If you're not prepared, doing high-volume work can be a nightmare.
The companies who specialize in high quantities are extremely efficient. Costs are keenly scrutinized and production techniques are honed to a fine edge. It's the only way they can make money on such slim profit margins.
I speak from experience.
When I first went on my own, a friend who owns a trophy shop said, "You'll know you've made it, when you get your first 50 pc. order." At the time, he was referring to silverplate goblets.
Well, it didn't take long to get that type of order, but I didn't feel that I had really "made it."
It wasn't long after that, when I began doing work for a company which specialized in engravable gift items. An Ad Specialty Company.
I didn't have much of a customer base at the time, so when I got orders for 100-150-200 pcs., I was stoked. The company soon became my "cornerstone" client. Sure, the unit prices weren't much - Actually, about 1/4 of what a good retail price would be, but the volume made for some decent checks. I felt as though I had "made it."
As time passed, my customer base grew, and not only did working for a fraction of retail start to bother me, but the time-consuming volume jobs were occupying so much of my equipment time that good-paying jobs were regularly back-burnered.
Then came the day that completely changed the course of my business.
I landed a job which consisted of 2,000 brass golf ball markers that needed to be engraved with a logo and color-filled. In that quantity, I charged $1.25 ea. $2500 (in one job) sounded REAL good. It was actually more than the customer wanted to pay, but I held my ground.
Well, it sounded real good until I was about 200 pieces into the job. The logo took longer to engrave than I had imagined, all-too-frequent cutter sharpenings were necessary and I had promised to deliver the order in about a week.
The tedious nature of the job and the realization that, (even though I was already burning out), I had only reached the 10% mark completely broke my spirit. I was in for the fight of my life.
I only had one engraving machine, and in order to keep all my customers happy, the ball markers had to be done in spits and spurts. Actually, I relished the breaks. The tedium and monotony were taking their toll on me.
To make the deadline, I got up early and worked late. It was brutal. There was no better word to describe how punished I felt.
As I said, it was the job that changed the course of my business.
Never again.
Ever since then, my battlecry has been, "It's better to do a few, for a lot, than a lot, for a little."
I've chosen to specialize in areas of little competiton, such as communications equipment, jewelry, avionics panels, and customer-supplied merchandise.
Oh sure, I still do my share of awards and "regular" stuff, but having a few niche markets provides great job security, and more importantly, generates a fair amount of word-of-mouth advertising - The best advertsing money can't buy :-)
Others may have a different opinion, but for me, the secret to success has been to "Turn down the volume."
David "The Stunt Engraver" Lavaneri
DGL Engraving
Port Hueneme, CA |