How to start 3D Printing Business in 2020

Forget about starting a 3D Printing business or selling lithophane making business for a moment.

Just think of the ideal conditions and perfect scenario to start any business. Many business experts suggest that the following scenarios are suitable for growing your business from scratch.

Factors for a successful business

• You should focus on a particular niche at least at the beginning.
• Your niche or business industry must have a long term vision that means even after 20 years from now, people still would be interested in your service or a product like they are right now.
• The rapidly growing industry also beneficial to boost your initial journey of creating or launching a business.

Now, let me help you to understand why you should start 3D Printing business right now.

I will support the above statement with statistics instead of any theoretical concept.

Why should you consider 3D Printing technology as a business idea?

1. The 3D Printing industry is expected to reach the market value of USD 49.74 billion which is almost 6 times than the market value recorded in 2017, as per the report of verified market research.
2. Let’s talk about the profitability of this emerging industry. It is estimated based on the demand analysis that revenue from this industry could reach USD 35.6 billion in 2024, according to Wohlers Report 2019.
3. What about the scope and opportunities of small business? Well, you might be unaware of the variety of application of 3D Printing in different fields which can make you a good amount of money. All of the scopes of starting a business with your 3d printer is described later in this post.
4. Let’s add competition. Though there is competition in this industry, the demand is also going to expand exponentially. Hence, you still had a chance of earning money by solving your customer’s need with the help of 3D Printer.

Did you already find 3D printing as a sustainable business model which will be in demand even after 20 years from now?

If you still have any doubt, read this blog. Because in this article, I have shared all the stuff from a proper 3d printing business model to how to different business ideas for 3d printing.

I have a request for you.

Will you accept?

Before talking about earning money from 3d printing technology, please learn about 3D Printing and its principle which will help you in the long term.

It will take a few minutes. That’s all.

Let’s understand what 3D Printing is?

First of all, 3D Printing is not just a technology but also a mind-blowing invention which lets you copy almost anything that you see.

For example, you have just seen a beautiful flower vase at your friend’s house. Now, if you own a 3D printer and a little knowledge about operating some software, you will be able to replicate that exact vase you just saw your friend’s place.

That’s really amazing.

Not only that.

Let’s say you have imagined a brilliant idea for your final year project. But then you realize that you need some part to assemble to give a final look to your project.

Would you stop doing your project now?

Obviously Not.

3D printing lets you create anything you can imagine.

Just learn to operate some software with little time and you can print your objects now.

It’s that easy.

Now, let’s move to the second part.

How does a 3D Printer work?

In case you haven’t seen any 3d printer working, this might help you in understanding the working principle of 3d printer

Let’s understand in simplest words. No technical shit!

There is a 3d printer which has a tiny nozzle or you can say a tiny hole. Again there is a heating part of the 3d printer which actually melts the plastic or material used for 3d printing.

Now it starts printing by melting the plastic material and extruding the same melted plastic from that tiny hole on a bed surface. This works by extruding plastic at one layer at a time.

This means 3d printer will first print only one layer at a time. After finishing the first layer, the 3d printer will start extruding the second layer upon the first layer.

By doing layer by layer print your object will take shape.

But?

How does a 3d printer understand when to move, where to move the nozzle (a tiny hole fitted to the 3d printer to extrude filament), and how much to move the nozzle?

For this reason, your 3d file or the file that you made on your software needs to be converted in a file format which your 3d printer understands.

Hopefully, this file format is known as G.code.

Let me recall the whole step once again so that you get to know everything about the working principle of 3d printing.

Steps to recall the 3d printing process

1. First, you make a 3D model- an Stl file.
2. Then you convert the STL file into GCode by using a slicing software (Cura, simplified 3d, and more)
3. Insert the GCode to the input of 3D Printer.
4. Your printer starts heating to the point where your filament (the material used for 3d printing is known as filament) will start melting.
5. Your 3D Printer levels the surface on which your object will be made.
6. The nozzle of the 3D Printer starts extruding the melted filament by layer by layer process.
7. Wait for a few hours
8. Boom. Finally, you get what you wanted.

Okay till now you have gained a lot of knowledge regarding the 3D Print.

Let’s start talking about the budget you need to invest in your business plan.

Most profitable business models regarding 3D Printing to start now

In this list, you will find the most practical business plan that you can start right now, even if you have zero technical knowledge about 3D printing.

Let’s unlock the list of amazing ideas

1. 3D Miniature studio

Sounds like less profitability idea?

Wait!

Since many people or most of the people do not own a 3D printer. Hence it is very hard for them to create a mini replica of themselves.

Then why don’t you take advantage of this?

The business plan is pretty simple. You will start the service in which you will make a 3D Printed miniature for your customers. Instead, they will pay you.

Why do I think that people would love to buy these items?

First, people always look for a unique and different product. Because it’s our nature or desire to choose a product that no one owns.

Second, It’s already popular. I mean its not like you have to aware people about what a 3d selfie or 3d miniature looks like and how cool it is to own one.

Let me show you the search volume of the keyword 3d selfie.

This shows that there are at least 1.6 k people who already know about 3D Printing or eager to buy 3D Printed miniature search about 3d selfie.

This means you too have a chance of making your own service as well. Again, you can market your products to the people who don’t know much about this product.

By doing this way, you will be able to explore more and more customers.

Again, you can also notice the keyword difficulty of that keyword as well. This indicates the low competition in the industry of 3d printing.

Platform to sell your service or products

Seriously you have both online and offline platform to truly utilise the market.

First thing you need to do is create an eCommerce site where you will start selling your 3D Selfie. This will help you to make your service a bit more professional and it also gives a credential to your online presence.

Well, starting an eCommerce site will also help you in the longterm as well.

How?

Let’s say you want to expand your service and want to add 3d print on demand since you have 3D Printer you can do anything.

Then your online presence will help the existing customers to know more about your extended list of services at a minimal cost.

In the other hand, the offline store will help you in getting local customers as well.

What do you need to start a miniature studio?

You will require one additional thing apart from 3D Printer which is 3D Scanner. A 3D scanner will help you to create a 3D model of your customer in a few moments.

Yeah, it may be a little expensive for you.

But you got my point.

In fact, you can also try different software instead of buying an expensive 3D scanner. Softwares such as photogrammetry will make your 3d model of any object by just clicking images at different angles.

Photogrammetry also provides a free trial of one month.

Visit photogrammetry to learn more.

Let’s move forward to the second awesome business plan.

2. 3D Print-on-Demand

You may have hard of Book-print-demand, but you have the chance of starting your 3d print-on-demand service.

The first thing to clear is that you will only focus on providing service to the one who is in need of required 3d printed parts.

How to implement this business plan?

You may wonder by knowing the fact that you can implement 3D Printing in almost every sector.

From making prototyping for a company to making 3d parts for a college project, the scope is huge.

The first step is to set a fixed niched first so that you can be expert in this field.

Because it takes a little more effort to learn the software. Therefore sticking to one niche will help you in getting more expertise in less time.

Again, you can approach different college students by marketing to use your 3D POD service.

In fact, it is quite possible that they are not aware of how they can make their college project looking super cool by using your service.

Therefore marketing is also needed in this case because you are providing a type of service that people aren’t aware very much.

A small tip to starting your 3D POD service

Before you start your POD service in the 3D printing business, you must select what type of 3d printing will you use?

Similarly, what type of material do you use to make 3d objects?

From FDM to SLA and even more, there are various types of 3D printing methods that you can go for.

FDM is one of the most basic to start because of its ease of operating an FDM printer.

Another tip I have for you is to start with small. Because making a custom order is super easy if only you have mastered the 3d model software and slicing software. By doing this, you will be able to learn with your recent service without harming your brand’s image.

3. Custom 3D Model set

Now, I am quite sure that you haven’t heard anything like this one. This idea is pretty simple and can give you a hell lot of money if you are able to implement.

Here is the deal.

Just try to understand the statements stated below:

There are many engineering and non-engineering colleges- True.

In these colleges, students go to learn different subjects- True.

Most of the time, the subject that they read is hard to understand or complex to visualize- True.

Is it possible to solve the problem of these students with 3D Printing?- Obviously Yes

Wondering How?

Let’s say you are a civil engineer and you are learning the subject on foundation engineering.

There is various type of foundation which may hard to remember just by seeing a picture of those foundations in a book.

Hence, what if give you a complete 3D model in which I will provide the 3d printed model of these foundations. Similarly, I will also give you the 3d model to help you understand how the load gets distributed on the soil.

What I will do is that just simplify the complex diagram and turned them into a 3d object so that every student can learn y visualizing the topic.

In order to do that I need to make an appointment with a teacher and ask them for advice on which topic you are going to select for making custom 3d model.

It could include different types of bridges and many more.

Just Imagine teachers are coming to the classes holding different 3D Models in their hands. It will just make any student exciting regarding the subject as well.

Hence it is a win-win situation for me. I will earn money and you will be able to learn easily and faster as well.

You can leverage this idea in different educational background You just need to have the imagination power.

Your Investment in this startup idea

In this case, I would say time is more crucial than money. You really need to create a set of 3d models that will be helpful for students. Therefore consulting with the right type of experts is more important than investing lots of money in buying expensive pieces of machinery.

Also, you can engage with the teachers or students to understand where students get the difficulty in understanding that particular subject.

Your primary goal is to help the students to understand the subject very well. When I say very well, then you have to take it seriously.

Here is a detailed video on 3D Printing Business Ideas that you can Start right Now.

4. 3D Printed gift items

This type of business idea, you can implement as a side business or you can even start this business from home.

Previously I have already discussed the 3D miniature studio which also belongs to this category.

But the problem with that category is that you need to invest a little bit more in buying the 3D scanner or buying the subscription of different software like photogrammetry.

Therefore this is a perfect business idea which can be started with a minimum investment and you can do it in your free time as well.

The thing you can offer is lithophane.

Yes, lithophane is one of the best ways to get started because it gives a unique and beautiful look to your images.

At the same time, I have also discovered that many people are already using lithophane to make a profit out of their 3d printer.

Thanks to technology, it is now possible to make colouring lithophane. This means no more boring black and white image. Now you can reflect the original colour of the image as well.

Let me give you a short intro of lithophane.

Lithophane is a type of 3d printed image which is visible only when backlighted. This looks amazing.

In addition, if you want to learn how to make a perfect lithophane you can visit Lithophane making guide which I have already published.

If you are interested to learn more about creating a lithophane store, can appoint me.

Here some of the products that we made and sale via online and offline platforms.

[Product Image]

Investment in this lithophane making business plan

This is probably the most inexpensive business model related to 3D Printing. In this case, you only need to buy a 3d printer. That’s all.

Other than this you need to learn the basic of 3d software and the slicing software. This could hardly take a few weeks to gain enough knowledge.

In fact, you can learn by experimenting with your 3d printer.

After a few trial and error process, you will also be able to print a high-quality lithophane.

If you want to look for some inspiration, then can see how we are doing this via the online store. Just visit our home page of CubeRose.

Cost and Budget plan for starting a 3d printing startup

The budget of your startup highly depends upon what are the services you are going to provide to your customers through 3d printing?

Will you start a 3d Print-on-demand service?

Are you going to create 3D Printed products as a gift item and sell them through online stores?

Will you enter the educational sector to make custom 3d models relevant to the subject?

Or are you going to make a 3d print hub?

The very first step is to identify the aim of your startup or business?

No matter what but this strategy will help you to save the extra cost that may get wasted if you tried to cover everything.

Now, let’s divide the cost in a different segment.

1. Operating cost
2. Maintainance cost
3. Marketing cost

Operational Cost for your startup

This includes all the stuff that you need to buy before starting your 3D printing store. For example, if you are looking to build a 3d printing hubs, then you might consider 3d printer, 3D scanner, subscription for software for making 3d model, cost of filament as well.

The cost of a 3d printer roughly starts from as a low as USD 300 (around 21 thousand rupees) and goes up to USD 1000 and even more.

3D Printer cost

If you are a beginner and serious about starting your 3d Printing empire. Then I would recommend a few 3D Printer which has already proven its quality and performance in terms of 3D object quality and finishing.

You’d love this article on 3D Printing in Architecture Creality CR 10 series-

The first 3D Printer that you might choose which is quite popular as well.

Why am I recommending this?

It gives superior printing quality at an affordable price.

Large build Volume

Stable printing condition

Variety of filament printing options (PLA, ABS, PETG, and TPU)

In fact, Creality CR 10 the famous 3d printer offers a version 2 with more features.

Have a look so that you can get to know whether this printer will fulfil your requirement or not.

Tronxy X5SA Pro

The second printer that we also used is Tronxy X5SA PRO. This is also considered as a true competitor of the Creality version. This 3d printer comes too with larger volume size.

The large volume will help you in printing a bigger object for your customers.

If you are considering printing a large size object for your 3d printing startup, then you need to consider these two 3d printers which come at an affordable price.

Here are the links for Indian Amazon website

Therefore it is better to start by buying a 3d printer which will meet your requirement.

Other Cost in starting 3d printing business model

Here is a checklist that you might consider before buying one-

• Determine build volume- What is the maximum size of 3d object you want to print?
• Type of 3d printer- whether FDM or SLA which one suits your requirement?
• Multiple extruders- Determine whether you need multiple extrude or not?
• Always go for auto bed levelling system.
• Buy a 3D Printer which is already in the market for a long time, as this will help you to understand the quality and feedback regarding that printer.

Also include the filament cost. As per estimated 1kh of filament spool cost around USD 15 (Around 1100 rupees). At first, you need to buy some to start with.

In case you are living in India and wants to buy filament, can contact us.

We provide 100% genuine products at an affordable cost.

Anyway, calculate all of these kinds of stuff carefully.

A successful business must be based on statistics and calculation instead of emotion.

You can also read about the maintenance cost Future of 3D Printing in India

Though this cost is minimal, you also need to consider as well. This includes the cost of repairing your printer or any accessories to upgrade performance.

Marketing cost

At last, there is a marketing cost for your 3D Printing business.

You may define a well-established marketing plan which is quite important as well. But on top of that, I would prefer to go for the online 3d printing store.

Creating an online store is super simple. All you need to do is just click a few buttons and your website is live.

Either you create your website by yourself or you can use Shopify store to make one.

In case of Shopify, you need to pay USD 29 (around 2000 rupees) per month, whereas if you create your own store you need to pay almost USD 50 (3500 rupees) for a year.

Other than this, you set your marketing budget as per your requirement and demand.

3D Printing companies that are already making money globally

There are many companies that are doing it on a very large scale. I have listed some of the most popular companies worldwide.

• 3D Systems Corporation.
• HP Inc.
• ProtoLabs — 3D Rapid Prototyping Company.
• Materialise NV
• Organovo

In case you want some inspiration from India, then you can look for the below companies which have already started the 3D Printing technology in India.

That’s all.

If you want to see how we make 3d printed products, can buy a custom lithophane of 3d printed Image as well.

I have news for people living in India.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the 3d printing business ideas described here are easy and practically possible to implement. In case if you want to share your own idea you can comment below so that we can learn from you as well.

Again, I will also like to hear from you whether you have learned something new about starting your own startup in the industry of 3d printing or not.

Do not forget to share.

Sharing is Caring.

Originally published at https://cuberose.in on March 23, 2020.