Business plan and executive summary

[Scott M Smith]

Some of the investment opportunities that I am looking at or have been contacted by require a business plan and executive summary. Have any of you done this to start your business? Some of the information it requires is estimated start up costs (I have this done), expenses(done), estimated sales for the first year and three years. What items to you guys sell on a regular basis that makes money? I am looking at pens and photo frames that I think would be top sellers. Part of what I would like to do is asset management tags, but it is hard to predict how much of that I could do. Any insight would be helpful. Thank you all.

[Steve Clarkson]

asset management tags?

[Casey Wigginton]

I think they're talking about businesses that put tags on all of their assets, such as business computers, copy machines, etc.

[Rodne Gold]

I cant see how you can predict sales when you dont know what you are going to do or what demand there is for what you intend to do.
Without seeming "nasty" , In essence you are asking folk here to tell you what pays their salary and wages , and albeit this is a giving community , I don't know whether anyone will give that much , as most of us had to learn the hard way what works and doesnt work and whats the most profitable. Even if they did impart the info , it might not work for you or your area ...
I can give you this advice , lasering pens and photoframes is not going to make you any money

Asset managment tags are labels applied to equipment etc - like in a hospital to beds and so on , normally barcoded and then scanned , so its easy to see whats where and whats missing...mostly these are printed and not lasered. We use large format printers to do these , along with barcoding programs and overlaminated them (they are printed on 10 yr cast vinyl)

[Mike Null]

What is it that you want to do?

[Scott M Smith]

By no means do I want that. I just want some input from experienced people. I dont want you guys to say i sell x many of this at Y price with a profit of z per item. just some basics on general business from an engraving standpoint. I have looked on the forums here and seen the work that can be done and I have asked people around here for ideas also, but I am just not sure how to project profits and expenses with a new business like this. I am sure I can make it profitable, I am just looking for a reference point for a piece of paper. I have also looked on laser sketch and laserbits for costs and recommended selling price. Why do you say pens and frames will not make a profit?

Yes, asset management tags are tags that normally say Property of XYZ Corp and have a barcode. I have read that this can be a profitable venture using the engravers because companies always will need more tags later.

[Michael Hunter]

I've done a deal with my local photo shop. It is in an excellent location and gets plenty of customers and passing people who see two engraved frames (one wood, one glass) in the window and a big sign saying "We engrave and personalise picture frames".

We sell three or four frames each year, mainly to a Mrs Tribble, who is an engraved frame fanatic.

I bet I could sell three or four pens a year there too!

(I have been doing this for nearly five years now. I keep it up, because I occasionally get requests for industrial engraving from people who see the frames and I don't have my own shop front).

[Rodne Gold]

I can print an exceptionally durable asset tag for about 1/10th of the cost it can be lasered, I have never lasered one of these , never done a photo frame , done a lot of pens , tho have given this up cos the only way to make money is brand volumes and all the other laser guys in town are fighting over the promo marking segment and cutting prices to levels where no one can make a profit - I don't like losing money.
One vital question you have to ask is :why would anyone want to use me?

[Rodne Gold]

Is Mrs tribble real or is it just a name you made up ...Mrs Tribble sounds close to Mrs Trouble?
Is she an old lady with 17 cats and crotched anti-macassars on her red velour lounge chairs?
LOL.......

[Michael Simpson Virgina]

In this economy I'm not sure a new cold started Engraving business is that viable. I looked into this several years ago and each year it seemed to get worse.

In my area two of the companies I have been watching have since closed their doors. The only ones that seem to be holding on are the sign shops that do engraving on the side as well.

Also watch out for banks n such that ask you for all kinds of information. They will get you to jump through hoops but in the end many just will not lend the money. I think they do it to justify their jobs but right now loans are very hard to come by unless its for a car.

This is not so say that there are not locations where an engraving shop might prosper. Im just saying its not like it was 5 or 6 years ago. Both ULS and Epilog would have you believe this is not true but an honast dealer will try and diswade you from this kind of venture. My Epilog dealer did. Which is why I purchsed my laser from him.

There are buisness plan templates on the web. I downloaded a couple when I was doing my research. Also some of the Microsoft products have some buisness plan templates and wizzards. I think I even saw an online buisness plan wizzard.

Here is a link to the SBA
http://www.sba.gov/smallbusinessplanner/index.html

One last thing I have worked for quite a few large companies. Most of them use special stickers for their asset tags. No special equipment is needed. It almost sounds like you have been given the Laser/Engraver/Cutter hype from a dealer or possible one of the online manufacture sites.

If you already had an established company and had the cash on hand to purchase say $15,000 - $20,000 laser and needed a tax write-off I would say go for it. That's what I did.

[Mike Pond]

You may want to contact SCORE (www.score.org). Can't beat the price of free business advice.

[Dan Hintz]

Years back when I was first interested in starting a business, I did all of the things you're told to do, like creating a business plan. Half an inch thick, plenty of color charts showing were I expected my revenues to grow and how, yadda yadda yadda. I spent weeks doing nothing but researching my market area, making up reasonable facts/figures when there was no data available (if you can't dazzle 'em with brilliance, baffle 'em with BS), on and on and on.

After nothing more than initial conversations with several banks, I realized the business plan was never going to be looked at. Even though my startup costs were extremely low, unless I had a major asset (like a house) I was willing to put down as collateral, the banks wanted nothing to do with me, no matter how great the business was. Weeks worth of work, all for naught. Know what I did? Put everything I needed on 0% interest credit cards and did it my own damn self. If the banks didn't want my business (and interest), they're not going to get it. I had a $10k line of credit from BoA for a few years, insured through the SBA, but that's all I could get.

Here it is nearly 7 years later and I'm doing fine, the cards have been paid off, and now I have banks requesting my business. Sure, I'll give it another shot, so I asked about a quick loan for my laser... back to square one. So the laser was purchased on a credit card for buyer protection and I paid it all off in 3 months.

All of that aside, you simply will not make enough money to even make your laser lease payment by doing pens and frames unless you're doing some major traffic (and that most likely won't happen for several years or more). I know it's a bummer to hear people squash your dreams (I've heard my fair share), but you really need to think about this in more depth. Putting it in a business plan helps guide those thoughts, but unless you've done this before or have someone at your side who has, you're going to miss a lot of the small stuff that adds up very quickly to kill a business.

[Michael Hunter]

Hi Rodne

Yes - Mrs Tribble is real and works at the Social Services Ofice, just across the road from the photo shop.

Judging by the frames she has had over the last 18 months -
She has a son (name withheld), who likes motorbikes and dogs.
A husband (name withheld) who turned 50 last November
A granddaughter (name forgotten) who "bought" her grand-nany (name not known) a frame for her 80th
The granddaughter must be about 2 yrs old, as I remember doing a frame to celebrate her birth!


By an amazing coincedence, there is a second Mrs Tribble (no relation) who also works nearby and did, one day, order an engraved frame. You can imagine the confusion this caused -
"When will my frame be ready?"
"Soon - I'll ring you when it's done"
"Your frame is now ready and you can pick it up from the shop this afternoon"
"What frame - I didn't order a frame"
and so on ....

This other Mrs Tribble has a friend called Olav, who also turned 50 recently.

Amazing what you learn about personalisation customers!

[Dave Johnson29]

Guys,

It amazes me that this sort of question brings out the nay-sayers in droves making assumptions based on too little information when suggesting now is not a good time to start an engraving business.

Scott, like me may have the only laser for 150 miles around with 9 jewelery stores and 5 carpet and tile stores in 5 towns in a 30 mile radius. A good time to set up a laser business regardless of the economy. Or, maybe not.

Scott was asking for some other things to add to his business plan to pad it out a little. My guess is so it doesn't look like he has all his eggs in just two baskets when going to the bank.

In my experience most people contemplating a new business venture do a lot of homework and Scott appears to be doing that by asking here. Perhaps staying a little closer to his request might be more helpful to him.

OK, having said all that, Scott, I have never seen a business plan worth doodly-squat. I have to agree with Dan and say in my distant past, I too have spent countless hours preparing them for the banks. When you get there they don't even look at them. They ask if you have a business plan and you answer, "yes".

So to answer your request, I am having good success with tiles. Everything from Religious offerings to outdoor scenes on tiles ranging from 4-1/2" to 8" and nmultiple tile arrays. Do a search here for Onur and check out some of his stuff on tiles. He is my tile-hero.

[Dee Gallo]

Dave,

I agree with you but I also think that if Scott had given a bit more info he might have gotten better/more relevant suggestions.

Scott,

Nobody could possibly answer your question very well as it was asked, other than commenting on their experience with business plans and banks.

I found that you must have a solid plan, but not necessary write a book - but do research your market, what the market needs now and what you can offer that they don't have (but will want) which is unique and affordable. Affordable is relative to your target market - I like to aim for the high end, as they are less likely to fluctuate money-wise. If you plan to do less expensive pens and frames, you've got to have a huge market.

But who is your target customer?

For instance, your location is important - some people here live near military bases and have a good business making things for them. Others live in busy cities, or like me on the outskirts of nowhere. I make my money using my website but mostly word of mouth from established customers in a very small niche market, at home. Some people here deal only with corporate clients, others have storefronts and others do craft fairs. In each of these few areas, there are hundreds of products you could make. There are as many venues as people out there running lasers. It's not the tool, it's the craftsman who makes the merchandise.

I think these issues are much more important to nail down than finding out what other people are selling all over the world. You must also know what your skill level is with computer graphics, material handling, marketing and machine maintenance. If you are weak in any of these areas, you will pay later, so get to a professional level ASAP. If you start out selling poor quality work, you will not build a strong rep or following.

This forum is FULL of people with GREAT experience and knowledge. And they are willing to share easily. Any nay-saying is actually their way of caring about you not getting into something you aren't ready for. Get ready and keep coming back!

cheers, dee