Laser engraving isn’t often something you think of when you think of starting a business. It’s a unique skill that requires specialized equipment. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a market with people who want custom laser engraved products.
Believe it or not, the market size for laser engraving services is $2 billion in the United States. That means there is space for someone new to enter and earn customers.
If you want your new company to succeed, you must follow the proper steps to get started. Keep reading to learn what it takes to start a new business in the laser engraving industry.
Start With a Plan
Running a laser engraving business is much more than finding designs for clients and giving them what they want. You need to make a whole set of considerations before starting your business.
Creating a business plan will help you figure those things out. A business plan will help you create a business strategy that directs you to the right customers, hire the right people, find reputable vendors, create risk assessments, and much more.
Here are some common questions you’ll answer during this process:
- Which customers are most likely to buy what the company sells?
- Is the target customer businesses or individuals?
- What set of services is the best to offer?
- What prices are reasonable?
- Where are customers located?
These questions and others will help you understand your industry and how you can succeed. You’ll use them to develop a future roadmap and devise plans to deal with unexpected surprises.
Create a Business Budget
Your budget is critical to get right in a laser engraving business. You need to spend money on equipment, supplies, and other expenses. You’ll also need space and electricity to run your equipment.
Although you may not need as much cash to start this type of business, you need to budget for what you do need to buy. Start with the space you operate. If you don’t set up a machine at home, you’ll need to find a workspace to set up shop.
You’ll also need your initial laser engraver and supplies to do the work. After that, you need other supplies to manage the other parts of your company.
Set up an initial budget for getting started and a monthly budget for the recurring purchases you need to make.
Set Up Your Laser Engraving Business
Once you have a plan for your laser engraving business, you must make it official. While you can get by working as an individual, it’s usually a better idea to incorporate a business and name your company.
Start by looking at the requirements to set up a business in your location. This usually involves finding incorporation forms and filing with your government.
An LLC will be fine if you plan to stay small and work as an individual. But if you want to grow and hire others, you’re probably better off forming a corporation.
Once your business is set up, create business bank accounts to separate your business and personal finances.
Buy Equipment and Supplies
Now that you have your business and bank accounts set up, you’re ready to buy what you need to start your company. If you don’t have a space to work yet, start there. But after that, you can start buying equipment.
Your biggest purchase will be your laser engraver. Look for the best laser engraving machine supplier and purchase a product that does excellent work. Try to find a product that gives you plenty of options and will meet your customers’ needs.
Once you find a machine supplier, you’ll need the products to handle the work. This means raw materials for the products you plan to cut with your laser engraver.
After that, you need the basic supplies to run your business. Purchase items like computers, printers, office supplies, and other things you need to handle everyday work.
Form a Team
The chances are good that you can start your laser engraving business on your own. You won’t have many customers initially, so you can do all the work yourself. And if you plan to stay small, you won’t need to expand your team.
But that won’t be true if you want to grow a large company. Once you start getting enough customers, you won’t have time to handle the work yourself.
Make sure you hire people willing to do great work and serve customers well. This is especially important if you plan to hire people for laser engraving.
If you don’t want to hire in-house for the administrative work, you can outsource to other companies. You can work with business firms for tasks like accounting, payroll, and IT.
Market Your Business
Laser engraving isn’t the type of business you walk down the street and look for. Not everyone has access to equipment like this, so you don’t think about looking for it near you.
Many people look online to find customers. This means you’ll need to start a website to show what you can do.
Many laser engraving companies also get business by contacting their customers directly. Take someone who does work for businesses, for instance. They email and call local business owners to show them what they can do and offer services.
It’s Time to Start Your New Company
Starting a successful business isn’t a sure thing. Even if you have amazing products and do fantastic work, if you can’t build your brand and build trust, you won’t be able to get customers and make money.
This means you must do everything possible to start a new company correctly. Follow the steps above when you start a company to do things right and maximize your chance of building a successful business.
Are you interested in reading more advice that will help you grow your new business? Learn more great business advice on the blog.
