3D printing as a means to generate income

3D printing, a method to print various objects using a printer, could be the game-changing innovation of the decade. It eases the process of object creation at a very low cost. According to the 2016 Wohlers Report, by 2020 the 3D printing industry all over the world is focused on growing annual sales by over $20 bn. It is thus evident that the 3D printing market has a huge scope for making money. Following are some ways to earn a good amount of profit with 3D printing.

Create and Sell Designs

The most affordable and easiest way to start earning money is by creating and selling 3D designs. To create and sell designs, you need to follow three simple steps

1. Learn Designing: You can learn dressing creation on CAD tools which doesn’t take much time to learn even the complex designs. Create complex shapes, customized designs, and moving parts to leverage the power of 3D printing.
2. Watertight Design: Once you learn to design, you must verify if your design is watertight (3D printable). There are several free tools that help you with the verification and correction of your design.
3. Sell your Design: Once you are ready with a 3D printable design, you can sell your designs on various online outlets available.

Offer a 3D printing service

Offering a 3D printing service is a simple concept but not as easy as it looks. The investment of a printer itself costs hundreds of thousands of dollars. To offer a 3D printing service there are a few steps that you need to follow.

1. Printer Selection: Several factors affect the process of printer selection such as cost, output quality, ease of use, and versatility.
2. Mastering Intricacies: Once you select a printer, you need to experiment with it and learn tips and tricks to efficiently use a 3D printer.
3. Offer Service: Once you are an expert at 3D printing, you offer your services on various 3D printing networks.

Leverage 3D printing-based service/products

Leveraging 3D printing requires the most amount of cost investment and creativity requirement. However, it also gives the highest returns. Here you sell 3D printing revolutionized products as an online business. There are a few steps you need to follow to take the advantage of 3D printing service business.

1. Idea: You need to come up with an idea for a product or a service that you want to sell. For example, you can allow people to customize designs on your site and print them based on their customization.
2. Website: Once you have a service/ product idea, you need a website for your business.
3. Partnership: If your website starts growing, you should partner with existing providers of 3D printing services.
4. Optimize operational process: As you grow, the need for a refined operational process will grow.

The secret to the growth of 3D printing depends on technology, creative minds, and businessmen. Even if one of these steps back 3D printing could just be the Titanic of the printing world. The more people use it, the more the scope of its growth.