If you’re thinking about starting up a business at home that will earn you a good income you may have considered a laser engraving business. A laser engraving business is one of the easiest small businesses to set up at home or you can rent a small space to work out of if you’d rather. But for the least amount of overhead starting your business laser engraving machine from home will save you a lot of money. Laser engraving is more competitive in large cities but there is still room because it’ll depend on how much time you spend marketing your business. And you can do that cheaply enough. If you live in a small community you may have a corner on the market and find it easy to get business. Personal contact is free. You can market your business without expensive ads.
Laser engraving means you could be engraving on many materials including acrylic, bamboo, aluminum, ceramics, cork, crystal, fabric, fiberglass, foam, glass, Kevlar, laminated plastics and other plastics, leather, marble, melamine, metal, Mylar, nylon, rubber, slate, stone, tile, veneer, vinyl and wood. You could choose to specialize in custom engraving on any of these materials. You can offer your services to businesses to etch serial numbers on CD-Roms or expensive equipment including computer equipment and other specialized equipment. You can engrave plaques for companies for retiring employees or special awards. You can engrave metal plates for trophies for schools and sports teams. You can etch VIN numbers on vehicle windshields. You can etch pet license tags or pet tags for humane societies, pet stores or consumers. You can etch wedding bands. There are literally dozens of ways you can etch, cut and mark using laser engraving machines and laser systems. All from your computer working from home. You can etch glasses for wedding gifts, create custom signs in wood and acrylic and etch toys.
To get started you’ll want to look at some laser engraving machines. It’s possible you may find some that are used, but new ones can start at $6000 or so. But the best laser engraving machines start at around $10, 500. Epilog is a well-known system. You can lease or buy the equipment. You may consider a short-term lease to see how it goes before you tie up any money. You may be able to lease for as little as $250 per month. This would give you plenty of time to decide whether a laser engraving business is right for you before you purchase. You’ll need your computer and you can probably use the one you have right now. Any of the newest Windows operating systems will work but you want to check to make sure they are compatible. You’ll need some Windows-based graphic software such as CorelDRAW, AutoCAD or Adobe. You’ll need about a 12×18 foot area to work in. You can use a spare bedroom or any area that is not damp to protect your machines. You’ll want to get a demonstration of the Epilog or other laser engraving systems to determine what size table and what wattage you’ll need for the type of engraving, etching, cutting and marking you want to do. So imagine setting up a business with the computer you have right now and a laser engraving machine where your printer is. That’s really all you’ll need. Marketing your services will be easy and especially if you have little competition or no competition in your area. After you see the amount of business you can generate from word of mouth and with very little effort, you’ll be glad you set up a laser engraving business at home.
If you’re looking for a home or small business that will stand the test of time regardless of the economy, laser engraving may be right for you. One of the nicest things about a laser engraving business is that you can set up in a retail location, add it to another business or just work from home. The versatility of this business also makes it possible to start form home where you have less overhead and then later move it to a small retail location. In that location you could also have on an add-on business or two. With laser machines or systems you can specialize in creating specific types of laser products or make a variety. You can (etch, cut or mark) engrave pens, laptops, luggage tags, plaques, trophies, toys, key chains, even wine bottles. The list is endless. You may come up with something unique also. You can engrave on wood, rubber, stone, acrylic, leather, glass, fabric and all types of materialsFirst of all you’ll need to buy or possibly lease a laser engraving machine. The machines today are compact and not bulky. They don’t take up a lot of room. And you can do a lot with them.
It takes about $10, 000 if you buy a laser machine or system, however you can lease them also. They don’t take up a lot of room. A work space of about 12″ by 18″should be enough. Leasing a laser engraving machine may cost about $250 a month or so. You should be able to earn it back fast each month. You don’t want a long term lease because you may find you love the business and can see you’re going to make a great small business out of it and should own the machine. But leasing would give you a chance to find out if it’ll work for you. Epilog laser systems will require a computer – but the usual Windows xp or Vista will work fine with it. In addition you’ll need graphics software such as CorelDraw, AutoCAD and Adobe. There is a printer driver on the Epilog system so you can print images from these programs.