I decided I wanted to challenge myself to try and sell the hardest, most oversaturated product in e-commerce: print-on-demand mugs.
So what did I do?
I jumped right into building a website.
I bought the domain SickMug.com, set up Shopify, and started designing what I thought was going to be a clean, professional store. I figured if it looked good and felt like a real brand, people would take it seriously.
Looking back, I realize I had the order completely backward. I thought a polished website would somehow make the brand seem more professional and make people want to buy. But there wasn’t even a product ready to be sold yet.
The Challenge of Starting With Shopify
The whole idea started as a personal challenge. I wanted to build a print-on-demand brand from scratch and see if I could actually make sales organically — no ads, no influencers, just content and product design.
But the problem was, there was no real niche. Just “Sick Mugs.”
It sounded fun, but I didn’t know who it was for. Were they funny mugs? Trendy mugs? Mugs for entrepreneurs or creatives? I didn’t take the time to define that. I just wanted to make something and see if I could sell it.
The result was confusion. I had designs that didn’t connect with a specific audience, a website that didn’t convert, and no data to know what was working.
Why I Should’ve Started With the Product
If I could go back, I would’ve skipped the website completely in the beginning.
Instead of spending hours designing product pages and setting up payment gateways, I should’ve spent that time creating cool mug designs and testing what people actually liked.
I could’ve posted mockups on Instagram, TikTok, or Pinterest. I could’ve run simple polls to see what styles got reactions. I could’ve DMed people who engaged and asked, “Would you buy this?”
That’s real feedback. That’s validation.
If you can sell something through a DM, you can sell it on Shopify. But I did it backward. I built a store first and tried to make the audience come to me instead of going where they already were.
The Oversaturated Truth About Mugs
Mugs are one of the most competitive print-on-demand products you can pick. Everyone sells them. They’re simple to design, easy to fulfill, and cheap to produce — which means everyone and their grandma has a mug shop.
I thought if I could sell mugs, I could sell anything. And while that logic made sense at first, I didn’t realize how important it was to build a real foundation before testing that theory.
If you want to launch any kind of e-commerce brand, especially in a saturated space, your advantage has to come from brand, creativity, and clarity — not from the platform you build it on.
Where I Went Wrong
Here’s where I made my biggest mistakes:
I built the store too early.
I spent hours customizing Shopify themes when I didn’t even know what products people wanted.I had no audience.
I built something for no one. I should’ve been building a community or testing interest on social media before anything else.I skipped validation.
Instead of testing designs through posts and mockups, I assumed people would like them because I did.I didn’t define success.
My only goal was “make a successful Shopify store.” But what did that even mean? 10 sales? 100 followers? A viral post? I didn’t have any clear targets to measure progress.
Where Building a Peak Comes In
If I had taken the time to “build my peak” or set better goals first, I would’ve avoided most of these mistakes.
Building a peak means defining where you want to go, why it matters, and what the steps are to get there. It’s about setting clear, actionable goals so you can move with purpose instead of just guessing.
For SickMug, my “peak” was something vague like “create a successful e-commerce store.” But if I broke it down into smaller, measurable goals, it might have looked like this:
Goal 1: Post one new mug design every day for 30 days.
Goal 2: Get 500 followers on Instagram and test which designs get the most engagement.
Goal 3: Make 5 sales through DMs or preorders before launching a Shopify site.
If I had hit those milestones first, then building a Shopify store would’ve made sense. The store would’ve been the reward for validating the idea — not the starting point.
Building a peak forces you to ask the right questions.
Who are you building for?
What problem are you solving?
What proof do you have that people actually want this?
I skipped those steps and paid for it with time and frustration.
What I’d Do Differently Today
If I started SickMug again from scratch, I’d do it completely differently.
Here’s what the new plan would look like:
Pick a clear niche.
Maybe “funny mugs for content creators” or “aesthetic mugs for home offices.” Something that targets a specific type of person.Design 100 mockups.
Use Canva or Photoshop to create visuals that represent different ideas and styles.Post and test.
Share designs on social media, look at engagement, and take notes on what gets attention.Collect data.
Track which designs get likes, saves, and shares. Those are signals.Sell directly through DMs or a simple checkout link.
If people buy there, you know it’s worth building a store around.Then, build the website.
Once there’s proof that people actually want what you’re selling, build the Shopify site to scale it.
That’s how I’d approach it today. Focus on traction first, not perfection.
The Lesson
The big takeaway here is simple:
Don’t build before you validate.
The product and the people matter more than the platform. A clean store won’t fix a product that no one asked for.
If you want to build a Shopify brand, make sure you’ve already proven that people care about what you’re selling. When you start with the product, the rest falls into place.
Building your peak and setting clear goals helps you do that. It helps you slow down, define the path, and climb with intention.
If you can sell it in a DM, you can sell it on Shopify. But before you start building your store, make sure you’ve built your peak.
Some links in this guide are affiliate links. I only recommend products I actually use (like Shopify, Printify, Beehiiv, Skool, etc)