At a pet product manufacturing, Rodney Melton used to put in 12-hour days for $31 an hour.
Melton, 55, admits that while it was a comfortable life, it didn’t compare to the money he now makes from creating and selling pet memorials.
For two reasons, the Alma, Arkansas, resident began his side business. He just so happened to have a $15,000 engraving machine for his stone carving hobby and his friend’s dog Molly passed away. Melton made the decision to launch an Etsy store in March 2021 after the concrete headstone for Molly turned out well.
A few early orders led to a few favorable reviews, which led to further purchases. Melton expanded his offering to include granite sculptures and purchased new machinery to speed up manufacturing. He sold roughly $20,000 worth of stock in May 2022.
He still had 230 orders to fill by the end of the month. He therefore gave up his job and hired his wife to work with him full-time creating pet gravestones. He also hired his daughter-in-law and son-in-law last year. The store generated $207,000 in income in 2022, according to the documents CNBC Make It examined. Melton calculates that profit made up about 65% of that.
According to Melton, the four-person staff puts in about five hours every day, resulting in a weekly average of 50 pet monuments. Although their success depends on his technical know-how, access to local granite suppliers, and willingness to invest in the company, Melton insists that his store’s success is not due to anything unique.
He asserts, “Anybody can do this.”
Melton used a CNC router, a computer-controlled carving instrument, to carry out his passion of engraving stones. For his neighbors’ yards, he would use it to chisel family names or street addresses into rocks. The 6,000-person town of Alma, which is situated at the foot of the Ozark Mountains, has space for such lawn equipment.
He could initially only complete 16 Etsy orders each month. Melton had to wait two days for the cement fillings to dry in the molds before he could engrave and glaze them, which took around five hours. Each memorial was completed by his wife, who filled the letters with epoxy glue.
He claims that while the extra money was fantastic, he preferred to cut his lead time. He learned from web research that his method was fairly dated. He adds that three months after starting his business, he spent $7,000 of his funds on sandblasting equipment because he read online from a professional that he’d “be crazy” not to.
His production time was reduced by the machinery to 45 minutes. He earned $5,400 to $8,300 per month in the second half of the year.
Local relationships, significant rewards
Melton made the decision to expand his selection of granite headstones in his Etsy store in January 2022. The issue was that granite wasn’t simple to locate.
Melton was informed that a nearby monument company wanted a somebody with a laser engraver to etch pictures onto granite headstones in cemeteries despite the fact that there was a nine-month waiting list. He received a purchase offer from a countertop producer two doors down for black, champagne, and speckled granite scraps.
Melton purchased the leftovers and, seeing an opportunity, spent $38,000—from savings and earnings from the previous year—on a laser engraver, which further decreased his production time.
Melton’s sales increased as a result of a higher-quality product. That June, a month after quitting his full-time work, he earned $23,200.
He claims that at that point he began purchasing discarded countertops from Facebook Marketplace. The slabs were less expensive, but additional tools were needed to form them. Melton spent $3,000 on a granite saw to cut the stone and $3,500 on a machine to carve the edges to give the memorials a rustic appearance.
Melton claims to have spent a total of around $66,500 on stone tools. In over two and a half years, his store has generated close to $383,000 in sales.
The only thing he could be sure of, he says .
Pets play such a significant role in our lives, according to Melton. To be completely honest, they are like family. It means a lot to me to contribute to creating something that benefits others.