Getting started

[Lori Mollitor]

I am still very new with the laser thing. Been doing it a couple of years the first year learning alot. Now I am looking into making it a full time home business. Does anyone have any help how to get this going. Do alot of you have websites to get business. Any comments or ideas of what do would be great. Have done a few craft shows and of course they are hit and miss.
Thanks for anyones help.
I just joined this forum and have already enjoyed it greatly.:)

[James Stokes]

If you will go back and read back posts in the laser forum you will find a lot of posts on that very thing. That question gets asked about every month or so.

[Tom Winters]

Hi Lori,

Welcome to the creek! I am glad your hobby is now turning into more of a career!! I would recomend not quiting your day job just yet. To my understanding, you must already have a product(s) that you have designed from your laser. Try taking that product(s) into local stores and see if you can set up a display stand for those stores to sell your product(s). Tell them that you will leave them there free of cost, and if the product(s) sell then that store can place an order with you. If they all sell, then GREAT! If they don't, then no worries. Pick up you stand and extend the same offer to another store. Do this locally, then extend your reach if all works in your favor.

Also, I think a website is a great idea. Everyone is about convenience now adays. If people can shop from their home, then a lot will. You could create an online site for ordering your product(s). This will probably be slow at first, but once you start generating profit from your other sources of sales you could invest more money into your site.

If you have a website, you can also create business cards with cotanct information and site information printed on the card. Many businesses allow other businesses to place their cards at their location. This is free advertising.

There are also many different craft magazines out there, as well as magazines selling a variety of assorted cheaper products. Try seeing if your products would work for them. Build up your business to business relationships, this probably will help you the most. Good luck to you!!!

[Mike Null]

Excuse me Tom but we have a major disagreement on this issue. If you have to leave something on consignment you might as well forget about it. That is not the way you want to begin a business. Don't begin your business by sharing your profit.

First, you need to understand your machine, materials and how to use it. You need to undersatnd and be proficient with the software as well.

For most people laser engraving is a service--that is your product. The reason there are so many used engraving machines out there is because people thought they could market a widget and failed.

Figure out how to market your service and people will come to you. I'd look at a professionally done web site as a start.

There are many threads here on this subject so I would also recommend doing a lot of searches.

[Sean Bullock]

An easy way to get a website going would be to use Microsofts' Office Live. It is an incredibly easy piece of software to use. In two days you can have a site up and running. Best of all, the basic site is free. There are some add ons that can be purchased like Store Front, 40? a month. First three months free. All geared toward the small business owner. This is the perfect way to get out there and get noticed.

I had been putting off getting a website together for some time simply because of the cost. $700 plus about $80 a month.

Not even done with it yet and already generating income.

I think Yahoo! has a similar website building program.

[Joe Pelonio]

Excuse me Tom but we have a major disagreement on this issue. If you have to leave something on consignment you might as well forget about it. That is not the way you want to begin a business. Don't begin your business by sharing your profit.


I have to agree on consignment, they take as much as 45%. I did that with some stained glass art, and did sell things but by the time you price it to sell and give them their cut you're just not making what it's worth.

I do a lot of wholesale work but it's in large quantities, and I still wouldn't give up that much profit.

Most of my new business comes from referral, then people that google and find me. In fact I just did a bunch of leather card wallets for a guy that found me that way. Oh, that was a stinky job BTW.

[Tom Winters]

Well, I think that if you are tring to sell a product that is not a personalized product, but more of a generic product than consignment would be a choice that one should consider. Even if your product is not generating much profit, you are achieving other accomplishments. If you do a simple thing as to place a small sticker on the bottoms of the products in which you are leaving on cosignment stating, "For more unique products visit www.mystuff.com" (for ex.), then you could be driving business to the products in which you will be generating more profit on. Also if you come up with a "collection title" and people like your products, then they will do the research themselves to find out what else you have to offer. This is why I suggest consignment. It is not for a short term selling strategy, it is for working towards being able to sell your products just by yourself, keeping all the profit for yourself. I do really agree with Mike in his statement, "For most people laser engraving is a service--that is your product ... Figure out how to market your service and people will come to you. I'd look at a professionally done web site as a start." This is a very true statement. Just keep your options open, do the homework and do research on the niche you are trying to get involved with, and formulate a strategy to get your business from point "A to C" without skipping point "B". This is where a lot of go-getters screw up.

[Craig Hogarth]

what type of products have you been working on so far Lori?

[Paul Lee]

Lori

Congratulations for wanting to get out on your own.

There has been some good advice so far. If you don't have a plan for your venture it may be a good idea to develop one. It would give you a good solid picture of where you are now, where you want to be and how you can reach your objectives.

Free help is available from the SBA and SCORE ( a branch of the SBA). With a little help you can quickly pin point the areas where you need to grow and focus on your best skills.

Your laser is just one of the many tools you will need to build a great new business.