Thinking of Starting a Business

Tyrko

WOW .... I'm officially suffering from machine envy.... Thats Incredible.

I will call you in the a.m.

Yes I do believe you've done work for us before.

SunEmbroidery

I wouldn't look at internet businesses as competition but as another venue you might explore. We do both local and internet business. We are also in a fairly small area. I started locally but found it very hard to get good customers partly because it a very tight business comunity that will only order from whoever their friend orders from. The internet gave me a chance to grow my business that I wouldn't have had locally and because of that our profits are way up without having to sacrifice our level of quality and customer service.

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Jennifer

Custom Embroidered Polo Shirts with your logo

Embroidered Button Down Shirts no minimum

mscobee

Wow lots of great info thanks so much. You have quite the set up. I need to find someone to maybe work with for awhile and learn something about running a machine looks very complicated....

Worn Id

WOW!! I want that set up! :P

We are in a small town and as hard as we try we can not get some of the local business (ie - the school) because the "internet is cheaper" They say the shirt cost $8 a piece compared to us asking $8.50, with no mention how much it is costing them to have 100+ shirts shipped! We get some of the individual clubs and groups... so that helps! We also get some of the area schools and such. Some of our local business have been good to us too.

A lot of foot work helps... get out there and talk to ppl, give them samples when you can. Like someone else already said, nothing beats personalization!! I have a 2 head machine with only one reliable head, but I make it work! We get just a little more cashflow and we will be upgrading to a new 2 head or a 4 head machine!! We also screen print, so we have to trade off what side gets the new toys! :P

Good Luck!
Laurie

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WORN IDENTI-TEES
wornid@yahoo.com

Eric

Nah ... Not complicated at all ... I went to Tajima "boot camp" I am a certified tech... if you have any questions let me know.

Even if its not tajima, I also run Barudans..... but things can only be so different from machine to machine. The fundamentals are all within the same league.

twok4hd

Eric, do you have a full time person who does nothing but service all of those machines, or do you leave it up to the operators? If I am ever up your way I would love a tour of the place.

Eric

The only thing my "operators" do is Hoop, fix thread breaks, oil the hook, and change bobbins, thats it. I have some more advanced operators that I will allow to change a broken needle.

I do my shifts a little weird I run 12 hour shifts, 8am to 8pm 3 days a week then 4 days off, then 4 days a week with 3 days off. So A shift is Su-M-Tu one week then Sa-Su-M-Tu the next, with B shift being W-Th-Fr-Sa then W-Th-Fr. Sometimes I throw them some overtime if we're busy.

I have two "techs" one per shift, plus myself where need be. They are responsible for component oiling, cleaning, monthly maintenance, things like that. If a machine needs "service" then thats left to me, or my better tech Charlie, we will troubleshoot, replace reciprocator arms, take up levers, and re-time / gap machines, plus whatever else may be wrong. My other tech is new, so we are working him up to full service.

We keep the following maintenance:
Every 3 hours - Hook oil, unless the machines are self oiling, or have oil reminders, then they get oil when they ask for it, lol

Every 3 days - Oil components - heads, needle bars, main shaft, etc ...

Every 2 weeks - Tension tests, adjustments if necessary

Every month - New needles on all heads, total cleaning of guides, tension discs, presser feet, cutting assemblies, then tension tests.

Every 6 months - Total overhaul, clean machine, grease all bearings, new needles, re-time and re-gap hooks, test servo's (if the machine is servo driven) reset dead center, inspect belts, wires, cables, check for software updates.

Every 5 years - Machine is replaced regardless of condition.

If you are ever in my neighborhood let me know ... I'd be happy to show you around. I'll even give you some stylish earplugs, since the noise level in the production area is above 90dB OSHA requires hearing protection. Yeah, the employees weren't happy they had to trade their ****s for earplugs.

Eric

Ok ... that was odd ... it starred out the word, does apple have some funky trade mark can't say the name of "eye-Pod" or does some module think its a swear ... how amusing ... LOL

imeccentric

Well, guys, I have three machines and work out of my home. I turn down work everyday. My niche is work from other shops. I digitize and do mainly small to mid size runs (12-600) for shops that can't or don't want to be bothered by these. I like working from home, have no intention of getting any bigger, and make a good living. It can be done without a ton of money and still be fun and profitable. Since I don't have to deal with the public that much, there isn't really any downtime. Most just send me a jpg of the logo, drop ship their stuff to me, and pick it up when I'm done. So, in answer to your question, you can make a go if it in any size town IF you have a target market and good business plan. A shotgun approach(any and all jobs) seems like a hard life to me

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Jim
Embellishments in Thread
embellishmentsinthread.com

Eric

Indeed ... if I knew then what I know now, I would be doing this out of my garage with a few 4 heads in some quaint little oceanside town. Instead i'm dead set in the city, with 2 warehouses, and all I do it work, work, work. Hence why I can never manage to keep a relationship.

Oh well, such is life. Fortunately I love to work.