Hello Everyone,
I have used this forum to gather information and ideas so often that I thought I should finally join and become a contributor.
Many thanks to everyone who makes the effort to write reviews, answer questions and pass on your experiences. You may not realise it, but your experience has helped many people (self included).
OK, about 5 years ago I came into a little work bonus spare cash, and used it to buy a Brother PR620 for my wife to start a home embroidery business. She was a dressmaker in a past life, so we assumed it would be pretty similar (WRONG!!). Her sewing experience has actually become a great asset to our business, but in terms of initially being helpful in learning how to embroider it was of little help. Having decent computer skills is a must, as I personally feel the embroidery machines are almost like a inkjet printer, they just use thread instead of ink.
Why an embroidery machine? Well we had an opportunity to provide 250 embroidered bags at $10 a bag for our first job... so $2,500 profit for our first job looked fantastic... and it was. The little PR620 hummed away in our lounge room for 2 weeks, and in spite of our paranoia that it would shake apart, or rip bags, it all went smoothly and was a great learning project (artwork was supplied in DST format).
We progressed to a second Brother (2nd hand PR600), and then added two single head Tajima machines (TFMX-C1501). We wanted a Tajima 4 head, but space was an issue (we have a detached studio to our house). As it has turned out, having 4 single head machines has been very useful, and we often have multiple custom jobs at one time (which would have been a pain on a 4 head).
We purchased Pulse with the Tajima machines, but then cross-graded to Wilcom ES3 from Brother PE Designs. Pulse was horrible, and we have found the Wilcom software to be far superior. We still outsource 90% of our digitizing, and use Wilcom for Text, Additions and Reworks of outsourced designs.
So 5 years in, the home business is doing very well, and provides my wife with 4 to 6 hours work each day (great as she is a working mum). We both enjoy the creativity that embroidery offers, have met some great people, have learnt a lot about the apparel industry, and generate a nice second income, so all in all, we are very happy with embroidery as a home business.
So my contribution to those looking at starting out:
- Don't be scared of competition.
- Don't try and compete with the larger commercial embroidery businesses, as a small player, you have some unique market share opportunities.
- Don't be tempted to hold too much stock.
- If you can afford it, buy an industrial machine from day 1.
- Be prepared to "waste" time initially when learning... your hourly rate will increase as you gain confidence and experience.
- Not being trained in embroidery can lead to innovative ideas and solutions (we now do jobs that big embroidery companies turn customers away and say it is not possible).
- Marketing is your lifeline. The more time and effort you spend marketing your business, the busier and more profitable you will be (when we forget to renew our adverts, we start to have quiet weeks).
- Be nice to your machine and supplies dealer (they are part of your support network).
- Take time away from the machine(s) to visit your repeat customers. They will become your lifeline.
- Don't be scared to turn away business that is not profitable.
I hope these tips from someone who has gone through the home small machine start-up is of use to someone.
Don't hesitate to message me if you have any questions.
Cheers,
Bushy
I have used this forum to gather information and ideas so often that I thought I should finally join and become a contributor.
Many thanks to everyone who makes the effort to write reviews, answer questions and pass on your experiences. You may not realise it, but your experience has helped many people (self included).
OK, about 5 years ago I came into a little work bonus spare cash, and used it to buy a Brother PR620 for my wife to start a home embroidery business. She was a dressmaker in a past life, so we assumed it would be pretty similar (WRONG!!). Her sewing experience has actually become a great asset to our business, but in terms of initially being helpful in learning how to embroider it was of little help. Having decent computer skills is a must, as I personally feel the embroidery machines are almost like a inkjet printer, they just use thread instead of ink.
Why an embroidery machine? Well we had an opportunity to provide 250 embroidered bags at $10 a bag for our first job... so $2,500 profit for our first job looked fantastic... and it was. The little PR620 hummed away in our lounge room for 2 weeks, and in spite of our paranoia that it would shake apart, or rip bags, it all went smoothly and was a great learning project (artwork was supplied in DST format).
We progressed to a second Brother (2nd hand PR600), and then added two single head Tajima machines (TFMX-C1501). We wanted a Tajima 4 head, but space was an issue (we have a detached studio to our house). As it has turned out, having 4 single head machines has been very useful, and we often have multiple custom jobs at one time (which would have been a pain on a 4 head).
We purchased Pulse with the Tajima machines, but then cross-graded to Wilcom ES3 from Brother PE Designs. Pulse was horrible, and we have found the Wilcom software to be far superior. We still outsource 90% of our digitizing, and use Wilcom for Text, Additions and Reworks of outsourced designs.
So 5 years in, the home business is doing very well, and provides my wife with 4 to 6 hours work each day (great as she is a working mum). We both enjoy the creativity that embroidery offers, have met some great people, have learnt a lot about the apparel industry, and generate a nice second income, so all in all, we are very happy with embroidery as a home business.
So my contribution to those looking at starting out:
- Don't be scared of competition.
- Don't try and compete with the larger commercial embroidery businesses, as a small player, you have some unique market share opportunities.
- Don't be tempted to hold too much stock.
- If you can afford it, buy an industrial machine from day 1.
- Be prepared to "waste" time initially when learning... your hourly rate will increase as you gain confidence and experience.
- Not being trained in embroidery can lead to innovative ideas and solutions (we now do jobs that big embroidery companies turn customers away and say it is not possible).
- Marketing is your lifeline. The more time and effort you spend marketing your business, the busier and more profitable you will be (when we forget to renew our adverts, we start to have quiet weeks).
- Be nice to your machine and supplies dealer (they are part of your support network).
- Take time away from the machine(s) to visit your repeat customers. They will become your lifeline.
- Don't be scared to turn away business that is not profitable.
I hope these tips from someone who has gone through the home small machine start-up is of use to someone.
Don't hesitate to message me if you have any questions.
Cheers,
Bushy
