It’s your friendly neighborhood Laser Lady! I’ve made nearly 25 thousand sales on Etsy, over $200,000 in revenue on Amazon in the last 2 years alone and have been a vendor at over 150 events selling my laser cut jewelry over the last 12 years.

If I woke up tomorrow and had to start my laser journey all over again, I’d avoid some common traps that keep most people stuck from scaling their laser business.

I’ve spent over a decade making mistakes, so you don’t have to. Today, I’m giving you my best advice so you can succeed in your laser business WAY faster than I did. Let’s dive into it.

Subscribe to my YouTube Channel HERE

---

Mistake #1 – Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Some people can be told not to touch the stove because it is hot and never once touch a stove. Others can be told not to touch it, but they’re going to touch it anyway.

Let me put it this way. When I started, I was the type of person who can be told not to touch a stovetop and I 100% would anyway. I needed to burn myself to learn.

When customers told me (with their actions) that a product was a success, I wouldn’t expand on that product line or find ways to make it more accessible. Just like when customers told me (with their inaction) that a product was a dud, I kept making and trying to sell it anyway.

Now that I am, ever so slightly, older, I have changed this mindset. It’s not about what I want to make, it’s about what the customer tells me they want.

But what does that have to do with your laser business?

The faster you can change your mindset to actually absorb information and apply it immediately will help you fast track what will work for you and your business.

Here’s a real-world example for you. I just made a video where I helped my kiddo start his first laser business. Since then, and we are literally only about 2 weeks in, he has sold out of his skull tumbler design he sells on consignment at a local game store. No other design has sold yet.

So, instead of just restocking those and going about your day happy you sold something, what information can we take away from this? To use the analogy again, the customers are telling us the stovetop is hot, and the stovetop is the skull design. People like the skulls!

So, what do we do with this data? Maybe my son will try out more skull designs. Maybe that design should be the first product to start selling online. He can now make a gameplan to test that product even more, which is what business is all about.

The point is, he is starting to learn to listen to the actions of his customers. And the only way anyone is going to learn that is to start cooking. Or turning the stove on. Analogy aside, you need to start making things with your laser.

But don’t go crazy with it! Ask how can you combine what you are passionate about with what people actually buy?

Mistake #2 – Think Smaller

Whether or not you are new to lasers, or business, you may have heard of a “niche” before.

Niche: a specialized segment of the market for a particular kind of product or service.

A niche product could look like a Laser Engraved Mug for Moms of Persian cats, or a keychain for nurses that says “”Coffee, scrubs, and rubber gloves”.

In the beginning of my business, I was fueled by nerds. I sold at a lot of comic cons, so my products were nerdy by nature.

If you are still making anything for everyone, ask yourself this: What inspires you? What are you good at? What brings you joy?

Look, to be honest, it might not even be something that brings you joy, but you have a deep understanding for.

I worked in restaurants for nearly my entire adult (and teenager) life before I went fulltime with my laser business. So, I could EASILY come up with a bunch of “laugh out loud” products for restaurant workers.

This connection is what I’m talking about.

What connects you to others? Parenting? Soccer? A distain for customers? Hamsters?

Start there. Make products that speak to your passions. Get creative. You’re more amazing than you think you are! Plus, if this is something you want to throw yourself at, you should at least like what you are making.

And, of course, the customer should like what you are making, too. Let’s go ahead and jump into one of the most important topics you need to learn if you are going to succeed in any type of business.

Mistake #3 – Too much, too fast

It’s way too fun making things. I started out as a crafter, not a business. So, I love to make things and make things, I did.

About 2 years into the laser business, I opened my own retail shop. So, then I was buying things wholesale, running a shop… and then I got into making soaps! So, there I was, running a shop, still making new laser cut designs for my Etsy, making soaps and sprays AND signing up to conventions and then I got a screen-printing press and a button maker, oh and I started doing Amazon FBA, and that’s about when I first started a YouTube channel… and all in the span of about 18 months. Sounds like a bit much, don’t you think?

I was a Jill of all trades and a master of none.

The reason I kept jumping off and on all these different things was because I would see a sliver of success when I did, but then something else would start to drop off.

I actually sold some soaps, so then I got more stuff to make soaps, and ignored marketing the shop.

I’d sign up for yet another convention, and then I’d have to close my shop while I was away.

Then selling on Amazon started to take off with my laser cut jewelry, so I didn’t have time to make soaps anymore.

Screen printing shirts was super fun, but again, I would have to ignore something else, to get that done.

There are shiny new gadgets, crafts and materials everywhere you look, but you have to reign it in and focus.

Once you pick something, and customers are responding to it, stick with it. You will find success a zillion times faster than I did.

Once I closed my shop, stopped making soaps, sold my screen-printing supplies, and focused on my laser cut jewelry biz, it skyrocketed and still sustains me today and maybe forever.

If you’re wondering how I can do all that AND have time to do all this YouTube stuff, it has a lot to do with the next step.

Mistake #4 – Shift from Craft to Business

If you don’t have a passion for business, there is a good chance you just love to make things and are thinking, “Let’s make a little money, why not?”

Nope. That’s not going to work, my friend. And I mean that. Friend to friend. There is no, “if I build it, they will come.” You can NOT throw a thing on etsy and expect a six-figure business to build itself.

I actually went to college for business, and you know what I learned? The definition of 1000 dumb business words. To this day, I refuse to use the word “Fiscal”. Can’t do it…

I’ve been in business for 12 years now, you know what I learned? Making the product will only be maybe 10% of the time it will take to sell it.

I absolutely love crafting my wares. I watch movies, listen to podcasts, and dink around while the laser is on and doing its thing. But, when it comes to actually making a job out of it, running the business becomes the majority of your time.

The other 90% of the time is figuring out where and how to sell the dang thing.

You need to find the right products, for the right customers and take them to the right selling events in order to make the money you need to go forward with your business.

So, if I were to start again, I would bypass the DIY crafter vibe and would bellyflop right into the business lake. Feel free to play up the fact you are a small, handcrafted business all you want, that’s great marketing, but the keyword there is business.

This is around the time you should be turning your brain from thinking things like, “I feel like making, dot dot dot”, to “My customers want to buy (insert here).”

You need to remove yourself and let your customers take the wheel. What solves their problems? Where will they buy this thing? What excites their engagement?

Your products should align with your knowledge and passions while linking with your emerging customer base.

But, it can be hard to understand. It’s a lot! Sometimes it takes the outside looking in, which is why the next one is what I’ll always wonder how much more successful I would have been if I would have had it.

Mistake #5 – Don’t do it alone