My projects are all scattered - is this normal?

[Mike vonBuelow]

Seems like I get a tangent idea from each item I create, now I have like 20-25 things I make... is this normal?Did anyone buy a laser for just a single item to make?I have conflicting thoughts - sometimes I don't want so many, sometime I think I'm blessed to have a variety of selectionAnyone? Bueler?

[Joe Pelonio]

I have have always had regular jobs where I make many of a single item, but each job is different. I used to do a lot of small jobs but they can become annoying, as the profit is not much and they interrupt the big jobs. Now that I'm doing this "on the side" and have a regular day job, I do very few of the small jobs, but I still have a large variety of materials and kinds of orders. Makes it more interesting but means more inventory of materials, unless you have local sources. I'm lucky that I can get just about any material in Seattle on a moment's notice.

[Rodne Gold]

Are you actually making money off your 25 items? I have tons of new ideas and prototypes and experiments and proposed new products and new direction goods , all work great , but no paying customers for em.

[Mike Null]

I do not "make" and inventory things to sell. If somebody orders something I'll make it.

I much prefer commercial accounts to retail and maintain a $25 minimum charge to weed out nuisance retail customers.

[Dan Hintz]

I used to do a lot of small jobs but they can become annoying, as the profit is not much and they interrupt the big jobs.

Yep...........

[Mike vonBuelow]

big jobs? = lots of repetitive work? or =large scale? or =both?as far as all 25 making money - no. hence my question & searching for direction/clarity to make my hobby a stable business

[Dan Hintz]

Hobbies do not make stable businesses... you have to start thinking of it as a business first. If you don't, it will always be a hobby, and customers, quality, and output (read, money) will suffer. Some make do with a niche, others like to be general purpose. I prefer to take on repeat customers with little to be done in the way of artwork once the process is set up... I throw it in the laser, press the big green 'go' button, then give it back in exchange for money. The more it involves me making tweaks each time something comes in, the slower it is (for me).

[Mike vonBuelow]

right Dan, just need to find that one product

[Rodne Gold]

The problem is , making the product is easy..developing a market for it requires a TON more work. I intend to market a range of acrylic and lasered costume jewellery - upmarket stuff and upmarket pricing . As well as that , I am marketing a range of audiophile tweaks using acrylic (isolation tables , specialised footers , cable elevators , platter mats and so on)
Both these endeavours will be costing me many times the cost of producing samples and prototypes in terms of marketing/promotion and might take off or not.

[David Fairfield]

Mike-- its called the curse of the creative mind. New ideas come faster than they can be addressed, and conflict with current projects, they become a form of resistance to getting things done. There's a very interesting little book that deals with this, its called the "War of Art", by Steve Pressfield. Its an eye opener, and it helped me a lot.

Dave

[Mike Null]

Mike

Finding that one item is mostly a fantasy. Especially if you're not in a retail environment. I can't tell you how many people came on here with "my friends and family all want to buy this item" only to find that they didn't and neither did anybody else. That often resulted in their having to sell the machine as they couldn't make the payments.

Engraving is really a service business. Most of the people who are successful engrave what other people want engraved when they need to have it done. Impulse buying is really a rarity.

A professionally designed web site will help you sell and will help get repeat customers more than any other thing I can think of.

[Ross Moshinsky]

I think you have to look at your potential customer base and think what service you can offer. I'm assuming you're on or around an Air Force base. If that's the case; plaques, acrylics, trophies, interior office signs, and desk accessories should be your bread and butter.

Combining stock items with your own parts/twists can be an effective way to itch your creative scratch without having to develop a whole line of custom parts.

[Mike vonBuelow]

Rodne, great minds do think alike - I was on a similar thought process awhile back with resin cast jewelry - so many possibilities... maybe that's what I'm anxious about (?)David, yes I do feel cursed when one project goes on, and on and on... Mike, I am working on my website - I agree on that method of exposure & customer drawRoss, yes I have had success with militaryana :) hoping more with increased awareness.

[Stan Lightner]

Seems like I get a tangent idea from each item I create, now I have like 20-25 things I make... is this normal?Did anyone buy a laser for just a single item to make?I have conflicting thoughts - sometimes I don't want so many, sometime I think I'm blessed to have a variety of selectionAnyone? Bueler?

Sounds like the normal evolution of a job shop. Start with one thing and it takes on a life of itself.

BTW are you at Tinker AFB?

[Martin Boekers]

Mike you know the clientel I work with. I have a standard flow of award work, but that being said that flow keeps coming in because
I figure away to get the odds and ends work they need done quickly. They have a hard time finding that off base. I have become the
"go to" guy to get a variety of special project finished in quality and time frames. When I get "stretched" that when I learn and become
more effiecient. When they quit sending the money making things and just the little stuff, then I'll have to decide on that. Right now
it's working good, but there is always the delicate balance. My job is trying to find ways to be profitable while keeping the quality high.
The one thing I have to watch for is pricing....... as if I under quote it for one piece then next time they want to order 100! ;)

[Tim Bateson]

I don't especially care to work on firearms and I don't mention them on my website. However, word-of-mouth has spread and half of my business is now marking guns and knives. Each one is just a little different which can make them time consuming. Even an AR15 receiver has several variances. Why do I still do it.... It does pays Very well.