Rodne,here's 30+ points in addition
1) Takes at least a yr of hard work to start turning a profit
2) Running costs are not insignificant
3) Not everything comes out perfect off the laser
4) Work on 1/2 the expected profits and 2x the expected running costs
5) Lasers are flaky things , one day they work and the next they can be dead
6) Tube life of 20 000 hrs is a myth
7) 90% of the fancy stuff agents tell you a laser can do are bells and whistles that dont make money
8) Cheap lasers are almost as good at what they do than expensive ones , in terms of the products they generate
9) More power and biggers beds do not generate revenue in proportion to their size/power
10) You have to be there every minute you are using the laser unless you want your house to possibly burn down.
11) You can prolly make more money selling fruit on a street corner
13) You need to be a designer
14) You need to be a businessman
15) You need to be a marketer
16) You need to be a maintenance engineer
17) No matter what exhaust system , sometimes lasering things smells bad
18) You need more than a laser to make money out of this field
19) You need to line up suppliers before you start
20) You need to spend at least 2-3 months making samples
21) Ask yourself "what have I got that ppl will use me instead of my competiton"
22) You need to know your materials and how they react to a laser beam almost more than you need to know what a laser can do
23) You have to have a basic understanding in how a laser works to understand settings and speeds and feeds
24) you need to find out who are your competiton
25) You need to accurately work out pricing
26) You need to have rhino skin if you dont want to feel despondent when your cold calling garners you rude refusals
27) Make sure all mnfgrs promises re service and guarantee are in writing.
28) Don't believe some of these even if they are in writing
29) Service , support and length of warrantee are what determines who's machines you should buy
30) in most cases , once you bought you are on your own , mnfgrs wont hand hold you extensively for free
31) You cant use mnfgrs suggested settings apart from a gross baseline , you are going to need to experiment.
32) Not all laser drivers are convenient to use and not all will be useable if your OS changes and some have bugs that will never be ironed out.
I already know what is my first engraving project would be I will engrave all your 30+ points on the anodized aluminum plate and will place as wall art in my living room. Special thanks for your words of wisdom!!! That is awesome.