laser owners vs. laser manufactors...

[Andy Joe]

So does anyone feel the laser manufactors are making a killing selling a product that isnt a high money producer for the poeple that own them?

[Dan Hintz]

What's your point?

If you can't make money with the laser, you're doing something wrong... which is the same thing that can be said about any piece of equipment that was purchased specifically for making money. It's not the laser company's job to ensure you make a profit, they only provide the tools.

[Andy Joe]

i dont own the laser, i work for a company with one. It seems like a side note to the rest of their business but it dosent seem to bring in much. Just wondering if the company was doing something wrong or if the machines just arent in high to demand

[Martin Boekers]

Maybe they provide it as a service to clients who purchase other products.

We make the demand by providing a product and a service.

Many businesses don't make it because of marketing skills,
market they are in, economy there are many reseason why businesses fail.

Take a delivery truck for example, most businesses (outside of
the delivery ones , UPS FEDX etc) actually lose money on the
delivery, but it is a service that they provide which sells their
product.

That Kern is a nice laser, I'm sure they have a good idea of its
value to the company if not.....

[Scott Shepherd]

In my limited experience with small business and small business owners, regardless of whether they have a laser or not, is that they more often than not fail to identify their customers. When you ask someone who their customers should be, they tend to say things like "everyone". If you think "everyone" is your customer or potential customer, then you've missed the boat.

Know your customer, know who they are, what they do, where they spend money, what their hobbies are, etc. and you'll be better off than your competition that thinks "everyone" is their customer and does none of that.

I can tell you the names of some of the "potential" customers I'd like to have. I know them by name.

Just my opinion.

[Gary Hair]

What's your point?

If you can't make money with the laser, you're doing something wrong... which is the same thing that can be said about any piece of equipment that was purchased specifically for making money. It's not the laser company's job to ensure you make a profit, they only provide the tools.

eg-friggin-zactly

[Michael Hunter]

I don't think that the manufactures are making a "killing" : a good living perhaps, but not more than that.
The fierce competition between ULS and Epilog, coupled with the threat from Chinese cheapy-cheap jobs means that no-one in that business can make "excessive" profits.

The way the lasers are sold might seem a bit questionable - "make some trinkets with our laser and you're on your way to being rich", but is it any worse than, say, education - "get our media degree and you can be a top TV executive" - I don't think so.

[Dee Gallo]

Right on Steve/Scott!

[Mitchell Andrus]

So does anyone feel the laser manufactors are making a killing selling a product that isnt a high money producer for the poeple that own them?

No. If I didn't plan to make a profit with it I wouldn't have bought one. Mine was expensive and it paid for itself in under two years.
.

[Joe Pelonio]

No. If I didn't plan to make a profit with it I wouldn't have bought one. Mine was expensive and it paid for itself in under two years.
.

Mine actually paid for itself the first year in profits, but I didn't buy it to start a business, but to add another service to my existing business. I think a lot of people may fall for advertising that suggests they can make a living doing personalization and making gift items, however it's been production work, mostly wholesale that did it for me. As Dan said, it's a piece of equipment (not a money machine). Laser dealers are not any different than other equipment sellers when they talk about how much money you can make with their equipment. I have heard the same from
many other kinds of equipment dealers.

[Viktor Voroncov]

Slightly offtopic: many years ago (1995-1997) Gerber have Gerber Edge advertising with hoop-net (scoop-net, skip) full of $ packs. I just change English text in this ad to local language, print it in professional magazines and untill 2000 I have calls like "I want buy equipment, which bring packs of $ when working"

[Andy Joe]

Well like i said, im just an employee. I cant make the decison what is made, but ive been working with it for 4 years or so now and i havent seen much profit come off of it. There isnt much marketing directed too it and the rest of the shop is a job shop machine shop and i havent really seen it pushed to be used along with other equipment in the shop. I think it has loads of potential but i dont know what im doing when it comes to marketing so i cant tell the boss how to do things. What do you mean by know your customer, do u choose what you want to make first then find the customer? Please explain more

[matt heinzel]

If you don't try to make money with the laser, you won't make money with the laser. I am also "Just and Employee" at my company, but I give input. Our owner wants us to find new and exciting things to offer. Since starting here in 2006 we have added a lot of successful and not so successful products based on my and other input. We are an awards company and we now operate 4 machines, 2 of them are running all day Mon-Fri.

[Andy Joe]

damn, thats nice. We are a machine shop, and if there is nothing to run on laser im welding or foarming parts so i dont really get much free time with the laser. I have suggested some ideas but i guess they never took cause we never tried them

[Scott Shepherd]

What do you mean by know your customer, do u choose what you want to make first then find the customer? Please explain more

I don't choose what I want to make, I look for people that make or need products we are capable of producing. An easy example would be electrical panel tags. Who uses them? Commercial electrical companies. Find out who they are, who's in charge of purchasing them, and go from there.

You're in a machine shop, you should have tons of use for it. Market small plastic parts, cut to shape. Small gears, prototype parts, etc. I cut 1000's and 1000's of small parts a month. If I had a laser when I was working in machine shops, I would have been a happy camper.

You are most likely already doing business for people that could use the service. If you make any parts that go on machinery, then it most likely has all sorts of engraved tags all over it. Just ask your customers to visit their places for a tour, while on the tour, you'll see many things. Ask them on the spot - "who makes those for you?". Then let them know you can make them.

You already have clients many of us would love to have. If they don't know what you can do, they won't order any. Most times purchasing agents think plastic tags and fabricated metal parts wouldn't be coming from the same source. If you educate them, they most often will be happy to give you a chance.