Jump to content

The new business is like the tortoise ... and thanks to the forum


Recommended Posts

My business, The Quilted Lemon, only opened up in September. It's slowly getting there. Very slowly. But there are a few repeat clients so that makes me happy. One of the guilds that I belong to has asked me to do a short presentation on longarm quilting so hopefully there will be some quilts from that. And then today I just met a client for the drop-off of a custom baby quilt. Since that was custom work of piecing as well as binding after the quilting, it was a lot more than what I've been getting for just the quilting. The bay area is fairly affluent so I'm hoping that the quilt shop will send more people my way for custom baby quilts. The owner was happy that I had the clients choose their fabrics from the shop and buy them there. A win-win as far as I'm concerned. Now maybe he'll have more people call me.

 

At any rate, I'm just happy that my Freddie and IQ have been so easy to work with. I'm still doing just E2Es but I'm learning new tricks everyday. I may play around with mixing different panto designs for a semi-custom look that would work better for the modern quilts. 

 

The forum has been my go-to for any sort of pitfall or question that concerns me. The custom baby quilt had a minkee backing and the forum had great advice on how to handle it very successfully. So a big thank you to all of you for being available to dole out advice when needed. It's like having my very own team of cheerleaders.  :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I started out the same--slow to build and most of my business (still) comes from my guild and word-of-mouth. Expect that you will double your business every year until you reach the level you are comfortable with. And a good piece of advice is to try to determine what your max number of quilts per month might be. Many longarmers find they overextend themselves, so schedule the quilts and you can give your customers an idea of when their quilt will be returned.

Your talent and good work will take you far. Congrats, Tami!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Congratulations, Tami, and continued good luck.

 

I'm so happy when a relatively new quilter is seeing progress and

building your business.

 

I find it is better to over price what you think it would take in whatever

method of pricing you use, than to undercut.

Plus the clients think they are geting a bonus.

Continued Good luck.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes Tami, I had several years before I got repeat clients and lots of business. Then just as my quilting business started taking off my husband moved us to the Pacific Northwest where there are lots of quilters and my business is nonexistent. So do I try to start it again...sure why not but on my terms.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 years later...

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...