How Gelato print-on-demand helped a designer scale her business through viral moments

"Working with Gelato has definitely helped me with reducing issues or errors. I have way less damaged prints arriving or anything arriving at the wrong place. It has significantly reduced the amount of time I have to spend doing manual tasks."

Isabel Beard, Founder, Bad Botanist

When Isabel first shared her business idea, people were skeptical, but Isabel understood something others didn't – the passion of the Real Housewives fan community. Her instincts proved correct. The business has even experienced multiple viral moments on social media. "I just started getting orders out of nowhere," she recalls, "and then someone messaged me on Etsy saying, 'Hey, I just posted something to Tik Tok and like it's blowing up.'"

Isabel's initial approach involved doing everything herself – from investing in a printer, packaging orders, and making multiple weekly trips to the post office. This worked until her first viral moment hit.

"I spent three days printing everything," she recalls. "I have a full-time job, so I would spend four hours at night printing all the orders." The manual process became unsustainable. "It took away from the creative aspect of running the business – the real reason I started at the beginning. I was enjoying that part less because I wasn't spending any time creating new artwork. I was just spending all my time printing, and it became a bit more of a chore," Isabel says.

Isabel's shift to print-on-demand wasn't immediate, as she didn’t feel ready to invest time in moving all her products to Gelato. The catalyst came during a major life change. "I was in the middle of a big move and renovation – I didn't have internet for three weeks. I just knew that I couldn't deal with the stress of printing and going to the post office on top of everything else."

Isabel chose Gelato primarily for its seamless Etsy integration. "I settled on Gelato pretty quickly because of the integration with Etsy. It just made it a lot easier to have everything work together."

The transition to Gelato has transformed Isabel's business operations. "It's definitely helped me with reducing any issues or errors. I have way less damaged prints arriving or anything arriving at the wrong place. I rarely get issues with delivery through Gelato."

More importantly, allowing Gelato to take care of production, shipping and fulfillment has restored her ability to focus on creativity. 

The global reach has been particularly valuable for her US-focused audience. "A lot of people who watch Real Housewives are in the US, and shipping costs were getting expensive. Local production and shipping in the US has been huge and has allowed me to make more sales in the market than I was previExpanding Beyond Wall Art

With Gelato, Isabel has successfully expanded into new product categories, like calendars. While keen to stay true to her print-focused vision, she's considering additional products like greeting cards in the future. 

The success has brought surprises Isabel never anticipated. "I started getting copycats on Etsy, which was really interesting. I never anticipated that I would be creating something that other people would be so interested in that they would create direct competitors. I'm actually very flattered by it."

Even more meaningful has been the community engagement, including a cafe in Leeds that started putting Bad Botanist prints on their walls.

Despite the success, Isabel remains committed to keeping Bad Botanist as a creative outlet rather than a replacement for her day job, and views the business as a valuable safety net. "I don’t want to put too much pressure on a hobby to become a full-time job because it can sometimes take the fun out of it." 

With print-on-demand handling the operational demands, Isabel can now redirect her energy toward what originally inspired her: creativity and growth. Her future plans center on developing fresh designs and strengthening her social media presence to better connect with the community that drives her success.

For Isabel, Gelato's value extends beyond logistics. "Once you're up and running, it's a very seamless experience. Everything is really intuitive and easy to use. It has significantly reduced the amount of time I have to spend doing manual tasks."

By combining her design expertise with genuine passion for her subject matter and leveraging Gelato's global reach, she's created a sustainable business that maintains the creative joy that inspired it. For fellow creators considering the leap from manual fulfillment to print-on-demand, Isabel's story demonstrates that the right platform can restore the creative freedom that makes entrepreneurship fulfilling in the first place.