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859 Posts
I have had my business for a little over 2 years now. I do all my printing and design at home. I meet some customers at the house, but most are met at my dad's sign shop where i used to work. my stepmom used to run their second location and had an embroidery machine she got burned out on it so i also work a day a week in exchange for payment. the machine is also there, as i don't have the room.
i figure 90%+ of my work comes from his customers. it has worked fairly well so far, but i'm at the point to where meeting customers, picking up shirts, going to the bank, etc., etc. is really starting to eat into my actual production time. I feel that having a shop space somewhere will help condense down my running around. i would have my own place for customers to come to, i could keep the emb. machine running while i print, increasing production. another big plus is that i'll have my garage back.
the biggest setback is money. right now it's tight and i'm not sure just having a shop will necessarily bring in enough customers to justify the expense. i would however, have more time to promote the business instead of running around. i also want to be able to afford the embroidery machine without having to work a day a week for it. i'm sure a good, high traffic space might naturally bring people in, but those usually come with a high price.
for the ex-homebasers, at what point did you take a leap and get a space, and do you feel that it justified the expense and how long was it untill you felt comfortable paying the rent?
i figure 90%+ of my work comes from his customers. it has worked fairly well so far, but i'm at the point to where meeting customers, picking up shirts, going to the bank, etc., etc. is really starting to eat into my actual production time. I feel that having a shop space somewhere will help condense down my running around. i would have my own place for customers to come to, i could keep the emb. machine running while i print, increasing production. another big plus is that i'll have my garage back.
the biggest setback is money. right now it's tight and i'm not sure just having a shop will necessarily bring in enough customers to justify the expense. i would however, have more time to promote the business instead of running around. i also want to be able to afford the embroidery machine without having to work a day a week for it. i'm sure a good, high traffic space might naturally bring people in, but those usually come with a high price.
for the ex-homebasers, at what point did you take a leap and get a space, and do you feel that it justified the expense and how long was it untill you felt comfortable paying the rent?