Business Ideas

 

Cutting blades come in different sizes to make the strokes for the letters different sizes. Larger letters have wide strokes while smaller lettering requires a finer cut. After engraving the letters, the edges of name tags and plates are beveled to frame the engraved area. Sometimes, three colors of plastic may be laminated to create unique visual patterns based on the depth and size of the engraving cut.

 

Making metal name tags and plates is very similar. The chief difference is in that the image is literally scratched into the surface of the metal. These cost a lot more than plastic ones, though they are probably not worth the difference in price over the long run. Brass or another soft metal is normally chosen because it is easier to scratch. Unfortunately, this means that the finished product will also scratch easily.

 

Most name tags and signs that are engraved are made of plastic. Some plastics can even look like metal, but be much easier to work and last longer.

 

There are no special skills that must be learned or minimum amount of talent that must be had to start a business as an engraver. A basic understanding of measurements and how to figure ratios and the ability to trace accurately are the only things needed.

 

Because there are not a great number of engravers in any single area, you could grow a business of this type incredibly quickly. You could take an initial investment of $1000 to $3000 and turn it into a profitable business in just a few weeks. This investment would be in materials and equipment. You could then spend a little time becoming familiar with the equipment and practicing. Once comfortable with the machine, you can start producing finished products for sale.

 

The average person can master the art of making a one line name tag in about thirty minutes. This includes engraving the letter, beveling the edges, and attaching a pin to the back as needed. By investing a little time, and making a few mistakes (unfortunately), it won’t take long to master multiple line tags and other engraving projects.

 

On average, it only takes an experienced engraver a couple of minutes to make a name tag, from start to finish. Engraved name tags, badges, and plastic signs commonly sell at 10 to 20 times the cost of the materials used. This is because of the skill of the operator, the investment in the equipment to engrave with, and the fact that, frankly, there isn’t much competition.

 

Engraving machines can be bought new, but it is not difficult to find used ones at about half the price by looking at trade journals, such as the Engraver’s Journal. These machines come in two basic categories, manual and computer. The quality of work is basically the same between the two. The quantity of work is much higher with a computer operated engraver.

 

A computer engraver can easily cost thousands more than a manual one. However, if an operation is large enough and needs to turn out several hundred badges or signs in a day, the investment will more than be worthwhile.

 

Whether getting a manual or a computer operated engraver, the key is to choose one with multiple ratio adjustments. There are some older models and a few cheap new models that only allow for two or three different adjustment ratios. The most common allow adjustments to twice or four times the original size. Unfortunately, this is not acceptable for professional grade engraving. You will need to be able to adjust in small increments to fit within the allowed length of the line.

 

For example, a short name like John Doe would need to be done in bold letters that fill more of the line while a longer name, such as Frederick H Moskovitch, would require smaller letters to fit on the tag. With a fully adjustable pantograph, this problem is eliminated. All you would need to do is place the cutter blade at the margin of the tag to begin. All the letters will look the way they need to on the finished product.

 

Being able to adjust to multiple ratios becomes critical when doing engraved signs that use logos at different sizes. Sometimes, increasing the size to four times will not fit on a sign, while twice the original size would leave an incredible amount of empty space. Being able to adjust to the proper ratio will assure a sign with nice margins every time.

 

Engraving is a business that can easily be adapted to a retail clientele or a wholesale clientele. There are several companies devoted to “servicing the trade”. These companies have several computer operated pantographs and can produce large jobs in a short time that may be more than you are able to handle right off. These companies would charge you a wholesale rate that would allow you make a modest amount of profit off their work. Of course, this would free you up to work on smaller orders with a higher profit margin during the same time period. And, your customer doesn’t have to know that you outsourced the job. As long as the quality is good and you deliver on time, you just improved your reputation for taking care of customer needs.

 

One key to success learned quickly by most professional engravers is the need to repeat back copy to be engraved letter by letter to assure no mistakes. Some letters sound alike, especially over the phone, so it may help to use a phrase like “b as in boy” or “d as in dog” for clarification purposes. Once the exact spelling of the copy is verified, it should be kept in front of the engraver until the process is completed for the entire order.

 

Before you spend any money on equipment to start your business, you may want to read a couple of issues of a trade magazine like The Engraver’s Journal. You can look at news about the industry, check out the advertisements to learn what companies work on a wholesale basis to assist smaller businesses like yours when needed, and look at the classifieds to find used equipment at a lower cost than buying new.

 

Once you have established your engraving business, you may want to consider adding some additional sidelines that have proven profitable in the past, such as rubber stamp making, hot stamping, and selling desk and office accessories. These are natural additions to your existing engraving business and share the exact same clientele that are already buying from you.