Custom Signs, Big Profits

By: Brian Goldberg, AG Custom Gifts

My wife Brianna and I started our Laser Engraving Business a little over five years ago with a K40D, which we quickly outgrew and transitioned to an Epilog EXT36. Now our Workhorse is a Trotec 80 Watt Speedy 400 with the Design Vision Camera System. We are busy parents to our three beautiful children, and with our business growing, we are transitioning to running our personalization business full-time.

The “Sign” is the first thing people see when they see a business, a special occasion, or an attraction. Everywhere you look, there are signs of all shapes and sizes made of different materials. From wood to acrylic to plastic, you have many options when constructing your sign.

It’s important to utilize the right material for the machine that you are using. Our wood signs are all cut from locally sourced ¼ inch Birch wood that we have cut down into sheets that fit into our laser bed. From there, we cut the designs/letters and other shapes needed to construct our orders. If thicker material is needed, then we can utilize other tools that we have in our shop, but the ¼ inch works for almost all the orders that we get.

Who are my clients? They can be absolutely anyone. I encourage everyone to seek out and work with party planners and event coordinators in your area. I also suggest you join many local Facebook groups that focus on any type of event. Once you get started, you will have a steady flow of orders that come in regularly from folks having events where they need signs for their clients.

What types of signs? The majority of our requested signs are name signs, usually either one- or two-word signs. We also do special occasions, from Quinceaneras and baptisms to retirements with logos; in reality, the possibilities are endless.

Design tools: We design in Corel Draw and utilize the Weld/Combine/Convert to Curves and other features in the software when designing our signs for our clients.

What if someone is doing the same thing? We live in a town where there are folks who have lasers, but we don’t use that word to compete! Collaboration is key! If we aren’t available, having someone to refer clients to is always good. It’s also good to build that professional relationship with another fellow engraver because, most importantly, it’s about taking care of the client.

Brian and Briana Goldberg own AG Custom Gifts in Hollister, California, and we enjoy sharing my sign-making business strategies with you, our fellow laserpreneurs. Laser Focused has so many like-minded individuals like Brianna and myself, and we are always here to help anyone with questions about signs or the howto, etc. We are here for you! If you’re inclined to follow us, we are also on IG at @agcustomgifts, and we would love to follow your success as well.