Business Plan - Engraving Etc. Forum

From:	Mike (TOOCON)	4 Apr 2007
To:	ALL	1 of 6

6533.1
Hi All, Well we are into the number crunching phase of our business plan. Our problem is that being a new and unique (no competition for 100 miles) laser engraving service we are in uncharted waters in this neck of the woods. We have a good idea of what may sell but have no realistic idea in what quantities. Our market area is semi rural valley with multiple small town and villages and boasts a small military base. Overall population base is about 80,000 plus and is semi-industrial, agriculture and tourist based. We plan to focus on laser engraveable award ware, giftware and photo-engraving and expand from there to laser cutting and marking for local craft makers. Currently such items are only available through special catalogue orders which average 2 to 3 weeks delivery and 6-8 weeks peak season. I was wondering if anyone who operates in a similar environment would be kind enough to PM me with a snapshot of a typical weeks sales so that I can offer my banker some realistic numbers to crunch. I know each market area is different, but I do need a starting point on which to base my assumptions. My hope is that based on your real life experiences I will be able to make a composite picture of potential earnings without being neither overly optimistic nor pessimistic. For the sake of confidentiality please do not use your company's logos or headers or actual dates in your PM's to me. That way all numbers will be just generic data. As always I appreciate your input. DISCLAIMER: I neither work for, nor have I ever worked for the IRS or the Revenue Canada. Agency. B-) *Mikey*

From:	Laser Image (LASER_IMAGE)	4 Apr 2007
To:	Mike (TOOCON)	2 of 6

6533.2 In reply to 6533.1

Since you are the only one in your area that offers your service, I would hope you could capture the bulk of the business that may exist.

Instead of trying to figure out what items and quantities you might be able to sell, start with how much you want to charge per hour and how many hours you want to work in a day. If you have no competition you may have to turn business away because you are working all the hours you want to work. It may take a while to get to a point where you are busy 8 hours a day, but if you target $120/hour and can consistently have 6 billable hours per day, you could expect $720 per day in revenue. If you could average 75% margin, including laser time as well as markup on product, then you could expect $540 gross profit per day. Deduct your expenses and you have your bottom line.

Since you have no competition these numbers could be pretty realistic. My guess is you will have a hard time finding other businesses to compare with because I doubt many of us a fortunate enough to not have any competition within 100 miles...

Gary

From:	PenTrophy (PENINSULATROPHY)	4 Apr 2007
To:	Laser Image (LASER_IMAGE)	3 of 6

6533.3 In reply to 6533.2
I guess I should have concentrated on the comnent: "Currently such items are only available through special catalogue orders which average 2 to 3 weeks delivery and 6-8 weeks peak season." Who are these people? What is being ordered. Take a week or so and drive out into the points on the compass and Survey the population. How are they going to get the word that you are in business? Chambers of Commerce? Schools...... What is market at the Military Base? Is there a Post/Base Exchange ( Awards Shop ) Clothing Sales. Who makes their nametags/replacement. Churches, Adult Homes, Banks ... hospitals..... Golf Clubs(nametags) ...Tourist shops/agencies Hotels...city/state government... Do you currently offer Drag Engraving with your Plating Business???? .... ... .. . Mark In the Great Northwest!
EDITED: 4 Apr 2007 by PENINSULATROPHY

From:	Mike (TOOCON)	9 Apr 2007
To:	ALL	5 of 6

6533.5
Hi All Well I was sitting back hoping that I would have a flood of responses to my query, but alas no. Either there are no members in my enviable position, or more realistically, they saw the wisdom and logic of Gary's reply and felt it was not necessary to comment any further. And your reply does make sense, Gary, especially the uplifting comment "If you have no competition you may have to turn business away because you are working all the hours you want to work" Thanks !! YouÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ve been given me a new goal to aim for. And Mark, I've been discreetly surveying and enquiring as to what services are available without letting the cat out of the bag so to speak. It doesn't take long for word of mouth to circulate here and I don't want to tip off people who may have more financial or influential resources than I, before I am ready to compete with them head to head. Competition consists of a couple of local advertising storefronts who deal exclusively with national promotional companies that are located in central Canada, and that is why the long turn-around times. In effect they are mainly catalogue offices with no on site engraving. The same applies to local photo shops who offer photo engraving. All items are done out of province. There are a couple of traditional rotary engravers in the Valley one or two of which who might give me a run for my money, but there is room for competition. Besides I am confident that better quality and better service will carry the day. So again, thanks for your most welcomed replies. I just have to put some finishing touches on "The Plan". Tomorrow we'll be seeing a local Business Development advisor to see if we can qualify for some governmental financial assistance to launch this venture sooner than later. Wish us luck. *Mikey*

From:	Stunt Engraver (DGL)	9 Apr 2007
To:	Mike (TOOCON)	6 of 6

6533.6 In reply to 6533.5
Mike, I don't think the lack of response is due to people holding out on information. I doubt many people enter this industry with an official business plan. Case(s) in point come regularly, in the form of questions, such as, "OK, I bought a laser machine; what can I do with it?" I'm in the group whose business plan was unsophisticated. Create an engraving service that didn't rely on walk-in traffic and required very little inventory. After 17 years of self-employment, I feel like an overnight success. :-) David "The Stunt Engraver" Lavaneri DGL Engraving Port Hueneme, CA