an existing connection with your target audience. Send them free products to review on their social channels, and ask them for help connecting with your customers.

Remember to track the results of your marketing campaigns consistently, so you can make sure you’re investing your time and money into the right strategies.

Ready to Get Started with Print on Demand?

The print on demand landscape is growing faster than ever, and I think opportunities in this space will only continue to grow in the years ahead, particularly as customers search for more sustainable, personalized, and unique products online.

If you want to take advantage of the POD revolution, Gelato makes it quick and easy to create products, and start making serious profits.

Sign up for a free account today, and start experimenting with product options and marketing tactics. You’ll be on your way to running a successful, creative business in no time.