I have learned so much in the last 10 years with my handmade laser business, and it wasn’t all learned from what went right.

So, I’m going to save you some time and give you some tasty business nuggets to chew on and maybe you can end up like me someday!

Focus Down You Laser Business Idea

I think I started my laser business with the same exploratory products as everyone else. I made Coasters, signs and engraved little boxes. People like them, and some even bought them! To the people that didn’t buy, I would say, “I can put anything else you’d like on there!” I hoped that would inspire a sale. I’d give them a business card, and never hear from them again.

As a product maker, the best way to find a customer is to focus on who your customer is.

Have you ever gone into a restaurant and they just ask you, “What do you want? I can make you whatever.” Of course not.

When you find you are hungry, you might think about it and decide you feel like Italian food, so you go to an Italian food restaurant, even if you don’t know exactly what you want to eat. Then you get a menu and you pick something. You went to the Italian food funnel, you were given choices, you made a choice.

Here are a few examples that are laser related:

You make Ornaments -> Customer is Given Choices -> They choose the Dog Ornament

OR

You make Dog Related Items -> Customer is Given Choices -> They choose the Dog Ornament

Here’s more examples of what I mean.

It’s up to you if you want to focus on looking for Ornament people who may have overlapping interests, like dogs, or beer, or nursing, or babies.

If you want to focus on looking for Dog people who may have overlapping interests or needs, like ornaments, or coasters, or keychains, or picture frames.

You don’t want to be the restaurant that sells burgers, and Chinese food, and pizza, and asparagus and gourmet chocolates. One reason is because it’s just too much for a customer, even if they like all that stuff. The second reason is because Gordon Ramsay will cuss you out.

Which brings me into the next part.

Look Through the Eyes of Your Customer

We little handmade folks don’t have millions of dollars for researching our perfect customers, but we can get a good idea on our own by thinking of what you like to buy and why.

Let’s say your laser business idea is to make funny cutting boards. Not just any cutting boards, not even custom cutting boards, just funny phrases and pictures. Thinking about the 1st section, we can guess that your customers like a good joke, like to cook, or like to give funny things to people who like to cook.

Years go by, and now you are known as the funny cutting board guy! Congrats!

But, years later you are getting bored and want to expand your product line. Keychains are easy. You decide to take the same funny designs and put them on keychains. Funny people who like to cook probably have keys, after all… but, no one buys your keychains.

So, you come up with something else. Engraved wooden spoons. They have the same funny designs on them, but guess what? These start to sell. Why do you think that is?

Let me tell you my story. I sell weird laser cut jewelry. Years in, I wanted to make lip balms, body sprays and soap. People who wear jewelry probably bathe, right? I even laser cut out little trinkets to accompany the lip balms.

I barely sold any of them. It took me years to get through all that soap.

Then I started selling rings and bracelets, and those obviously did a lot better. It is a product that accompanies the main focus. 

What if your favorite pretzel brand started selling chips? Not so weird, right? Now what if they also started selling motor oil under the same name? Weird.

From the customer’s perspective, it is easier to shop at Amy’s Funny Cutting Board Company, separate from Amy’s Funny Keychain Company, separate from Amy’s Baking Company.

Geez, I really must have Kitchen Nightmares on my mind. I bet I can turn this into a segway. Ok, you know how on Kitchen Nightmares there was a restaurant that Gordon couldn’t even find?

Sell Where Your Customers BUY

In the first 5 years or so of my business, I was selling at events everywhere. I set up a table outside of a record store, I sold at art fairs, I sold at comic conventions, I did a flea market once. Most of these I did ok, or I did amazing! Some of these were an absolute waste of my time and money.

Years back, I did a comic con inspired event for a local charter school. The tables were free, which was great, and it was just a small little thing to benefit after school programs for the kids. There was a guy there selling these absolutely amazing clocks. They were one of a kind, masterfully done, exceptional pieces of pop culture art. He said it was the worst event he’d ever done. He had done big conventions and cleaned up, no problem. I reminded him that this comic con was for a k-8 school and as he took a glance around the gym, I think he got it. 5-13 year old nerdy kids are not his ideal customer for a $200 clock. But, disposable income 20+ year old nerds, were.

There is a lot of hit or miss, there is no getting around that. But, before you sign up for an event,  put yourself in the position of the customer. What would you be looking for?

Remember that flea market I mentioned? I found out that even if the flea market weekend theme is superheroes, people in the mindset of being at the flea market aren’t there to buy a new $20 handcrafted set of weird earrings.

Here’s another hot tip from the perspective of the customer: don’t make products FOR an event, find the right event to sell what you already make.

I went to a cat expo recently and I saw a lot of products that were obviously just a thing with a cat on it. I’ve done this too, but what I’ve come to realize is you don’t stand out when you’re doing what everyone else is doing.

Which goes back to the first point again.

If you sell funny cutting boards, which event do you think you’d make the most money at? Woodworkers Expo, Downtown Food Fest, or Church Craft Sale? You will probably make some money at all of these, but I bet you’ll find some good humored food enthusiasts at the Downtown Food Fest.

Now that I brought up food, I bet you’re thinking I’m going to bring up Gordon Ramsey again, but I’m not. 😉

You are Probably Not Charging Enough for Your Products

I am sure you’ve heard of this before. I can’t give you a magical equation, but if I were, it would look something like this:

Cost of Materials + How Much Money You Want to Make = Your Price

Here’s the proof. These Louie Vuitton scrunchies are $400.

I’m no big name brand, but when I started I was selling my things for a stupid low price – like, “I’m just a crafter and this is my hobby”, price. I didn’t realize at the time how much work the entire business is, not just a simple pair of earrings. Time to respond to messages, do taxes, think of new things, fail at things, drive to the post office… That all counts into the cost of your products. 

Once I figured out what it truly took to make this a sustainable business ($$$), is when I decided on the next point.

You Don’t Have to Do Wholesale or Custom Orders

This one might not apply to everyone. I make tiny things that are easily replicated. I have to make a lot of tiny things and sell them to a lot of people to sustain the business.  When someone approached me to do wholesale, I was all for it.

I decided on a 40% discount, so if a pair of earrings sold for $10, the wholesale price was $6. It was nice to have a bulk amount of money in, but after a few years, it dawned on me. 

I am working just as hard as I would be to stock my online store or event booth, but getting paid 40% less. Of course, it is a quantity based thing, and maybe the products you make are better suited for this. 

Speaking of time, this is also why I stopped taking on custom designs. In the beginning, someone would see a $15 pair of earrings, ask if I could make a totally new design of what they were looking for, and I would charge the same price as my earrings. Then, I started to add on a few bucks for the customization. Then, I started adding on graphic design and file creation fees which made it more than people were willing to pay. 

It goes down to the same concept of utilizing your time. If I had to take the time to communicate with a buyer, design the thing, send them mock ups, tweak it, cut out the pendants and assemble them, I was going to charge them for each step of the process.

In the end, I didn’t want to take hours and hours to design and make something I was charging $100 for, and the customers don’t want to pay that much for plastic earrings of their logo.

Time equals money. As a small business, we don’t have a lot of time, but we sure need a lot of money.

Which is doubly why it is so important to pick the best places for you to sell your wares. I have a whole article going over who, what and where you might have the best chance of success right here. I’ll see you there! Happy Selling!

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