Rebecca,
We have only been doing the lasering for a little bit longer than you have. We got ours back in March. If you are wanting to do the kind of volume it sounds like I would think that you would need at least one other laser and I would make it a larger and higher wattage machine.

We have an Epilog 32EX 35watt and there are a number of times that I have thought we needed a larger and higher wattage to get things out faster.

Is your product something that multiples can be run at one time or do you have to do them one at a time? If you can do multiples now, how many more could you do if you had a 32" or 36" table? How long does it take you to run the job now? How many do you think you could get done on a higher wattage, since you can run a little faster with a higher wattage?

Just some thoughts. I just can't see myself trying to bite off that amount of possible work even with my laser. I have thought about going higher volume and the only way I even want to think about it is with a 36" in 50 to 100 watts. Am I way off base? Those who have been doing this a lot longer than I, please tell me if I'm right or wrong.

Good point. We are dealing with a smaller laser. However, would it always be 1000's of the product or is there a market for 100's or fewer in promotional products. Could I capture the smaller jobs yet not be stuck with the 1z-2z jobs I get now? That would be my goal. If all goes well with the investment in ASI, I'd love a larger laser and some part-time help. Is it worth it with what I've got? My husband shies away from any more debt without proof we can pay it off (reasonably so).

I am avoiding sales. I am good at networking but not cold calling. I've had poor return on advertising with a former business so I shy away from it, especially since I don't have a storefront.

I was hoping joining ASI would be a good fit considering.

Thoughts?

By the way, I've done 50 of our larger 12" round plaque/tribute and it was intense but could see doing more. It would probably take a week to do 75-100 with some graphic design. Our plaque/tributes can be tedious work because of the fine detail cutting involved.

We just finished 750 coasters. That went very smoothly and I enjoyed it intensely. Much different than the above because I can do more at one time and laser time is small.

Rebecca,

If you receive high volumes of work and truly want to become an ASI supplier, you may want to investigate a YAG Galvo system.

Difference in speed is astounding.

As a rough example, I once had an order for wooden sand timers, that required a logo on each end.

Running time for one logo, on a CO2 (flying optics) system, was about 2.5 minutes. Same logo on a YAG (steered beam) system was "maybe" 10 seconds.

It's been awhile, but I think the running time was actually less than 10 seconds.

Hi Rebecca,

Look before you leap into ASI. Check into the manufacturing side of SAGE. They are much lower cost for the distribution side, so I assume they will be more cost friendly the other way as well.

One thing you need to think about is competition. What you will find with an ASI or SAGE network is that the people buying have resources to compare your pricing to thousands of others that offer the same products that you do. Most pick the lower or lowest price depending on how that vendor is rated by the people that have used them.

This means that if my customer asked me as an ASI "distributor" to buy a laser engraved plaque, that there would be a search function that would bring up all the member "manufacturers" that make such a product. It would allow me to check for pricing and company performance.

Trust me.....The pricing is very compeditive. My guess is that if your pricing was low enough, you would be very busy, but not necessarily profitable. It may be a great opportunity for you, but you should really do some homework from the "manufacturing" side of the equasion.

Good luck and keep us informed on how things go.

Thanks,

Brian G.

Thanks Brian,

Do you have a website address for SAGE?

Good advice. My other option is to drum up sales locally. I have an idea of businesses to target with our products. But, it would require a visit to each one. How else do you get sales? Any suggestions for a different approach than ASI?

We had minimal success at smaller craft fairs, good success at large fairs but it is a whip setting up and taking down without additional help.

So far, we are the type of business that has a laser and makes the product from scratch or etches on materials supplied wholesale. We got business from craft fairs mostly.

I was just considering a new approach. We are low on cash so ASI or Sage may not be the best way to go.

I'm not sure hiring someone to help would be possible considering margins at fairs aren't real high for us (at least not the small ones). Although, we do get leads that bring in additional sales.

I've attached an image of the product we have featured most since starting.

Thanks for all your comments.

Rebecca,

I've resized your image, to a smaller file size, which will be viewable on our monitors, without having to scroll.

Thank you! Didn't realize it was so big.

The real hit with these plaques/tributes is doing custom centers with their organization's logo. We've done some real fun stuff. That is where I was headed with the ASI route.

Rebecca,

I can see where your product could be used as an applique on award plaques or displayed in shadow boxes, to create what I find most impressive with plaques -- dimension.

A company called Lazer-Buzz has a whole line of those products out.

I have my own line of about 25 different items up on a wall in my store. Here on the east coast we get a lot of comments about how unique they are, but few sales. I think it is a mid-western type of item.

Pricing here does not seem to matter, same sales with a $20 price change.

Philadelphia, PA (Really Bensalem)

Harvey's Tips Page When you finally understand it completely... it changes.

Rebecca,

I certainly don't mean to throw a wet blanket on your plans, but from what I've read so far, you may be heading down a road that ultimately could be enough to curb your youthful enthusiasm.

See if my experience with a high volume job resembles your situation at all.

http://www.engravingetc.org/forum/index.php?webtag=EE&msg=7.1

logojohn,

That's a great offer, thanks!

Maybe you'd be interested in meeting to discuss a bit about altering it for more text. I could treat you to lunch or coffee and dessert somewhere.

My email should be listed in my profile.

Looking forward to meeting with you.

Rebecca

Personally what works best for us is finding niche's that have needs. Find a niche that you can relate to (understand and speak the same language as the customers that fit that niche) that has a need, then target that niche with products that you know they can use.

The SAGE web site can be found at http://www.sageworld.com/

I am not trying to discourage you from trying to be a manufacturer for a SAGE or ASI, but you need to know that the margin's for the kind of work you will do for them are very low, so you need very efficient production techniques and equipment that is efficient to operate.......fast no nonsense production style equipment...

One thing that may work for you with a SAGE or ASI is to create a niche with something unique that no one else will be competing over.......Perhaps the best thing would be to combine the idea of a unique niche product and a SAGE or ASI.....Create a product that is unique to you (something unique that can be used as a promotional product that others aren't doing), and then market that product in the SAGE or ASI marketplace.

Brian G.

I'm one of those award shops in Southern Cal that has a laser engraver. Only the larger or older shops have two or more. Some don't need a 2nd but they buy a new one when it's time and hold onto the old one as a back up (good plan).

Selling to Promotional Products retailer requies you to sell at wholesale prices. When selling wholesale, the retailer should be supplying camera-ready artwork. That rarely gives you a file ready to engrave and you end up doing retail work for wholesale prices, especially from the retailers who don't do any in-house production. This type of retailer rarely knows much about our business.

I won't sell a personalized product to a third party seller unless I am given the right to speak to the buyer and get all artwork approved by them. Mistakes are much more frequent when selling through others. Big orders that are wrong are big losses.

Most corporate awards focused shops sell promotional products tp thier customers and join ASI or PPAI as a reseller. This works well if it's part of the business plan but I suggest taking the time to get to know something about embroidery and pad & screen printing as well as clothing before selling too many promotional products. Mistakes can be very costly.

Rebecca,
I would have to chime in here in agreement that trying to become an ASI vendor as opposed to a producer might dampen your spirit and be a bit discouraging, but then again, Einsteins parents were told he was dumb and would never amount to anything and he was put in special ed classes......so what do I know.
Have you considered approaching some of the specialty gift stores in your area? That might be a better route for you to get your product out ( I'm a poet and didn't know it, cause my feet are long fellows..... :O  :O )
Another avenue, would be to produce at night and do the craft fairs during the day.......
Just random thoughts from my cluttered mind.
Toss them back if you want :D