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How to start a 3d Printing business from home in 2022 Step by Step guide

Starting a 3d printing business from inside your home can be a great business idea with the global market valued at over 16 billion dollars. With 3d printing getting more popular and with everyone starting to realize the potential of what 3d printing can do for custom work you can jump on the front of this trend. In this guide on how to start a 3d printing business from home, I will show you some best tips and techniques to help ensure your success. 

3d printing image on black background - how to start a 3d printing business from home

There are many thing you need to consider when starting your 3d printing business with the main one being how are you going to finance the equipment. A good 3d printer is going to cost at least a thousand dollars with the best ones going for over $10,000 dollars. Good equipment is going to be essential to starting your business off on the right foot. If you have poor equipment your results will be sub-par and you will not get any repeat customers. 

Table of Contents

3d printing business step by step guide

Step 1: Choose your niche

Choosing your niche is going to the one thing that will set you up for success or failure. If you pick a niche that you are passionate about and specialize in it. there is a good chance that you will do good initially and have lots of business success. 

Why you should choose a niche?

Choosing a niche will allow you to become known as a 3d printing specialist in one particular field. This makes marking easier as you get to know your ideal customer better and you can charge more because you will be perceived as a expert in the field . 

Different niches available for 3d printing.

3d printing of prototypes and models for industrial: 

About 65% of 3D printing demand comes from engineers developing industrial, electronic or consumer products. In addition, industries such as design, engineering, technology, and medicine require mechanical devices, components, and chemical compounds. These companies have a part of their research and development dedicated to testing prototype designs or finding the right way to make a functional part. 3D printed parts and components not only speed up production time, but also reduce costs. 

Local 3d Printing Services:
This is a service that caters to local business who need to have 3d printing done but do not want to invest in a printer for a one time project or smaller. 
 
3d printed goods:
Another option is to create your own manufacturing business creating toys and other goods that you sell on your website. 

Step 2: Create a Minimum Viable Product (MVP)

Before you get too far in your business you need to determine if your business makes sense and if you can find customers for it. You should create some type of product and see if you can actually sell it and what someone would pay for it. 

Step 3: Test Your Idea or MVP

Once you have found your niche and come up with a prototype its time to start testing if you can acutally sell it in the real world. If you cannot sell it or your quality is not good enough, You need to keep improving it or come up with a better idea on what to sell. This will allow you to test your products ideas without investing a lot of money. 

4. Create a 3d printing business plan

A business plan for your printing business is an important tool for any entrepreneur or small business owner. It helps you to define your business goals, and map out a path to achieving them. It also forces you to look at your competition, and your target market to determine your marketing strategy. 

A well-crafted business plan can also help you to secure funding from investors or lenders. 

A business plan is essential for anyone who wants to start a business. Without one, it will be difficult to make your business successful.

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Here is what a good business plan should include –

  1. Executive summary – This is a brief overview of the whole plan, while not critically important for planning, it is if you are requesting funding from a bank or private equity.
  2. Company description – A good company description should include who you are, and your overall purpose for being in business
  3. Your business goals – What goals are you trying to achieve and how are you going to get there?
  4. Organization and management – Who are the leaders in your company, you should list out everyone who has a key role and what qualifications they bring to the table. 
  5. A description of your product and services – What are you actually going to be selling. 
  6. Market research – Who are your main competitors, what is the market size potential, and how do you plan on cracking the market. 
  7. Outline of your marketing and sales plans – What marketing mediums are you going to use? Traditional advertising, online advertising a sales team or word of mouth.
  8. Financial projection analysis – What are your numbers going to look like the first year. What return are you expecting if everything goes according to plan.
  9. Appendix –
The purpose of a business plan is to give you a roadmap to follow and gives a document to present if you are requesting financing. 

Step 6: Create a business website

Creating a website for your 3d printing business is an incredibly powerful strategy to help gain more exposure and attract customers. It can be used to showcase 3d products and 3d services, provide additional information to potential customers, access valuable feedback from current customers, and establish trust with potential new clients.

Having a website encourages people to visit your business and look further into what you have to offer. Additionally, if someone doesn’t know it exists or where it is located, you won’t be accessed by them. Creating an online presence for your business also allows for 24/7 accessibility; website visitors can find out about your business at any time of the day or night.

Creating a business website is incredibly easy if you want to do it yourself. You can have your tax business website up and running in less than a day by using some templates following a YouTube tutorial.

The other option is go to Fiverr and pay someone less than 100 dollars to create a website for you. You can have simple 5 page website up and running very quickly

The pages you need to have on your 3d printing business website are:

Home page:

A website’s homepage is often the first impression made on a visitor, so it should be informative, well-designed, and easy to navigate. For businesses, this is especially important as it may decide whether or not the person clicking around decides to make a purchase.

When deciding what to include on your website’s homepage it is best to highlight key elements of your business such as selling points or unique information about you as well as make sure contact information and other important information is easily accessible.

It can also be helpful to showcase customer testimonials or reviews so that potential customers have an idea of the positive experiences others have had with your services. The website’s home page should provide visitors with all the pertinent information they need in order to learn more about your product/service while encouraging them to stay awhile and explore!

About you page:

A good About page is essential for any website. It is an opportunity to introduce yourself and your business to the world and to your potential customers. This is where you talk about your experience and why you are qualified to work on taxes for your clients.

Crafting a creative, compelling, and professional about page will help promote yourself, your skills and experiences, and create a trusting relationship between you and visitors of your site. The about page should also include links or a contact form so that visitors can reach out to you with any questions they may have. With a solid about page as part of your website, you’ll be in great shape to make lasting connections!

Pricing Page:

A lot of business shy away from creating a pricing page but it ends up costing them business and clients. Why you may not have a way to tell a potential client exactly what you are going to charge you can give them some general ideas on what it may cost.
If you are going to charge by the hour you can put your hourly rate in and if it is going to be by the job you can put what is the typical range you would charge with a disclaimer that you need to talk to the business before you can give a formal quote.

Having a pricing page also helps you not to waste your time with individuals who are not qualified to work with your or your ideal client.

 

Contact us Page:

Make sure clients have a way to get hold of you from your website. You should have multiple ways like

  • Email
  • telephone
  • A form they can fill out
  • Facebook page
  • Mailing address

All this will add credibility to your business and show your potential customers that you are serious about providing them with the best service that they could receive.

Step 7: Start marketing your 3d printing business

Marketing your business can be a challenging and exciting experience. With the right approach, however, you can ensure that you are effectively promoting your business and reaching out to potential customers.

 Implementing new strategies to market your business can help bring more attention to it and increase conversions over time.

Your very first marketing strategy should be word of mouth marketing. Word of mouth advertising is one of the most powerful forms of promotion a business can receive. Studies have shown that word of mouth advertising significantly increases trust, credibility and prompts customers to act upon purchasing a product or service.

That’s why businesses who provide excellent levels of service and quality customer experience will be rewarded with powerful organic growth generated from satisfied, loyal customers spreading the word. 

A marketer’s job in emphasizing their current network of customer advocates boils down to making it easier for them to share positive experiences about their business. 

Step 1. Tell Everyone you know about you new business:

You should start by telling everyone you know about your new business and what you are doing. It is best to be very specific and tell them what your ideal client is so they can keep you in mind when talking to any of your potential customers. 

Business owners and your potential customers are always looking for referrals to someone they can trust to do their taxes and if you can get a referral you almost have a guaranteed sale. 

Step 2. Create a referral network:

Research your customers and determine who they get their advice from. Is it a banker, lawyer, accountant, or local advisory group. This where you should focus your time. Reach out to some of these individuals and introduce yourself, tell them what your specialty is, and why you are the best choice for there customers. 

This can lead to a steady flow of clients and referrals that can give you more business than you can handle. 

Step 3. Start a blog on your website and social media page:

Starting a blog on your website and social media page where you can share some tips and tricks for taxes can be a great way to get some business. If you talk about issues that are important to business owners and show them how to save some money, you are going to be perceived as an expert and your will gain more business. 

Step 4. Invest in some paid ads:

Paid advertising is still one of the best ways to get some business. There are multiple places to use paid advertising but the most effective right now are Google ads and Facebook ads. 

Both of these advertising programs will give you some customers but it takes some trial and error to get it right. 

Facebook advertising for home-based 3d printing business:

Facebook advertising is quickly becoming one of the most popular methods of targeted marketing, due to its extremely wide-reaching potential. Though it may seem daunting at first, utilizing this powerful tool can be surprisingly simple with a few basic steps. 

Start by deciding who your ideal customer is and who you are targeting.  Then, craft an eye-catching ad that draws their attention to your home-based tax prep business in a unique way. Next, select any available options such as image or video ads, sponsored stories and page post ads, depending on the nature of what you’re promoting. Finally, decide how much you’d like to outlay for each separate ad campaign and choose whether or not you’d like them to show on a daily or lifetime budget basis. 

Facebook advertising is an invaluable source for connecting businesses with potential customers in today’s digital world.

Google AdWords

Setting up a Google AdWords campaign can be daunting but, with the right guidance, it’s well within reach. Start by logging into your Google Ads account, then work your way through each step: from targeting and budgeting to setting up your campaign structure and ad. Make sure you select the relevant keywords for success and review any potential negatives. Once you have written your ad copy and set landing pages for each ad group, it’s time to launch your campaigns. Finally, remember to monitor and adjust your campaigns frequently as necessary – Google AdWords allows you to make changes quickly in order to continue optimizing towards better results!

Step 8: Purchase business insurance specifically for 3d printing businesses

Obtaining the right business insurance is essential for printing businesses. Every business has its own particular set of risks, and it’s important to ensure that your business is insured for those risks. You need to be able to trust that you have the most comprehensive coverage and to do so in an affordable manner. 

Working with professional brokers can help you research potential policies, evaluate coverages offered by different policies, compare rates across providers, understand tax incentives related to specific coverages, and make sure that your printing business is well covered.

Every state has different requirements when it comes to insurance and bonds. You will need to check locally with your state to determine what is correct coverage and policy for you.

It is also important to get business insurance specifically for a home based 3d printing business. There are specific things that must be taken into account that you need to be protected against like damage to property, potential injury liability and many other issues that a good insurance policy will protect against.  

Step 9: Open a Business Bank Account

A business bank account is a valuable asset for any business owner. Not only does it make record keeping and separating personal and business expenses easier, it adds credibility to your business. 

Customers feel better about working with you when they know that you have a legitimate business account rather than simply operating out of a personal checking or savings account. Furthermore, opening a business bank account can help you get better terms from lenders, since it shows that you understand the importance of managing finances responsibly and want to do so in the best way possible.

Having a dedicated business bank account will also ensure there are never any surprises or accidental withdrawals from your own funds. 

Step 10. Continually pivot to take advantage of new information and technology.

The best companies are continually pivoting to take advantage of new information and technology. As you start your business you will find out things that you didn’t even consider the first time around and these insights will allow you to take advantage of new opportunities and pivot to avoid potentially bad ones.

How much does starting a 3d printing business cost?

The cost of starting a 3d printing business is going to depend on your niche and what types of products you are creating. When trying to decide how much money you need to get started you have to look at a couple of different things. If it a very basic product that a low volume printer can handle it can be started for as little as $500.00. If you are going after large scale manufacturing businesses then your printer can cost $10,000.00 or more. 

There are some ways to start on a budget though. You can look for used printers that still have some life left in them, you could also look for business that are selling off some of their 3d printing machines. 

With a little creativity you should not let money stand in the way of staring your dream business. 

Is 3d printing at home profitable?

A lot of people wonder if 3d printing at home is profitable and the answer is yes it is profitable. A 3d home based business is just like any other business, if you are charging more than it cost to produce the product then you are going to have a profitable business. It will all come down to scale, you need to have enough business to scale profitably and keep working on your economy of scale. 

How much does 3d printing business make?

You may be wondering how much does a 3d printing business make and the answer may surprise you. The average 3d printing business has margins over 80% making it one of the most profitable business to start. 

It will all come down to the niche you choose to specialize in and what you need to make that happen. Once you have the cost of the machine paid for the product to create your work is relatively inexpensive and this is what makes the margins so good. 

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