<![CDATA[SoliForum - 3D Printing Community — Possible 3d Printing Business]]> https://www.soliforum.com/topic/4262/possible-3d-printing-business/ Wed, 11 Dec 2013 19:22:51 +0000 PunBB <![CDATA[Re: Possible 3d Printing Business]]> https://www.soliforum.com/post/44000/#p44000 If you are really think of starting a 3D printing business, you have to know you are completing with the big boys like Shapeways.  But I do have many clients running 3D printing business and they are doing just fine.
We can be your filament supplier if you are interested.

Good Luck.

Daniel Poon
BotFeeder Canada
botfeeder.ca

]]> Wed, 11 Dec 2013 19:22:51 +0000 https://www.soliforum.com/post/44000/#p44000 <![CDATA[Re: Possible 3d Printing Business]]> https://www.soliforum.com/post/39321/#p39321 You know those little license plates and signs they sell at gift shops that say "Kimberly's Room", etc?  If your name is Zorinda or Elbert, there will never be one for you.  That kind of thing would be easy to customize, especially through a web based program where they do the work.  Something like that could be cheap since there is no labor involved on your part.  It would also be a good entry point for more bespoke items.  While they are there doing the simple customizer things, you can show them examples of the kinds of things that they might want to have designed for them, examples of 3D printed solutions to problems they didn't know they had.   

Maybe they would like a wall-mounted iPhone dock, but they can't buy one sized to fit the case they use.  Have them send you the measurements (or look them up online) and have your CAD person in India make the needed tweaks to your standard wall-dock model.

]]> Fri, 18 Oct 2013 20:57:55 +0000 https://www.soliforum.com/post/39321/#p39321 <![CDATA[Re: Possible 3d Printing Business]]> https://www.soliforum.com/post/39314/#p39314 Hazer wrote:

There's your answer:

Downloadable STLs of niche or custom things. Sell em for under a buck and the next greatest thing since cell phone apps.

+1   Hey, if I could go to a site and search for a specific replacement part (Hose nozzle for Hoover Vacuum Model XXX), I would hands down pay $2.00+ for it...and even if I didn't have a printer, there are tons of services as mentioned above that can have the part at your door in days.

This would be a great business model; the challenge is getting the STLs!

]]> Fri, 18 Oct 2013 20:14:05 +0000 https://www.soliforum.com/post/39314/#p39314 <![CDATA[Re: Possible 3d Printing Business]]> https://www.soliforum.com/post/39211/#p39211 ...and finally. At all costs, AVOID Yoda in your advertising blurbs. And good luck.

]]> Thu, 17 Oct 2013 18:08:00 +0000 https://www.soliforum.com/post/39211/#p39211 <![CDATA[Re: Possible 3d Printing Business]]> https://www.soliforum.com/post/39139/#p39139 There's your answer:

Downloadable STLs of niche or custom things. Sell em for under a buck and the next greatest thing since cell phone apps.

]]> Thu, 17 Oct 2013 01:05:04 +0000 https://www.soliforum.com/post/39139/#p39139 <![CDATA[Re: Possible 3d Printing Business]]> https://www.soliforum.com/post/39130/#p39130 There are a lot of print services, and crowd-sourced printing services starting up.  The field is filling up, and there are companies like Shapeways with lots of money and big printers.   It's easy enough to get things printed now, the barriers are price and design ability.  Higher cost gets you Shapeways (higher still for iMaterialize, Red Eye and local shops).  Low cost gets you a hobby-level FDM machine in someone's garage.

I think the best opportunity in a 3D printing business is not 3D printing, but the creation of models to print.  You can find  a niche of things that people might want printed with some customization, and knock them out quickly using templates, parametric models, OpenSCAD, etc.  There is also fully custom design, like the guy that takes children's drawings and turns them into printable models.  3D printed lithophanes can be very popular.   

Think of something like a Cafe Press for 3D objects, with links into the services for delivery of the physical objects. Offer a premium, fully custom service by employing designers and cad modelers from overseas found through outsourcing sites like Elance.

People are have been hearing a lot about 3d printing, and where they can get things printed, but they need to be shown what they can get printed, and how 3D printing can offer them unique, custom things that no store could provide.  A design service also has the advantage of not requiring a lot of expensive hardware and the space to to run it.

]]> Wed, 16 Oct 2013 22:55:21 +0000 https://www.soliforum.com/post/39130/#p39130 <![CDATA[Re: Possible 3d Printing Business]]> https://www.soliforum.com/post/39127/#p39127 I'm not trying to rain on your parade however
there are quite a few services that offer people with 3d printers
to print for a very cheap price already such as

http://www.makexyz.com/

http://www.3dhubs.com/

If you wanted to purchase a industrial grade 3d printer your looking at $20,000 plus.

I couldn't even count how many professional 3d printing websites there are online

such as shapeways and ponoko 

not to mention companies like UPS and Staples will be and are offering 3d printing services at there store.

You can always try though and, 3d printing today still has a huge learning curve so I'm not sure how
familiar you are with 3d printers and cad but that would definitely be a necessity if you wanted to go anywhere in this
industry.

]]> Wed, 16 Oct 2013 21:32:07 +0000 https://www.soliforum.com/post/39127/#p39127 <![CDATA[Re: Possible 3d Printing Business]]> https://www.soliforum.com/post/39123/#p39123 I think you may be asking the wrong crowd...our opinions are most likely NOT going to be representative of your target audience. 

You would be much better served by using a service to get a true Consumer outlook:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/

Good luck to you!

]]> Wed, 16 Oct 2013 21:06:31 +0000 https://www.soliforum.com/post/39123/#p39123 <![CDATA[Possible 3d Printing Business]]> https://www.soliforum.com/post/39121/#p39121 Hi everyone,
     I'm new to Soliform, and just wanted to let you know that that I've been a 3d printing enthusiast for a while, and have been considering making a new 3d printing business. But before I can do that, I obviously have to do some research. I will seriously consider anyone who responds for beta testing for my company. Thank to all who answer my questions. They're listed below.

1.) What percentage of consumers do you believe want to 3d print, but cannot due to price?
2.) What percentage of consumers do you believe want to 3d print, but cannot due to the learning curve of the programs?
3.) What percentage of consumers do you believe want to 3d print, but cannot due to the learning curve of the printing itself?
4.) What percentage of potential consumers do you believe would use a website that made 3d printing easier, and less expensive?
5.) Would you use a website that made 3d printing easier, and less expensive?

Thanks to all that answer!!!

]]> Wed, 16 Oct 2013 20:24:36 +0000 https://www.soliforum.com/post/39121/#p39121