Make This With Your Laser To Leave Your Day Job

ohhhhh shitttt i'm in DOUGLASVILLE GA (20 mins west of GA).... MY MANNN!!!

I don’t see how any of these strategies would work at all for somebody starting in 2024. Etsy is an absolute mess of sludge from drop shippers dumping junk from Temu, Ali Express. Every social media platform blocking any promotions for Etsy stores at every step of the process up to and including shadowbanning accounts and nerfing engagement entirely. This doesn’t even account for how much AI generated images have completely swarmed other store platforms to the point that it’s hard to tell what is a real storefront or just another grift.

By all means prove me wrong, but the strategies that worked in 2017 from standstill are no longer effective today. Perhaps this video would be better suited for people who already have stores and just need a few tips, but then a few sections of this video wouldn’t be relevant to them (e.g. pricing etc)

Great video! I have been on the fence about trying to sell the stuff I recently made with my laser. I sort of got addicted to making comic book corner art pieces and originally, I was just going to keep them, but I really don't have the room for them at home. I've been debating on whether or not to setup an Etsy shop. I really appreciate all the info and effort. Thanks!

Another great video. I have a Xtool s1 and sure would like videos on making product with the S1....Thanks

I spent a summer in Athens when I was in college. That was the best summer of my life.

This is super helpful as an example! Thank you

Super helpful on using it as an example to see if you can get enough money on something to see if worth it for you

Have they updated it so you can control in lightburn yet, or is it exporting gcode then opening in their software and run that way?

(Not a make or break, but a bit confusing that they list as lightburn capable, but it isn't integrated fully yet)

As always, THANKS for the great information. I'm still to inexperienced with my laser but once I've figured it out much better I was thinking about doing something like Etsy and this video and the file you shared will definitely help to determine if I think I could do that in the end.

Would you allow me to use the footage of your high altitude balloon VR 360° video? I would of course fully credit your channel.

Great info in here Brandon I especially like the planning budget tool you shared that’s going to be super helpful for a lot of people.

Any videos you want to do on developing, marketing, and growing a business I would love to see.

Wouldn't mind seeing a video on how to make the laser maps for smaller cities if thats something you know how to do!

You missed the MOST important aspect of this. Legalities. You cannot always create products from brands, names or trademarks. Just because people are selling it on Etsy, does NOT make it legal. there are SO many illegal items on Etsy. I've liked many of your previous videos, but this one is kind of a disservice to your viewers.

This is a budget only if you sell the one item? I dont see how you have multiple items

I can see you've put a lot of work into this and really appreciate you sharing it with us. Now to find a great, profitable and unique idea. Got a spreadsheet for that effort? 😆

A good bit of information. As someone like myself who has worked at the same place for 18 years and make wages have been very low i finally opened up an etsy store with the hope of one day saying adios and just work on my own.

What are the copyright issues of making money off representations of property like stadiums?

I tried to download the budget planner tool but ut says the site cant be reached. Even when i click the link in my email to subscribe?

One factor on your cost analysis. So im going from a Cnc, and have a laser on the way. So reality machine time is human time. Yes you can leave a bit, and do other things but those hundreds of hours of machine time, you still need to be in the shop. More just pointing out the time calculation gets complicated. So woodworkers do this math a little bit different, total time divided by total profit(minus materials) is your hourly rate of pay

When I click on the budget link I get a page not found error....

"Make This With Your Laser To Leave Your Day Job"
How about showing us what the title of this video is that we can make that will enable us to leave our day job.
Perhaps you should make a video of how to be a click bait artist. Glad I've got ad blocker running.

I just discovered this laser engraving business because of an Instagram video my friend sent me. I'm always looking for a way to make extra money. I'm really interested in this and am looking to buy a machine and begin doing this. I'd be very interested in seeing how you would begin an Etsy store and market it and so on. I already have some ideas and would love to pick your brain about it

Everybody with a decent laser is making layered maps now. It's super saturated.

$25/hr??? That's so not worth it. But I also live in the Bay Area. Haha.

Thank you for sharing your document. Very helpful for someone like me at the beginning stages of creating a business.

Good video! Go for it....I'll be watching!

How would you edit the spreadsheet for making multiple identical items? i can get 50 key rings out of a single sheet of Perspex but cant work out how to edit the spread sheet for this. Could you do an updated calculator?

I would definitely have to make 100K/year in order to go fully on my own (live in SoCal). Right now I am just starting my own business as side hustle. My regular 9-5 is also engraving for a pet keepsakes company. I do not plan on running online stores as I would rather gain clients organically via craft fairs and word of mouth (social media). Great informative vid as always, the spreadsheet breakdown of costs is a great idea, Thx!

I would totally love for you to sell these and tell us how that goes. I need confidence :-) Also, is there a program to make maps??

Good information. However that's quite a bit of work over the month I think. Wouldn't digital products, like pdf leather patterns be easier?

Great video. Personally I would leave out packaging cost because that can be put into your shipping price, that the customer pays.

I would add in misc business costs as a % on top - rent, supplies, kitchen, cleaning, insurance, registrations, safety equipment etc.

As for laser time, i've found that it is unrealistic unless it is the ONLY factor in pricing a custom one off job. A lot of people online use laser time but if you're also factoring machine cost, maintenance and labour, then counting laser time is basically double charging (in terms of working out your costs).

However it does work in figuring out how to price a custom jobs on the fly, where you aren't making the same kind of item hundreds of times.

Ultimately if you are making at least 3-4x the cost of materials then you're doing alright.

Athens!! My man. I’m from MadCo lol

Im just about to get into this....I'm in ohio and now that weed is legal here and half of the rest of the country is as well, I'm gonna lean hard into that space..

This is really helpful information. Thanks for taking the time to put this together. The only addition I’ve made in the spreadsheet is to account for my design time. Using your example of map making, I might invest 2 hours of design time. Rather than just calling that sunk cost, I allocate those 2 hours over the first 10 copies that are sold as a way to recoup that design time. Thanks again for the great content! Much appreciated.

I'm doing this because my wife's job is a stay at home mom, but man I would love to quit my job and do this full time eventually. I have learned so far to be explorative in the beginning to see what sells, and to not carry inventory on things until you know they'll sell.

Hi there can you show more tutorials on Wecreat 40w?

Great video, I am trying to figure out what to sell, I have all the machines but nothing seems to sell for me.

THIS is the video I’ve been looking for.. - Got laid off from my corp job working with the same company for 20 yrs and was doing lasering custom work on the side as a hobby. I used most of my severance ( that I’m blessed I got) on three expensive lasers (diff types IR/ Diode/ CO2) and have been lately doubting myself despite the progress I’ve made in learning and setting up an LLC etc - gives me hope and refocus. THANK YOU.

pseudofinance

Maybe actually make $100k before telling others how they can make $100k. 🤦‍♂️

This spreadsheet is GREAT!! I have made a few similar for other calculation scenarios so I know it is fairly simple in concept, but to dial it in for a specific idea takes time and tons of revisions. I appreciate your time and effort in this and am looking forward to putting it to use! THANK YOU!!!

Etsy TOTAL fees are 30% on each sale. (They have way too many fees.)

Great video but your Etsy fees are way low. Yeah, it's 6.5% transaction fee but also a 3% processing fee. If the order comes in via their "Offsite Ads" then it's another 12% off the entire order including shipping. That's 21.5% and I think I'm missing one off the top of my head as I had figured it up in the "worst case scenario" with an order with Offsite Ads at almost 25%. Since you don't know when those sales happen or have any visibility to how they happen, you have to be prepared for them.

There's one small error on the spreadsheet. Goal/based on profit/human hours (Q7) got copied from the cell above, and therefore has the wrong range (doesn't include the first row of human cost, and DOES include the printer cost). Otherwise, it is going to be very helpful! I'm actually using it in the 3d printing realm, but most of the factors are the same.

One of the biggest benefits, aside from "is it worth it to get to that goal", is "is it possible to produce enough units in a month with my current equipment". Love it!

One issue is Etsy. It's a very cutthroat area where you are under selling your products. And eat you up with fees to pay Josh Silverman his salary of $16,577,104 in total compensation.

This is not a professional laser