Looking for a mentor

deborahr2000 · September 29th, 2007, 08:15 AM

Hi,
I am just starting my own business in Michigan and could really use some guidance/a mentor.

The biggest question I have right now is how much to charge. I have tried to talk to a couple of small independent companies and have not had much luck. I was able to get one company to tell me they charge per 1,000 stitches. That is the extent of help I have received here. Is there somewhere I can find out what companies are charging or how to set prices?

Deborah

SkyLinePrints · September 30th, 2007, 08:55 AM

hi deborah,

this is an age old quesiton. What to charge is really determined by what is your cost (cost of goods, overhead, labor, how much YOU want to make). Figure that out and then figure out how much per hour you need to make to cover all that. then, figure out how many stitches you can sew per hour (probably best if done by the thousands) and put it all together.

example: My shop needs to make $70 per hour to be profitable. Using a single head machine for argument sake, i can sew 1000 stitches per minute (Amaya XT and yes, that is the lowest per minute i run). In the perfect world, i would divide 70 per hour / 60 minutes. This would equal $1.16 per thousand stitches. However, you must take into account setup, break down, hooping, etc.... so you must price accordingly.

I have found that most name drops or designs under 8000 stitches can be done in about 12 minutes. Therefore, I charge a minimum of $14 in my shop for a single head run.

Hope this helps.