Did you make $10,000 in total sales your first year?

[Mark Plotkin]

I cast my vote in the over $20,000 but I did want to point out the following details that might help others looking at this post. Our business started by making pens and we then moved to having them engraved by an award shop. As business grew and our order size grew to 50 pens and 100 pens at a time with wooden cases engraved also, I had a good base to start with but still not enough to buy our own laser. Then one of our customers that ordered 100 custom pens and cases wanted special wood blocks to commemorate an event. The initial quote was for 500 of these blocks. When I had the award shop quote me, they basically said that this order would tie up their laser too long and the price was not discounted at all. I did the math and that was the time my own laser made business sense. Well the gamble paid off as the client ordered $17,000 worth of laser engraved stuff that year. We also had other very large orders from other clients. So yes we did well over 20k the first year we had the laser but did sub out the work for a couple of years prior to purchase.

[Rodne Gold]

I did 20k + , BUT , I already had a very good award/emgraving business , was one of the first ppl in the area to get a laser and went on a heavy duty marketing campaign and hired a rep...
We were already totally conversant with design packages like Corel and Acad and had many logos on file. Also had many CnC engravers/overhead routers at the the time so the laser did what they coudnt do in terms of detail , cutting and speed.
The laser was the best addition to my machinery base and as you can see - we currently have 6 of em.
This was some time ago - nowdays there are lots of ppl in my area with lasers , so merely using it for cutting or engraving as a start up would be difficult for a newbie , worse that that is the fact that a lot of folk have bought and are succesfully running much cheaper chinese machines , making those that bought machines at 5x the price much less competitive. We have lost a lot of our clients because they have bought their own cheap machines instead of us doing their work.
The competitive edge one had with lasers 5-7 years ago has dulled considerably. I am looking right now for the next best thing to sliced bread in this industry , but havent found it yet...
Perhaps those machines that build up 3d models out of resin ? Maybe they will get cheaper and quicker?

[Viktor Voroncov]

Viktor's results are impressive, but it seems that most of his lasers went to places with an existing customer base.

Yes, Michael, you are right and IMHO this is main reason of their succesful work. Be honestly - the one only guy who have returned laser was self starter with limited budget. He have purchased Venus 12 Wt - smallest laser with many limitations and can't satisfied customers needs.

[Niklas Bjornestal]

Perhaps those machines that build up 3d models out of resin ? Maybe they will get cheaper and quicker?

They are already cheaper if you make your own.

http://objects.reprap.org/wiki/RepRap_Version_II_Mendel

[Gerd Spatz]

Money? I can make money with my laser? Wow!

[Rodne Gold]

15 cc per hour is a lttle too slow , tho for EU350 , its sure is cheap. The parts it needs to print to replicate stuff it needs would take 70 hrs!!!

I would want to use a machine like this for masters for spin casting , 3d plastic badges , trophy components etc etc.
Needs some level of production capability and better surface finishes than I have seen with some of the machines that exist.

[Scott Shepherd]

I've even more shocked this morning. 65% of the people did not even make $5,000. At 50% profit, that's $2,500 or less. That means the majority of people on this poll haven't made enough to pay for their machine payments.

That's frightening to me. I would never have guessed the rate was so high.

[David Fairfield]

From the poll, it looks like the first year is a write off for engraver newbies, as I expected. Nothing really shocking or unreasonable about that.

These machines are sophisticated tools, not trinket vending machines. Like any tool, it requires craftsmanship and experience to produce quality work. On the other hand, they don't require the long apprenticeship with a master that traditional woodworking skills might.

My unprofitable year of learning and experimenting was just part of the investment. What I learned then pays now.

Dave

[Tim Bateson]

I agree with Dave. If...IF I were to push my services now (assuming the economy is in recovery), that $10k Net would be no problem. However replacing my current day-job salary is a whole other thread. In short that can't be done with a laser... only a laser. So, until I retire, I'll keep turning away work, while I diversify with additional skills & equipment.

[Scott Shepherd]

I agree with you too David. However, I think the illusion, especially in this economy, is that you can buy one of these machines to supplement your income on the side, when in fact, the evidence in growing in this poll that the majority of the time, it's not even a method to pay it's own way.

I know if I was trying to make some extra cash on the side and saw a poll like this, I'd be reconsidering some of the hype that's out there about how you can be making money the day you plug it in.

[David Fairfield]

I think polling will only shows what's generally understood among craftspeople-- its not the tool but the individual that makes the difference. Operating the machine is more science than art. Making profitable stuff is more art than science. The successful engraver is an artist, scientist, businesman, networker, and maybe a wizard too. Can't poll that

Dave

[Scott Shepherd]

Yes David, but that's a far shot from the sales pitch of making $50,000 a year engraving baby's photos on marble that we all see and hear.

I would venture to say that most people that own a laser aren't craftsmen. I know I'm not. I couldn't do the stuff you do in my life depended on it. I make what people tell me to make, not what I think someone wants made or what I want to make myself.

[Belinda Barfield]

Our situation was a little different. Existing countertop fabrication company with a great client base. We were approached by a local military base regarding engraved black granite pavers and some other large granite displays. Great opportunity, and we were all in. I had another company do the initial samples they wanted, attended all the planning meetings, etc. Spoke with several laser vendors, all of whom really pumped the custom engraved granite tile backsplashes that we could add to our product line, etc. So, we ordered the laser. Three weeks after it arrived post command changed. The new commanding officer didn't like the idea of black granite memorial pavers, so that got value engineered to brick. We lost the job for 1000 pavers right there. Then he decided that black was too "depressing" for the memorial and went with another material for the other items. Long story short . . . everyone loves the idea of a custom black granite inset in the backsplash over the cooktop, they just don't want to pay for it - you know the drill. Gross income first year of ownership - $1602.00.

[David Fairfield]

Yup, no guarantees in a sales pitch. I thought drinking Pepsi would make me attractive and fun to be with, but gallons later, I'm still a batchelor

[Dan Hintz]

If...IF I were to push my services now (assuming the economy is in recovery), that $10k Net would be no problem. However replacing my current day-job salary is a whole other thread.

Steve and I had this exact discussion at his shop a few weekends ago. I would need a shop running 24/7 with 10 employees to even hope to make what I do as an embedded software engineer, and even then I'd probably start to miss writing code.

In some ways, I'm quite content to keep this as a hobby, though many a day passes by that I really wish I could afford to do it full time (but I like my expensive toys too much ).

I think the only way I could make the money I want using the laser without hiring a bunch of employees is to create a laser co-op with (semi-) local owners and figure out what each of us is good at and share the work appropriately. At some point, though, that would probably look just like any other company, just without the legal protection!