US man runs a 3D printing business from home and shares the surprising reality of what that's like

Running any startup is difficult enough, but tech-savvy YouTuber Kevin Heelan (known as Kevbot) has revealed all the trials and tribulations of running a 3D printing business from home, and whether it was worth the stress.

With the internet as the canvas, bright-minded inventors are able to produce entire works of art in a heartbeat and run their company from a bedroom.

While it sounds like a walk in the park, building a successful and financially-stable business from home is much harder than just rocking up to a laptop in your dressing gown.

Proving the struggle, but documenting his wins, is KevBot, as running a 3D printing business from home has made him thousands.

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How this man made thousands with a 3D printing business from home

The process of 3D printing is quickly becoming one of the most important manufacturing processes in the world, challenging centuries of wordwhittling and smithing.

It seems cliché, but the incredible technology is now even capable of building entire houses.

So much so that there are now entire 3D-printed neighbourhoods in Texas that will play host to families for generations to come.

However, on a much smaller scale, KevBot runs a 3D printing business from home, creating three products from his bedroom set-up.

Running it through sites like Etsy, the made-to-order business model started with Bambu Lab printers (typically costing between $700–$1,200), turning ‘cheap plastic’ into intricate designs.

From designing the parts on the computer, printing them, and hand-painting the products, the YouTuber described the tireless process in a recent upload.

“You can’t just take a vacation whenever you want because you’re selling physical products,” he explained.

“Of course, you can extend your processing times, but you run the risk of having a late shipment or, you know, getting a bad review because someone didn’t want to wait that long.”

But he now maintains a 30-40 percent profit margin, generating $3,855 in four months.

The pros and cons of his business

With sales on an upward trajectory, the 3D printing business has begun to become fruitful.

But not without some ‘downsides’.

The YouTube personality revealed that the noise of the printers and you need to ventilate the rooms constantly.

“Your printers are going to be running for hours on end, day and night, and they can be pretty noisy,” he said.

“And if you’re printing in your living space, you want to make sure you’re ventilating properly because these printers are going to contaminate the air you breathe, which definitely isn’t ideal.”

Other downsides included transit errors, as he needs to factor in a margin for the 3D-printed products to be damaged while in the hands of a third-party courier.

But all-in-all, this man has found that running a 3D printing business from home is worthwhile.

Maybe soon he’ll be able make his own superhero suits like this Iron Man-mimicking woman on TikTok.

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