Being an artistic person, design usually comes first. Expression and creativity is why you love it and making money from that isn’t easy.
Designing clothes is one option, as it is, of course, an extremely commercial product; something we can’t live without.
Setting up a shop involves a lot of risk and upfront capital. Setting up an online shop requires a lot of time, and ordering in your designed stock still requires money and risk.
Printed T-shirts
There are some alternatives, however. For example, you can make your own t-shirts, where you design and sell before you buy the stock.
This business model essentially means you design t-shirts on a print & drop-shipping platform, and place these up for sale on your own website/e-commerce store.
The integration between your site and their site allows you to essentially place your designs up for sale without purchasing the stock (and even before they’ve even been printed).
The sales on your platform will automatically communicate to the printing platform, and let them know what address to order to.
So when you make a sale, the middleman will print, ship and charge you upon a sale. So there is virtually no risk and no upfront costs.
This method can be a great extra revenue stream for those who are creatively inclined. You usually have to create a website though, which can be as difficult as you like it to be (drag & drop sites are easy but more expensive). Many see this as another opportunity to get creative and learn some selling skills.
This business model has revolutionized much of the internet. Dropshipping has reduced the barriers to entry drastically, meaning entrepreneurship has become more about differentiation and spending time than about having starting capital.
It doesn’t mean selling a few printed t-shirts will be your full-time job right away, but it is great to diversify your revenue streams. For example, it is something to fall back on if you get fired, a business fails or if you go traveling.
This is not just a source of revenue, but a great A/B testing for your designs. This is perhaps the best way to see how well-received your designs are, by seeing how many physical sales you get as opposed to just opinions.
What is great is that this has become a passive income economy. Much of these revenue streams do not require much maintenance or day-to-day hours. A website can be set up in a day, and designing can be as fast as you like.
Sales may or may not roll in, but there’s only one way to find out.
If you have a little extra time, then there are many ways to leverage your sales through digital marketing methods.
