Some people get into the awards and engraving industry from the point of sale, then expand laterally. For example, let’s say your forte is in design and you create a series of unique, trademark-worthy designs that look fantastic laser engraved onto a wide variety of substrates, but you don’t have the right equipment. After showing the concept to several prospective customers, they express a strong interest in placing an order. You take sizeable orders from several clients, have the pieces produced by a contractor, upcharge the job, and pocket the profit.
After several iterations of such transactions – and the gradual building of a stable customer base – you should have enough seed money to backward-integrate and tool up to produce the pieces yourself. I know this is easier said than done, but the advantage here is not having to shell out a large sum of money from the get-go.
—Your Personal Business Trainer
