Crazy Laser Dad

Interview with Will Louie, Crazy Laser Dad

Take us back to where this all started! What do you create?

Four years ago, I started with a Glowforge. Their ads caught my eye immediately. At the time, I was a pastry chef who made chocolates and sugar sculptures. I saw the ad to cut chocolate and thought that would save me a ton of time! I ended up buying the Glowforge and made all sorts of chocolates and would cut all these interesting shapes. When I got the machine, I would make cuts out of wood, then start cutting chocolate before I realized “OH” that’s not food safe!

I made a lot of gifts for people. I would make random projects for students and the church youth group that I run. Last year we made a ton of fundraiser stuff for them. Then eventually COVID hit and my catering business shut down. Everything was just a mess. Nobody was getting catering. No weddings, no events, no hotel events. So I thought, I have this laser, let’s see what I can make with it!

That was the beginning of my side hustle! I was a stay-at-home dad of five. During this time, I started making EVERYTHING. I realized I didn’t enjoy the process of making signs, so I pivoted the business into making cutting boards for realtors. I started talking to all the realtors! Then, only six months in, I was making 100-150 boards a month for all these realtors.

Eventually, I couldn’t source boards, so I decided to source my own boards. A couple friends and I wanted to buy boards from overseas. We bought them in bulk and split it between the seven of us. We got together in a small room and we needed to name it… Someone chimed in, “Let’s name it Will’s Group!” Then, Will’s Group it became.

I had a couple friends that wanted to buy more in bulk, they started inviting more people, and more people came. Now we are at 45,000! It just kept growing! I ordered a big batch of boards, but it was a 4 month process to produce and ship. So they asked for other things in the meantime like key chains, and all sorts of knick knacks. It just kept growing and became my full-time thing.

What inspired you to buy a laser?

Chocolate was my first inspiration! As I scaled my business, I realized there were so many more capabilities when owning a laser. Originally my fear was learning a new machine because I knew Glowforge like the back of my hand. I kept buying Glowforges to increase my production, which ended me up with four Glowforges doing four times the amount of work I was used to. This is great, but then I realized I was still limited. I can’t do anything bigger, thicker or on the rotary and I said to myself, “alright, I’m just going to do this!”

I researched all the laser companies for six months. I was between Aeon, Thunder, Boss, OMTech, Epilog and Trotec. I soon started to weed them out one by one. I just kept narrowing them down by customer service and price. That’s when it came down to Thunder and Aeon Laser USA. I think they are both good machines that would do what I needed to do, but there were three major factors that made me choose the Aeon:

1) MIRA just looks so much better than the Thunder. It’s such a sexy machine and it was in my house, in my living room and I had to look at it every day.

2) The customer service reviews that I saw were incredible. The testimonials spoke for themselves. I thought, I need that and I’ll pay extra because time is money.

3) All the people in my circle including leaders in the community, peers, people I looked up to ALL had Aeon Lasers. If they trust it, I trust it. Also, I know I have a built in cheat sheet right from the start that I can tap into from my friends!

That’s where I made the transition. All of my anxieties about learning a new machine were gone within the first week. Now, I am able to whip out projects so much faster!

How has your business grown or changed since buying a laser?

I have since closed my catering business and now focus 100% on my laser business.

Do you have any employees?

It’s just me right now. I gave up all other business and I no longer take one-off projects. Instead, I source those to other laser owners. Now, my main focus is on my realtors. I can preach to others that you need to hire people, but I haven’t taken my own advice. If I look at the volume I do here, I crank out six figures a month in sales. With that being said, I box up all the orders myself, do my own Social Media, and respond to hundreds of messages. Probably 75% of the referrals I referred to Aeon were those that I referred to Glowforge.

What advice do you have for people interested in getting a laser?

My biggest piece of advice is to not get caught up in learning everyone’s best sellers. Learn your machine, learn what’s laser safe, learn to produce a good product, deliver outstanding service, and outwork your competitors! There are so many resources out there, so you never have to be worried about finding a community. The laser community welcomes everyone, including a brand new learner! If you are turning this into a business, you must learn the business fundamentals and the importance of customer service.

Looking back, tell us about your significant turning point, or perhaps even an obstacle you had to overcome to get where you are now.

I spent too much time focusing on my competitors and not enough time focusing on my customers. I was always worried about what they were doing, if they were trying to undercut me, or what products I don’t have. The second time, I decided not to spend any time worrying about my competitors, and use that same energy into my own business and my own customers - it changed everything.

What is your superpower?

I can make people smile but also help them grow their business.

Where can people find you?

🏚 Sacramento, California
Crazylaserdad.com