How to make money in Embroidery
There are a lot of ways How to make money in Embroidery
This article will discuss some ideas on getting started or, improving on an existing business.
Initial Investment
When getting into the embroidery business, its recommend not to overspend.
Stock Designs
Addons like stock embroidery design packages are a big waste of money and should be avoided. Some of these packaged include thousands of embroidery designs, for thousands of dollars. Now with the internet, stock embroidery designs can quickly and easily be purchased online and on the fly. Out of the thousands of designs included, an embroiderer will probably only use a small percentage and probably will never be able to get their investment back. Save the money to purchase the designs only when needed. Most customers are already going to have their own logos that will need to be digitized and will not want to use stock designs.
Extended Warranties
A warranty on an embroidery machine is a very good thing. Especially an electronics warranty. However, its wise to consider the additional costs incurred on extended warranties.
Most embroidery machines are very simple pieces of machinery. They only do a very limited number of operations (move the needle up and down while moving the X and Y axis). Most embroidery equipment in the USA are only used about 6 hours a day, 5 days a week. These commercial embroidery machines are built to use nonstop, 24 hours a day 7 days a week.
Most everything on a machine that breaks or needs to be replaced are consumable parts. Consumable parts are parts that should be changed regularly and are NOT covered in most warranties. These include hooks, bobbin cases, etc. Equivalently in an automobile there is oil, tires, etc that are should be replaced and serviced often, and not included in the cars warranty. When a machine does have problems, its usually not broken parts but instead the machine is just out of tune and needs to be serviced or operator issues. Usually service calls are not included in the warranties.
The most expensive repairs on embroidery machines are the electronics such as electronic boards or motors. If the machine is regularly cleaned and blown free of lint then the electronics usually do not go bad. The biggest culprit of electronics going bad is overheating due to clogged filters or fans. In short, avoid wasting money on extended warranty packages or service packages.
If the machine is treated right and the operator has a very basic knowledge of Embroidery Machine Servicing Guide then there should not be major issues. If major issues do come up, its usually best to just save the money from not purchasing extended warranties and use the money on a good embroidery machine tech that can come by perhaps once or twice a year for regular service calls.
Warranties are almost never transferable when reselling the machine, making the machine worth much less than original paid. The warranties that come with the new machines are usually not cheap and in the end, the consumer is the one paying for them.
Software
Unless the operator has extensive knowledge in Embroidery Software, expensive software packages should be avoided. Many distributors of embroidery equipment will try to up sell the buyer expensive digitizing software. Software usually comes in Tiers, Packages, Levels, etc. Each level will be more expensive than the next meaning the lower levels are much more inexpensive. Also, there is a lot of LEGALLY FREE embroidery software online. The best option is to download something free or purchase something very inexpensive. Used software can also be purchased at deep discounts. However, before buying the software contact the distributor of the software to make sure its transferable (probably for a fee).
As the operator becomes more familiar with embroidery and embroidery software, they can look for something that suites them best. Also, the money saved on NOT buying expensive software can be used on finding a professional Digitizer. Sending the digitizing work to a Professional Digitizer is the best advice for newbies. Digitizing can be brought in-house once the company starts making positive cash flow. Invest in the software only when needed.
Other
Other items like hooping stations, additional upgrades, etc are usually best avoided when first buying a machine. All these items can be purchased after when needed. Also, because these items are usually not used much, they can be found used for a fraction of the price with very little used.
- Buying Used or NEW?
- There are a lot of benefits to buying either new or used. Read more at New VS Used
- Single Head or Multihead?
- There are a lot of benefits to buying either a single head or a multihead. Read more at Multihead VS Single Head