Okay this is another long post
The risky (or foolish) way would be to act on impulse and just dive in and get a commercial machine and digitizing software and see how it goes. If things don't work out, kiss thousands of dollars goodbye. There are people who have gone this route and succeeded, of course, there are also many, many more who failed.
You will find that many sole proprietors in the embroidery field who started out making money quickly already had what it took to be successful--for the most part at least. You see, it's not uncommon for embroidery shop owners to have worked for other embroidery companies in the past.
Since everyone's situation is different, there is really no secret formula other than to have a solid business plan and work hard. Honestly, if I were in your shoes I would find a GOOD local embroidery company and outsource all your embroidery needs for a period of time until you can determine if everything looks promising based on your unique situation to justify investing your time and money.
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and i would like to keep everything mac base cause that is how my studio is set up...
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I don't know how much you know about the embroidery process, but custom designs needs to be digitized before they can be embroidered. Embroidery digitizing is not done strictly by graphics software. Digitizing is a bit tricky to learn. It requires that you have a lot of embroidery experience before becoming a pro. I know you're a graphic designer so that's a big plus. Here is a post by ScottyStitches who is also a graphic designer about digitizing:
Digitizing software learning curve
Visit this thread for related info:
Thinking of Starting an Embroidery Business
Unfortunately software for the embroidery industry is generally geared towards MS Windows users. I guess you can dedicate a used PC for embroidery related software.
To buy or lease a machine depends on your situation. With leasing, you pay over a period of time. This frees up funds that can be used for emergencies and unforeseen expenses that a new venture is likely to face, and to buy other equipment and inventory to speed up the growth of your business. The disadvantage of leasing is that in the end, you do end up paying more compared to buying the machine outright. If you have limited funds, buying a machine outright may not be an option at all anyways.
Visit this thread for related info:
Help! Thinking of buying a commercial embroidery machine