The commercial embroidery services sector in the United States is a billion-dollar industry.
You read that right!
After all, so many other industries make use of embroidery for branding! Indeed, this art and science of fabric and material decoration is an ancient craft, but it’s still integral in today’s society.
From commercial to retail businesses, industrial to sports and even the military, having an embroidery business means countless profitable opportunities.
Before you can start reaping from what you sew (sorry), you first need to know how to start an embroidery business.
Don’t worry. That’s what we’ll share with you today.
So, keep reading to learn how to make money embroidering!
1. How to Start an Embroidery Business: Begin with the Needed Paperwork
You most likely reacted with a “meh” after reading this one. But like with any other profitable venture, you need to know your potential legal responsibilities first.
The good news is, most embroidering processes don’t require chemical handling and disposal, unlike other apparel-related businesses. So that’s one permit you won’t likely have to apply for.
You do have to check with your local and state government about zoning regulations, licensure, and other permits. Study up on IRS regulations before you acquire a tax registration number for your embroidery business startup. From here, you can contact local officials to register your business name.
Keep in mind that each city and state has their own at-home business laws. That goes true for communities too. So, it’s best you get to know all these before you even start thinking about where to buy that awesome embroidering machine for business.
2. Know Your Market
You’ve shown your handiwork to friends, families, and co-workers. All of them agree to fork, say $15 for an embroidered piece.
But the big question here is, do you think people outside of this group will do the same?
It’s for this reason you need to do a thorough market research. Especially for the kind of products you want to offer.
Don’t limit your search to the Internet though. Pay crafts fairs, apparel stores, and similar shops a visit too. All these will help you ensure you’ve got a market in the first place.
3. Know Your Competition Even More
Having a business kind of means “love thy competition.” That’s because you want to get to know them better, so you can have an idea which direction to take your business.
What’s important is to have a product you can make in as little time as possible, yet still be unique. Remember, your potential clients want something unusual, seeing as many of them may use your embroidered pieces for branding too.
4. Get Your Finances in Order
Say you’ve decided you’ll start your embroidery business at home. You have the space, a powerful computer, and have set aside cash for all the paperwork. What other expenses do you need to think of?
There are the craft supplies, for starters. Think loads of threads, needles, and fabrics. There are also special embroidery hoops and scissors.
Don’t forget packaging supplies and shipping costs if you plan to sell online.
From here comes the heavyweight: The embroidery machine and the software that goes along with it. Computerized or digitized machines can cost anywhere from $300 to over $1,000.
That’s quite a lot of money, but having this in your arsenal will let you tap into a much wider customer base. These two lets you produce embroidered products with the same logo or design at a faster rate. Remember, companies nowadays invest in company-branded shirts and apparel, so having a machine can get you a huge job with them.
5. Partner Up with the Right Related Services
A good way to infuse uniqueness in your embroidered pieces is through custom patches. They make shirts, caps, and other clothing articles a more commanding and high-quality appearance.
That’s why you’ll spot them in sports teams, police uniforms, military units, and martial arts wear among many others.
The thing is, making these patches require more than skilled needlework. It takes time to create one patch, so imagine how long it’ll take to produce 15! You’d also have to think of unique designs and concepts, especially if your clients want something customized.
That’s where working with an experience patch maker and supplier comes into play. Partnering up with such a service can make your products stand out more, which is key to surviving in today’s competitive industry.
Learn more here about your custom patch options.
6. Don’t Forget Your Own Brand
Don’t let all this talk about helping your potential customers with their branding strategies make you forget about your own brand! After all, you won’t have customers in the first place if you don’t market your own brand.
First things first: Come up with a well-balanced branding campaign incorporating both traditional and digital marketing strategies.
Traditional, as in physical signage, brochures, leaflets, calling cards, and the most important: an interesting, eyebrow-raising logo. As for digital, you’d want to build an effective business website featuring a design that further proves you are a skilled artist.
Don’t forget to leverage social media platforms too. Think of the 2.19 billion Facebook users out there. Or the 1 billion people on Instagram.
You may not reach them all, but those are numbers you want to take advantage of.
Start Planning Your Embroidery Business Now
All this said, we hope that this brief and concise guide on how to start an embroidery business will jumpstart your way to rock stardom in this thriving sector.
Keep in mind that there are 8,751,000 self-employed individuals in the country. If they can do it, so can you. So long as you launch your home embroidery business right and keep all the steps and tips in this guide in mind.
Craving more marketing tips? Whether you want to become a social media star or create an artful mobile site that works, we’ve got you covered!
