Want to start an embroidery business?
Breaking into embroidery?
Thinking of adding an additional embroidery machine to your shop? Should you buy a single head machine or a multi-head machine? Here are several things that you need to consider when buying an embroidery machine.
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During my time working on embroidery machines I have seen a huge variety of clients that have been successful in this industry. The main things that makes an embroidery business successful is turning out quality products, producing the items when you promise them, and finding your niche in the business.
Turning out quality products: You only have one chance to impress a customer, so I advise you to never let anything go out the door that you are not completely happy with. Too often I have clients that are new to the business and buy an embroidery machine. They are so excited and start taking orders from customers, sometimes even before they get the machine. Be aware that there is a learning curve that comes with embroidery. When we got our machine, it took us several weeks to turn out a consistent product. If you do your own digitizing it can take months to be consistent.
Producing the items when you promise them: Delivering your product when you promise is tremendously important. Do not promise something this afternoon if you are not sure you can deliver. I would rather tell a customer that you can’t get to it until Friday and call them to tell them that you completed it early.
Finding your niche is important: There are all kinds of sources for customers, you need to identify your customer base. Some examples… sports, public safety, military, motorcycle clubs, schools, Greek organizations, churches, weddings, funerals, children, Christmas, fraternal organizations, monogramming, and the list goes on. You can focus on any one or combination as your customer base. You may want to focus on several groups so if one has a down season the other kicks in.
Types and Classes of Embroidery Machines
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There are so many name brands and models of embroidery machines it is difficult decide which is best for my needs. Embroidery machine manufacturers do not follow strict guidelines in designing their machine and the attributes cross over from one type to the other.
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You need to consider what you want to do with your machine and where you want to be in the future. If you are just going to stitch out a few designs for the grandkids for birthdays and Christmas, you may not want to shell out $16,000 for a top of the line machine. If you are going to be turning out production of 50 to 100 shirts at a time you may want to look at something more than a tabletop to get the job done.
There are three basic types or classes of embroidery machines. There are tabletops, intermediate and commercial. Here is a general breakdown of the machines.