From Weekend Experiments to $2,000 a Month: How an IT Engineer Built a Side Business With a 40W Laser

Ethan is 34 years old and works as an IT operations engineer in Fruitdale, California. His days were stable, predictable, and increasingly repetitive—tickets, meetings, system checks, then logging off into another quiet evening. Like a lot of remote workers, he had no intention of starting a business or building a side income. He just wanted to make better Christmas gifts for his family.

In late 2024, he went looking for custom wooden photo frames and engraved pet memorials on Etsy and Amazon. But everything was either too expensive for personalization or looked mass-produced and generic. That’s when a question stuck in his head: If I could make these myself, would it be better? He wasn’t thinking about entrepreneurship. But that question didn’t go away.

After a few weeks of research, he bought a LONGER Ray5 40W. Not as a business investment—as an experiment. He put it in a corner of his garage with basic ventilation. Three months later, that experiment was making $500–$800 a month. During Christmas, it hit over $2,000. He still has his day job. But his evenings now belong to his garage workshop.

Picking a Laser for a Garage Workshop

Ethan had never used a laser engraver before. He didn't have a workshop. He didn't have a business plan. What he had was a garage corner and a question: Can I actually do this myself?

The LONGER Ray5 40W answered that question in three ways that mattered to someone like him.

First, the machine is compact. Ethan didn't need to rewire his garage or build a dedicated workshop. It sat on a workbench in an existing corner—no renovation, no extra rent, no complicated setup. That alone removed the “I don't have space” barrier that stops most people before they start.

Second, the learning curve was reasonable for someone with a full-time job. As an IT engineer, Ethan was comfortable with software, but he had never touched manufacturing equipment. The workflow—design software to machine settings—felt logical. He didn't need weeks of training. He needed a few evenings and some scrap material.

Third, the 40W power handles both wood and acrylic. That meant he could make exactly what he originally wanted: photo frames, memorial plaques, and gift ornaments. He didn't have to learn new materials or change his ideas to fit the machine. The machine fit his ideas.

Ethan didn't think of these as product features. He thought of them as answers to quiet fears: Will this fit in my garage? Can I learn this without quitting my job? Will it actually do what I need? The Ray5 40W said yes to all three.

The First Two Weeks Were Mostly Failure

The early stage did not go smoothly. Wood burned unevenly. Designs came out misaligned. Depth control was all over the place. Ethan later said that period made the machine feel like a “complicated hobby tool” rather than something that could ever produce sellable work.

At that point, he reached out to Longer’s support team. That changed everything. They didn't just send him a manual. They explained the relationship between speed, power, and material behavior. They shared tutorial videos that showed him exactly where he was going wrong. He learned that oak and pine respond differently to the same settings. He learned that a misaligned design was usually a software step, not a machine problem.

Within a week, the burned scraps turned into clean cuts. His first usable items were simple: engraved pet-name keychains, small wooden tags, and basic decorative ornaments. They weren't perfect. But they were good enough to give as gifts, which was all he wanted at the start.

That failure-to-progress arc matters because most people quit in the first week. Ethan didn't. He had support, and he kept testing.

The First Order Came From a Neighbor Who Saw Something on a Workbench

The turning point was not a big marketing campaign or a viral post. It was a neighbor walking by his open garage.

Ethan had left a few sample pieces on his workbench—a pet memorial plaque, a wooden keychain, a small engraved ornament. A neighbor noticed them and asked a simple question: “Could you make one of those pet plaques for my dog?”

It was a small request. Almost casual. Ethan had no pricing system. No business structure. He just said yes and charged $25.

That moment didn't feel dramatic. But it changed something fundamental. The work was no longer just experimentation. Someone saw it—not in an Etsy ad, not in a sponsored post, but sitting on a workbench—and decided it was worth paying for.

A Small but Real Side Income

From there, Ethan set up a basic Etsy shop and started posting photos on Facebook community groups and Instagram. No ad spend. No marketing strategy. Just a simple loop: make something, post a photo, receive a request, produce it, deliver it.

Over time, his work fell into three categories that customers actually asked for: pet memorial plaques, seasonal gift items (Christmas ornaments, Mother's Day gifts), and small business logo engravings for local shops.

The income grew slowly but steadily. In the first few months, it was unpredictable—some weeks nothing, some weeks a few small orders. After about six months, it stabilized at $500–$800 per month. During peak season, it climbed past $2,000 per month.

Ethan spends about 25–30% of revenue on materials—wood, acrylic, packaging, and shipping supplies. He buys discounted blanks on Amazon and only purchases specific materials after a custom order is confirmed, which keeps inventory waste near zero. Etsy takes about 8–10% in fees. After materials and fees, his net profit margin lands around 55–60%. So a $2,000 month means roughly $1,100–$1,200 in take-home profit, for work done entirely in evenings and weekends.

He never quit his IT job. He didn't need to. But that extra $500–$1,200 a month changed his financial flexibility—covering a car payment, a weekend trip, or just reducing the stress of monthly bills.

Still Employed, But No Longer the Same Routine

Ethan is still an IT engineer during the day. But his evenings and weekends now have a different shape. Instead of ending each day with TV and phone scrolling, he spends hours in the garage—setting up the laser, testing new designs, packing orders.

He doesn't describe this as a transformation. He describes it as an expansion. He didn't leave his life behind. He just added a new layer to it: one where ideas turn into physical products, and physical products turn into income.

His advice to someone starting from zero is unusually practical for someone who succeeded:

“Don't start with a business plan. Start with a machine and a pack of scrap wood. Burn through half of it. Figure out what speed and power actually mean. Make one thing that doesn't look terrible. Put it on your workbench and take a photo. Someone in your life—a neighbor, a coworker, a friend—will see it and ask you to make one for them. That's your first customer. Don't overthink the rest until after that happens.”