How to make money on a laser machine? Experience and advice from Miko Mor. VIDEO

Mistake 4: choosing the wrong laser machine

First of all, decide on the field size. This is a parameter that you cannot change in any way. Please note if there is a pass-through table. In most cases, cutting can be done without a through table, the only exception being materials that need to be rolled - for example, fabric. Pay attention to the guides. It’s very difficult to recommend anything here. It often happens that good rollers are better than crooked rails. At one time we installed rollers on very simple devices, since at that time they were more reliable than very cheap rails with bearings. In principle, they have never let us down for a period of more than 2 years, although now we install rails even on devices in the budget segment. Well, more serious machines already have original PMI or HIWIN with gearboxes. The best thing to do is to come to the seller and arrange a test on the materials you are going to cut, so as not to be disappointed with the purchase. If you are far away, ask to videotape the cutting of the material you need.

How to make money on a laser machine?

If we have sorted out the expenses, now we just have to figure out how to make money on a CNC wood cutting machine? I went three ways at once.

Laser cutting to order

This is the easiest way to earn money on a CNC machine. They send you the finished layout - you cut it. The fact is that there are a lot of private craftsmen, advertising agencies, etc. do not have their own equipment.

They take the order, you cut out the design for them, and then these people assemble the final product from the finished parts.

I had several such customers. The price for cutting 3-4mm plywood for them varied from 15 to 25 rubles per meter. Last year I made wooden rulers using this pattern. The girl talked to customers, made mock-ups, and then gave them to me for cutting. They cost her 40-50 rubles (20cm ruler), she sold them for 100-150 rubles.

Even at this price, my income from these lines alone in February (before the holidays of February 23 and March 8) was about 15,000-20,000 rubles.

Commercial orders

This method is the most difficult, but the most “delicious” in terms of profit. We are talking about the production of finished souvenir products. These are, for example, gifts for the New Year, watches, calendars, interior elements for cafes and restaurants, wooden menus, engraved cutting boards, etc. For me, one of the largest was an order to produce menus and counters for a restaurant. I won’t reveal the details, but 1 menu cover, as in the photo, cost 1800 rubles, and the counter cost about 1000 rubles.

There are two ways to find such clients:

1. Word of mouth (especially in small towns). Therefore, monitor the quality of your products.
2. Mailing commercial offers, personal contacts with business owners. For some of them, you can try giving free gifts with their logo on them to show the quality of their work.

True, income from such orders may be unstable. Before the New Year in November-December, for example, I managed to place similar orders for tens of thousands of rubles, and sometimes hundreds. But in January-February there may be no such orders at all.

Own products

Well, the third way to make money from laser cutting is to sell your own goods and open an online store. I had great difficulties with the store, because... They now have to connect a cash register, which is expensive and difficult. Therefore, the main source of sales was sales at retail outlets, a group in VK, a crafts fair and regular fairs in the summer. I have already written an article on the topic of how to sell your goods at a crafts fair. Follow the link - I hope it will be interesting.

Regarding earnings at regular fairs, I will write a separate article with a detailed report on income and expenses.

I've made a lot of different products. For example, sketchbooks with wooden covers, bottle holders, mug stands, badges with UV printing, lamps and night lights, rubber guns, sets of Christmas decorations, wooden knives, refrigerator magnets, small wooden construction sets, etc.

But, to be honest, I never focused on such products until I started going to fairs. Because There was nowhere to post it, but to develop social media. there was no time and desire to network. Therefore, my earnings came down to the first two methods.

Now let's move on to the business plan.

Error 7: be careful, the picture does not match in online stores

There are many sellers of laser machines. And, as I have noticed very often there is a discrepancy between the photograph and the real characteristics. For example, in a photograph there are rails, but in reality they are not rails. In the photo there is a switching power supply in a metal case, but in reality it is not.

By the way, why did I focus on the power supply? As you understand, most of the components are made in China. This is neither good nor bad. So we once ordered a power supply for one of our projects. The board was wired and worked perfectly with a laboratory power supply. We connect the ordered power supply - the board works for 10 seconds and turns off. For a long time we can’t understand what’s going on. It turns out that the power supply made so much noise that the noise on the signal lines exceeded the logical level of 3.3 V. So, the metal case plays the role of a Faraday cage and significantly reduces the noise from switching power supplies. That is why I immediately draw attention to why, in order to save 30 rubles, it is necessary to deprive such a rather critical element of the case.

And there are many such little things. Therefore, before purchasing, it is better to ask the seller all questions in order to avoid misunderstandings and be disappointed with the purchase.

Business plan for making money on a laser machine

First, let's calculate the costs of starting your business. The initial investment includes the purchase of equipment.

1. A good Chinese 80W machine with a field of 90*60cm can be bought for approximately 300,000 rubles. The kit will already include a snail for the hood and corrugation. And if you take equipment with a field of 60*40 and a power of 60W, it will be even cheaper. But then you limit yourself in the products that you can offer to customers.
2. Freon chiller - 50,000 rubles (you can save money and make it out of a beer cooler or air conditioner, at least two to three times cheaper).
3. Computer – 30,000 rub. For that kind of money you can buy an average laptop that can handle working in graphic editors with 2D drawings.
4. Hand tools – 10,000 rub. Essentially, in the first stages, you only need a sander and the cheapest vacuum cleaner (you can use it) to vacuum the sanded items. Plus a couple of tables and chairs, which are not a pity. And at least the simplest jigsaw for cutting sheet material.
5. Material (plywood at the first stage) – 7000 rub. How much you take is up to you. I put here 5 sheets of 3mm (now about 450r/sheet), 5 sheets of 4mm (500r/sheet) and 3 sheets of 6mm (700r/sheet). Plexiglass can be purchased when you find a specific order for its cutting.

Total: 397,000 rub.

We also calculate monthly expenses (I recalculated to the above cost of equipment):

1. Depreciation – 6600 rub.
2. Consumables – 2000 rub. This includes wear and tear on a cheaper tube of RUR 1,000/month, plus unforeseen expenses. This does not include costs for paint, brushes, sandpaper, etc. Because they should be included in the cost of products that you make individually. We only consider laser cutting costs associated with the machine.
3. Rent. When I was looking for premises, enterprises and business incubators offered premises for 150-170 rubles/m^2. An acquaintance on the edge of town in a technology park rents for 100 rubles/m^2. Let's calculate 150 rubles. 50m^2 is more than enough for your workshop. It turns out 7500r/month. Let's round up to 10,000 rubles/month. including utilities. Again, you will have less of it, because... I had a larger room, a more powerful machine, and he was not alone.
4. Salary – 25,000 rubles/month.
5. Advertising – 5000r/month

Total: 48600r/month.

To open a business on a laser machine and not go broke, you must take into account that for the first months you will have to work without profit. Let’s take about half a year to find clients and develop.

To open a business we will need: 397000+48600*6=688600 rub.

Please note that the cost of plywood is not included in monthly expenses, because... The cost of the material is not included in the cost of cutting and the customer pays for it separately.

Income

The minimum income you need to begin to recoup the costs of opening a workshop is 49,000 rubles/month.

It is difficult to predict the flow of orders. Because For laser cutting, the main emphasis will be on regular large customers who appear over time, and finished products are very often distributed through word of mouth. There is a way out of this situation.

Remember, I wrote that I had several customers who were making souvenirs without having a laser machine. I suggest you do the same in order to generally understand how to make money on a CNC woodworking machine without investing money.

Create a website or group on VK, run advertising, place ads on free platforms. Moreover, the advertisements are of a different nature. Both with laser cutting services and with finished products to order (take someone else’s photos if you don’t want to order parts from competitors to make samples).

And then you have two options:

1. (preferred option) You work with potential clients, fulfill orders. Just not on your own, but re-order cutting from competitors. Take even those orders in which you will not make a profit (yet). Let's say a client needs to cut plywood at the same price as you yourself order cutting from someone. Now you will work for zero, but when you buy your machine, you will already work on it with a profit. And if you refuse initially, then this customer will simply go to another master. Work this way for 1-2 months. Write down each completed order, and then calculate your earnings.
2. You also place advertisements, advertisements, etc. But you don’t fulfill orders, you simply collect applications. You find out from potential clients what they need to do and in what quantity, and then refuse under some pretext (say that your machine is broken and you are waiting for components. Or that there are no materials). You sum up all orders and calculate the total potential profit. I’ll immediately make a reservation that after such tests you are unlikely to collect orders in a couple of months for the amount you need - 49,000 rubles (without materials). Once again, I repeat that the laser cutting business is built on large and regular customers who do not accumulate so quickly. However, this way you can figure out the overall potential in the niche.

If you can simply place ads on the Internet and collect orders for at least 20,000-30,000 rubles per month (this does not take into account materials), then in half a year you will definitely be able to achieve an income above 49,000 rubles. Yes, and thanks to the first method of “testing” a niche, by the time you start your business, you may already have some first regular customers and experience in making souvenirs.

Types of engraving

Before building a business on such a service, you need to understand what laser engraving is. Depending on what type of work you decide to do, a specific type of laser machine is selected.

Engraving can be raster or vector. In the latter case, the drawing is applied in thin lines, and in the former, a photographic halftone image is obtained. By adjusting the depth of the laser beam, you can add volume to the drawing. The material you can work with is virtually unlimited. It can be plexiglass, metal, plastic, wood, leather, paper, fabric and much more.

Small Business Use Cases

There are a lot of options for using this type of drawing. Depending on the type of machine and the surface being processed, this service can be offered in the following business areas:

1. Applying drawings, monograms, coats of arms, logos on various objects. The most popular are mobile phone cases.
2. Engraving of fabric and clothing. The most popular direction is applying a pattern to denim clothing.
3. Production of seals and seals with complex patterns.
4. Keyboard engraving. This is especially true in cases where the equipment was purchased abroad and it is necessary to apply the Russian layout to the keyboard.

These are not all options for using the technology, but only the most popular ones. If you wish, you can find your own niche, where there will be no competition or it will be negligible.

The nuances of working with engravers

There are several nuances to working with lasers. There are certain requirements both for the material itself and for the resulting image. For different materials, it is necessary to take into account brightness and contrast, and, based on this, set the optimal laser parameters.

For engraving, you need to specify 2 key indicators - laser speed and power (intensity). It takes a little skill to understand by eye what parameters need to be set.

If the indicators are too weak, the picture will turn out dim. With excessive power, there will be burning and burning. When working, it is good to use the CNCC LaserAxe and ACAN-mini programs. They allow you to change parameters during the engraving process. Image processing takes no more than 30 seconds.

Image processing takes no more than 30 seconds.

Business payback

It is difficult to say when the invested funds will be returned. Payback depends on many factors. Obviously, an engraving machine worth 5 thousand rubles. will pay off incomparably faster than a $30,000 laser machine. But it’s not only investments that affect payback. Much depends on the popularity of the chosen services and their cost. An advertising campaign has a huge impact on the formation of customer flow. Without it, a business basically has no chance.

But, as a rule, it is believed that laser engraving has a very high return on investment due to its wide range of applications. The high cost of equipment is offset by low space requirements. In fact, they do not extend to it at all, and the space required for the machine is minimal, which simplifies the start of the business.

In general, the profit per month of operation of one laser installation can be 20, or even 60 thousand rubles. Its size is influenced by the quality of the equipment - the better and more expensive it is, the more productive the work will be. When using imported equipment, the profit can reach 60 thousand rubles, but given its high cost, the payback will be approximately 8 months. Domestic equipment allows you to earn up to 40 thousand per month and at the same time return the invested funds in just 5 months. As an option for an inexpensive start, you can buy used equipment. But you can earn no more than 20 thousand rubles from it. per month. Accordingly, its payback will be about six months.

Equipment

A special machine is used to process the material. There are two main types of it:

• Vector machines - the silhouette of the drawing is made using thin lines.
• Raster machines - using graphic halftones. Used for wood engraving.

The price of laser engraving equipment will depend on the country of manufacture, model and its technical characteristics. A domestically produced machine will cost $4,500. The price of imported analogues starts from $6,000. At the beginning of business development, you can rent a laser machine.

The main consumables are diamond needles. Their cost starts from 750 rubles. With one needle you can apply several dozen designs to plastic. Laser engraving on glass and metal will require large expenditures of consumables. Rubber for laser engraving is needed in the production of seals and stamps.

Additional technical equipment and software:

• Scanner - to create a digital copy of a drawing.
• PC with a good display.
• Licensed graphic software (Photoshop or CorelDraw).

Pros of starting a laser engraving business

When it comes to the advantages of opening such a business, the following should be noted among them:

• This is a fresh idea for working with clothes and any fabric. This service will most often be in demand among young people. In addition, one of the new procedures now is keyboard engraving. Most often, this procedure is used when equipment is brought from abroad, and the layout needs to be changed to Russian.
• You can work with any materials . Laser engraving will always find its wide consumer.
• The business pays off quickly when it comes to making stamps. If there is little competition, then you can fully pay for your business plan in a short time.
• Nowadays laser engraving is even used for car modeling . In practice, various patterns are applied that will characterize something unique.
• Such a business includes several types of services , each of which will be different from each other. That is why you can define either a narrow spectrum or a wide spectrum.
• To work, you need to provide yourself with a minimum of equipment , as well as a minimum of knowledge. For this purpose, mastering only standard programs that are used in everyday life is suitable.
• Now each of the machines has high productivity , which allows you to process materials with high precision and in short periods of time.
• The process does not depend on the person . Processing is carried out by a computer program, where operator participation is not required. This suggests that damage to the material due to the human factor will not occur.
• If clients have already tried to use some other types of processing, then they understand that laser engraving is exactly the option that will be better in quality than all others.

As you can see, there are many advantages to carrying out such a procedure. But it is also worth considering the disadvantages in order to see in more detail the process of opening such a business.

How much does it cost to open an engraving business?

One-time expenses:

• laser engraver - 30–50 thousand rubles

Recurring expenses:

• rent of a small office or premises: 5–10 thousand rubles. per month;
• procurement costs: 10–20 thousand rubles.

With the cost of one piece being 100–200 rubles, the finished product can be sold for 300–500 rubles, and in some cases more expensive. Thus, having produced 50–100 products, you will fully recoup the cost of purchasing a laser engraver. You will receive the exact values ​​after preparing a business plan.

Relevance of the business idea

People have been using engraving services for a long time.
It has already become a tradition to put memorable inscriptions on the wedding rings of the newlyweds, on watches, lighters, pendants or other gifts. Individualization of household items, furniture, and clothing is in increasing demand. It is on this wave that laser engraving services fit perfectly. The advantages of the laser are obvious: non-contact application, durability, high speed, the ability to depict complex elements, a variety of materials on which engraving is applied. In addition to the main line of business, you can receive additional income:

• From the production and sale of engraved souvenirs
• From cooperation with large enterprises that require engraving of a brand name on their products
• From expanding the range of services. For example, engraving for advertising signs, billboards, signs or signs
• From engraving on unusual items or clothing, such as jeans

Business equipment

To apply designs with a laser, you will need a special machine. The type and cost of the machine depends on how large your project is. For example, if you are planning to open a business at home, you can buy a small engraving machine for 5 thousand rubles. The return on investment of such a machine is extremely high due to its low cost. The work is paid according to the centimeters of the applied drawing. One centimeter of sketched area is estimated at 15 rubles. and higher.

For a serious amount of work, it is necessary to purchase full-fledged machines. They come in domestic and foreign production. If domestic ones are offered for about two thousand dollars, then imported ones are sold from four thousand dollars to 30 thousand. It is often recommended to go directly with the manufacturer and negotiate with him to rent the installation for $250 per month. If the business is successful, then it can be bought out.

In addition to the machine itself, you need to stock up on consumables - laser needles, which directly perform engraving. One such consumable, which is enough to complete about 30 drawings, will cost 600 rubles.

In addition to the machine itself, you will need the following equipment:

• scanner;
• computer;
• high resolution monitor;
• licensed software CorelDraw and Photoshop.

Required Documentation

To work with laser engraving, appropriate documents are required: first of all, these are licenses for the use of equipment and software.

Documents are also required confirming compliance with sanitary standards for personnel to work in the laser engraving room. For small businesses, you need to register a limited liability company or individual entrepreneur - the best option .

How to advertise a business

To present your products, you need a simple business card website with addresses, phone numbers and samples of your work, and an Instagram profile through which you will attract clients.

Another sales channel is online stores like Etsy.com and others that sell beautiful handmade items. Souvenirs and crafts made of wood, decorated with engraving, are a success among buyers and are readily bought up.

Presentation and sale of products at holidays, exhibitions, celebrations

Since people make most purchases on holidays at various events, gatherings and celebrations instinctively, use this method of promotion. Clients will appear on their own if you settle in a crowded place and make memorable engravings in front of passers-by.

It is important to follow safety precautions and keep children away from the working engraver. If anyone wants to take a closer look at the process, safety glasses are a must.

It is important to follow safety precautions and keep children away from the working engraver.

Events like these are a way to find potential clients who are interested in custom engraving in the future. Therefore, it is important to immediately invite people to add you to your Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram.

Laser engraving: clientele, areas of application

The main advantage of engraving is its huge range of applications. First of all, this is the application of laser designs on souvenirs and jewelry, engraving on clothing, and the application of coats of arms, company logos, initials, and lettering to various items.

Laser engraving applied to the phone body is popular Lasers are also used to make stamps and seals. Look for clients in the field of modern modeling - where small parts are made using an engraver, as well as in the field of interior design - where decorative elements are made.

The restaurant business is also inextricably linked with engraving : the production of stands for glasses and mugs, hot dishes. Clients can also be found in the advertising field, offering the production of metal, plastic and wooden business cards.