BUSINESS IDEA | VENTURE STARTUP

Print-on-Demand Tattoos ✒️ 

Ink and out

Available Domain: Tatpax.com

1. Problem/Opportunity❓

The Problem/Opportunity: Tattoos…bold art, drunken regret, or your parents’ worst nightmare? Whatever you think of tattoos they’re more popular than ever before and as we know they come in all shapes and styles. And let’s face it, some are far more creative than others…

But for many people out there the idea of permanently marking their skin with a tattoo is daunting. So why not create a service so customers can design their tattoos but try them on before they etch them on their skin forever. We think combining kickass design software with temporary tattoos could be a winning combination for this use case. Here’s how.

Market Size: The global tattoo market size was valued at $2.22 billion in 2024

2. Solution ✅

The Idea: A customizable temporary tattoo service that lets users design and order ultra-realistic tattoos online

How it Works:

• Design: A user goes to the platform and designs their tattoo by uploading their design, selecting from a library of pre-made templates, or prompting the in-built AI to create the tattoo.

• Rendering: The user uploads a picture of where they want the tattoo to go on them and it is rendered digitally to show what it will look like

• Print-on-Demand: The design is then printed on a temporary using skin-safe, hypoallergenic ink on high-quality temporary tattoo paper and shipped to the customer

• Application and Removal: The tattoo is applied using water and lasts for 2 - 3 days

• Permanent Tattoo: The user can then tweak the tattoo design and find a local tattoo parlour on the platform to get the tattoo done permanently

Go-to-market: Collaborate with influencers who have tattoos to use the product. The key here is to unlock a market of people who want tattoos but are scared to get them by allowing them to trial the experience.

Business Model: Users pay for the tattoos, you could also earn a referral fee for referring users to tattoo parlours too

Startup Costs: Building the software and creating the temporary tattoo development process will all cost money, so you’ll need some financial backing here, at least $20k we estimate

Competitors: Inkbox is your biggest competitor here, but you can differentiate by building more powerful AI-powered software and linking up with tattoo parlours to create an end-to-end experience

3. How You’ll Get Rich 💰

Exit Strategy: You could sell to private equity investors looking for innovative fashion and lifestyle products.

Exit Multiple: The median EBITDA multiple for e-commerce companies is 10x, so staying profitable is key here

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DRUNK BUSINESS IDEA

The Splash Stasher

• Tired of dropping your phone in the shower? Or maybe you’ve just realized that balancing your shampoo bottle on that tiny ledge was always a risky game?

• Introducing the Splash Stasher™, the only shower curtain with built-in pockets, because why shouldn't your shower be as organized as your sock drawer?

• Now you can store your shampoo and body wash right next to your phone while you watch Netflix or scroll TikTok without ever leaving the warm embrace of your shower.

Vote

• ✅ Yes this actually exists

• ❌ Nope you totally made this up

JUST THE TIP

Trend 📈: Freeze Dryers

• Ever since freeze-dried candy burst onto supermarket shelves and socials a few months back with their eclectic flavors and novel textures, demand for other freeze-dried goods has skyrocketed too. So it’s no surprise that demand for freeze dryers has skyrocketed too…

• Freeze dryers work by removing moisture from food or other materials by freezing them and then using a vacuum to evaporate the ice in a process that preserves nutrients, flavor, and texture while extending shelf-life.

• Freeze-dried products are lightweight, nutritious, and convenient for storage…and this market is only in its infancy

Business Ideas

• Freeze-Dried Functional Snacks: Create high-protein, nutrient-dense freeze-dried snacks designed for athletes and fitness enthusiasts.

• Freeze-Dried Food Content: Buy a freeze-dryer and create content where you freeze-dry random items to see what happens to them

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THE MONEYSHOT

How a Blog Turned into a +$1bn Business

Billion dollar businesses can emerge from incredibly humble beginnings.

Take this founder who started a simple blog which she transformed into a +$1bn business.

This is her story.

Emily Weiss has always loved fashion.

And back in 2010 Emily was working as a fashion assistant at Vogue, learning the ins-and-outs of the industry. And while she was working there she noticed something about fashion and beauty brands in general…they weren’t listening to their customers. In fact most brands were simply dictating what women should buy, without seeking their input or engaging in meaningful conversations.

So in 2010, she invested $700 into a digital camera and used her savings to hire a developer to create a fashion and beauty blog which Emily launched from her apartment. She called it Into the Gloss.

She locked in and worked on the blog alongside her full-time job for the next few years. She worked on the blog from 4 a.m. to 8 a.m every morning before heading to work. That’s how dedicated she was to her business.

The blog featured interviews called “The Top Shelf,” showcasing beauty routines of celebrities, models, and industry insiders, which quickly took off. By early 2012, Emily’s blog was pulling in over 200,000 unique visitors per month.

Eventually Emily started to see the potential in what she was building. Once the blog hit 10 million page views per month, Emily left her job at Vogue and she conceived the idea of launching her own beauty brand. Her vision was to create no-frills makeup and skincare products designed with direct input from customers.

So in 2014, at the age of 28, Emily embarked on her entrepreneurial journey. She pitched her idea to 11 venture capitalists, all of whom declined. However, her persistence paid off when she caught the attention of Kirsten Green from Forerunner Ventures, who helped her secure $2 million in seed funding. Emily assembled a small team, including former colleagues from Vogue and digital marketing experts, and she started her company.

She founded Glossier.

Glossier officially launched with just four products: a priming moisturizer, a facial spray, a sheer foundation, and a lip and skin salve, all products which I…as a man…am totally familiar with. Why only four products though? Emily wanted to simplify beauty routines and offer versatile products that were easy to use.

Glossier launched initially as a direct-to-consumer brand, selling exclusively on its website and leveraged Instagram and user generated content as its primary marketing platform, showcasing real customers wearing Glossier products. Their strategy was perfect and Glossier's growth was meteoric, particularly since Emily had already built a captive audience.

Over the next four years Glossier raised nearly $100m to support the brand’s growth and expanded beyond just online sales, opening pop-up shops and their flagship store in Soho, NYC, which over half a million fans visited in 2016.

In 2019 the company closed a $100 million series D funding round at a valuation of $1.2bn, which rose to $1.8bn in 2021 when the brand raised a further $83m.

Since then the brand has experienced some challenges, especially with their retail operations during the pandemic. But regardless the brand is still one of the best known in the beauty space and will be for many years to come.

All of which goes to prove that you have to listen to your customers. Emily took a unique approach where she built an audience first before building her business but her key attribute was that she listened to her audience. In a way her audience built her brand for her.

So talk to your customers as much as you can. Listen to their feedback and build something for them.

That’s the way to win.

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