Want to start Small Bussiness

moses_thasma

Hello,
My name is Moses.I am a 45 year old techie by profession(Programmer).As of now I am making around $45 per hour.My wife is home maker.I have 2 kids(14 & 10).I have been dreaming of starting own bussiness for quite a while.I think Embroidery,Screen printing bussiness is what I am looking to start.Me & wife are totally new to this Embroidery,Screen printing.We are a bit nervous that we might not be able to succeed.

Here are few questions we have
i) Is this something we can do,since we not have any prior experience.
ii) Can I start this bussiness in basement?.
ii) What are pros & cons in this bussiness.
iii) Should I buy or lease Embroidery & Screen printing machines.

Please advice

Fattyonamoped

Yes you can start without any experience, but like anything the more you do something the better you become at it.

Yes I started in my living room, now have a 2500 sq ft warehouse. Stay in the basement, save your cash.

Customers suck, they want stuff yesterday and want to pay nothing for it. Competitors will cut your throat for a few cents. China owns manufacturing.

Buy.....

But I suggest you invest in gold and silver instead of embroidery machines. I have some for sale if you are interested. But just like any venture if your passion is there the money will usually follow, it's a matter of staying passionate long enough for that to happen. Not easy to own/run your own business thats why many people "fail" get burned out from all the downfalls and lose their passion.

Screentex

1. Yes it is. There are a ton of variables and suppliers to learn.
2. Yes, a small press, dryer and embroidery machine would fit. You need to check with your city to see if you can operate screen printing machines out of you house. It might not be legal to do it out of your basement. I've got a buddy that does it out of his garage, but he had to make some changes to his garage to make it all above board.
3. Pros and cons could go on forever. I think the biggest would be investing in equipment and have no sales.
4. Whatever would fit your budget depending on what is offered. I got banks loans for ones I could not buy outright.

If I was in your position I would not buy equipment at first. It's a pretty big investment for an industry that is getting tougher and tougher to suceed in. There are plenty of contract printers and embroiderers that can do your work for you while starting off. You can still be competitive and not have the expense of the equipment. About 60% of my business is contract printing. The people that use me really concentrate on customer service to combat maybe being a little more expensive than if you print it yourself.

I think the biggest pro of starting out this way is that you know alot better what your exact costs are and you don't have to put up too much capital to get started.

Then if it your sales will support it, get your own equipment. This will give you time to learn more about the industry. You can spend more time on research and customer service, instead of have to produce the finished product.

Don't forget about promotional products either. I'm a screen printer/embroiderer and LOVE selling promotional products. It's a no brainer. The margins aren't quite as big, but it is pretty easy to do.

Feel free to email me if I can help any.

Good luck!!!!!

__________________
Draggin' ink since 1994!!
www.screentexgraphics.com

megrisoft

This is good business to start with........you will have to spend extra time learning how all this works, mainly the machine handling

Eric

This Sentiment is just such an epic win in my book... I started in my parents garage, I now have (in total) just under 50,000 sq. feet of warehouse, production, offices, and retail outlet. I too agree if you want to keep costs down start as CHEAP as possible. The only problem with screen printing at home is the electricity and/or gas. Most homes don't have a big enough electrical service to accommodate an electric dryer, and I believe the gas companies (at least in the state of MA) give you a hard time about connecting commercial equipment to home services.

I totally agree many customers are awful, they want it all, for nothing, and NOW. They have no problem stiffing you on bills, or being over-critical about the work and using it as an excuse to have their bill lowered, 2 months after it was due. They all think, how can you take a $1 cap put a penny worth of thread on it, then charge me $5, they don't care/understand that the machine used to do it was $100,000 plus the "labor"

Employees suck worse .... They don't appreciate the fact that they even HAVE a job, they call-out, screw off, steal, and its a nightmare to try to fire someone these days, as they run straight for the un-employment line crying that they were "wrongfully terminated" they get paid un-employemnt benefits that come out of my pocket via DWD insurance, THEN they (try) to sue you again anyway!

I used to love this, but the passion has left the building, lol. Burned out is the perfect word. Don't get me wrong, my business has been very good to me, and for that I am thankful, but its just not worth the stress anymore. My business is actually for sale, if it doesn't sell within the next few years, I am just going to close.

The Gold & Silver comment is a little random.... lol Not untrue though

Pssh, if you're making $45 an hour, I would seriously offer the notion that you stay, until your business is extremely well established. If you're burnt out from it, no matter how much $ you make, it still sucks, and believe me I totally understand. If I may offer the notion that embroidery is typically a higher ticket item, and there is less competition in the embroidery world, as the equipment for serious production is serious money. Where as screen printing equipment is much more affordable in the beginning. I find the screen print world to be WAY more cut-throat on price wars. Just my opinion.

Well..... Now that you think I'm and angry bitter @!#$%, I'll leave it there. LOL
Sorry for the rant, hopefully I gave you at least something to think about. hehe

Tyrko

WHAT!?!!!

Eric! You're selling!? After all these years you're throwing in the towel now! I think I almost got teary eyed. Jay doesn't want to buy you out?

On a rational note, I can't say I blame you, I've been going through an employee a month, for the last 4 or 5 months. 1 quit (on good terms), 1 just stopped showing up, and 3 fired. I fired one kid (under 21) for showing up DRUNK at LEAST 3 or 4 times, the state of PA is giving him unemployment, and are whacking my percentage contribution, I am fighting his unemployment till the bitter end. I don't care what it costs me in legal fees to fight, I am not paying him unemployment, just on principal alone!!!!!!! My other girl, I caught stealing clothing, I could prove this, so I told her she could voluntarily quit, or I would fire her & have her arrested, it was her choice. She quit The final girl was fired for constant call-outs and no-shows. She so far hasn't requested unemployment.

I too have been finding my customers getting way more pushy than usual. I sell a lot of pre-decorated things in my shop, as I do a lot of home decor type stuff, she wanted a deal on ONE dishtowel, and proceeded to argue with me. I couldn't believe it, I had all I could do to say to her "This is a business, not a flea market" It struck me as odd, maybe I was just having a bad day, but this is the first customer that has really ever pushed my buttons to the point where I was almost going to throw her out of my shop.

My My My, this certainly turned into an impromptu b**** session didn't it?
LOL

Eric

Yep, I'm just done.

I started this biz when I was 16. I'm tired. lol

I've spent so many years making my life, that I forgot to live it.

No I would have loved for Jay to buy me out, but him & his wife just had their first baby, and he's been doing the Mr. Mom thing a lot, as his wife works quite a bit (she's a doctor) plus he sees the customers, the employees, the general stress, and I think he doesn't want to end up the same way.

As for Kyle & I, we're about to celebrate 10 years, and we barely see each other, he's burnt out from the financial world, and the fork has been in me for a while, I'm done. We would love to retire within the next 5 years, to our condo on Maui, and open a small shop on the beach with all that junky touristy T-Shirts and stuff. LOL. I mean, why not!?

On another note ... I was thinking about you the other day, are you guys coming up this way at all this summer? We haven't seen you guys in forever.

Tyrko

OMG! Tell him I said Congrats!!!!!!

Its funny you said that, we were thinking the same thing! I've been meaning to call you, we were going to plan a trip up there for middle-ish of August. Probably make this a longer one, we really should see some of the extended fam on this trip.

I'm just about to leave the shop, I'll call you in like 15 on my way home.

Eric

haha good idea, so we don't keep eating up the thread with conversation.

Call my cell though.... I'm on my way into the shop in just a min.

obemb

You can start in your basement just fine. Buy a nice used Tajima single head or 2 head and leave the screen printing alone. If you want to print T's, they have come a long way with the DTG printers and that's the way to go until you get your feet wet. Learning 1 process and doing it well is enough. You should learn printing and your wife embroidery then cross train each other. Keep your day job for awhile!