Butterfly Posted January 9, 2013 Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 We are anticipating a big pay cut for my husband this year and so I've been trying to come up with ideas on how to expand my business without adding to my quilting workload. Thinking about adding fabric for sale but have no idea where to start or how that would work. I have a feeling that I need to start a web page or blog too. Oy vey. You know how I shy away from learning new things on the computer. Anyway, does anybody have advice for me? I would so much appreciated it. I just feel kind of lost. Machine quilting is what I know and do well. Everything else is foreign, but I'm encouraged by the fact that three years ago I started my longarm business with no knowledge of how to run my own business, and so far it's been wonderful. Jess Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cegates Posted January 9, 2013 Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 In my experiences of trying to earn money with my much loved hobby, teaching classes seems to be the most time efficient and fun. I teach several classes at my LQS, with the most popular being a 5 session class for beginners. There is almost no financial cost for me, and once I have set up the class and materials/handouts, the preparation doesn't take much time either. Carol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaC Posted January 9, 2013 Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 HI, Jess; I owned a fabric store for 10 years. Before adding fabric I would look to see how saturated my market area is with other stores selling fabrics. Can you offer something that is not available in your area? Retail is an investment up front and sometimes the returns are slow; especially in the beginning. I know a few on-line fabric stores that have gone out of business recently; and a few store fronts that now just go to the quilt shows and sell. They've closed up their store fronts totally. Carol's idea of teaching classes is good; if you have the interest and time; return on investment would be quick. Good Luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quilting Heidi Posted January 9, 2013 Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 I would suggest teaching too. Your so good and you have a lot to offer. Another option, how about running a monthly stipple special say $99 for any size and do just that for a whole week, how ever many you can fit in. Easy money and I'll bet there are lots of people that just want tops done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffq-lar Posted January 9, 2013 Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 Classes are a great idea. Not only quilt construction classes but also longarm/machine quilting classes. My guild is trying to get me to do a "How to decide on quilting designs" class this year. You could offer that or in-house one-on-one consultations for quilting designs. They bring their top and you give them several options for the quilting. Charge your regular per-hour so you don't take away from the solid money-maker of customer quilting. Retail (offering fabric/batting/thread/etc) is a huge time-eater and inventory will freeze your profits. I would stay away from that side until you've exhausted other options. Good luck Jess! (Does your DH want to learn how to longarm? Maybe he could become the panto King and you'll need another machine!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butterfly Posted January 9, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 Thank you soooo much for your advice! I think I will revisit the meandering sale I did over a year ago. It was successful and profitable, so maybe if I had frequent meandering sales and gave some thought to teaching too, this would help us out enough. Thank you Jess Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibbyG Posted January 9, 2013 Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 One of my friends has been teaching at a local quilt store for 20 years. She makes a sample, quilts it lightly, they pay her for the class and then they pay her to quilt it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffq-lar Posted January 9, 2013 Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 Gosh Jess--I didn't even think about the possibility of you making and selling quilted items. The biggest hurdle for this plan is figuring out where to sell your stuff. If your hubby got a cut in hours as well, or if he retired, maybe give him the "honor" of setting up and running an etsy shop. Lots of competition there though. Or check out local venues for "Handmade in this State" spaces--like upscale antique malls or artist's bazaars. Stay away from crafter's malls and the ever-present church or fund-raising bazaars. Prices are usually much too low and buyers expect bargains. If your guild has a quilt show, see how expensive vendor space is and sell lots of cute small stuff to tempt the viewers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra Darlington Posted January 10, 2013 Report Share Posted January 10, 2013 I quilted a tee shirt quilt for a gal who was planning to use it as the class sample in her tee shirt class. I used the Meander long board from Circle Lord, which is what she liked the best as it didn't take away from the shirts. Also, I love it because it is so easy. With her support and the approval of the shop owner, I wrote up flyers for the teacher to hand out to the class participants. It said that I would give the class participants a 15% discount if they would like their quilt quilted just like the teacher's quilt. I got 3 out of the 8 who took the class. One of those three also asked me to machine bind it for her. Ka-Ching. Maybe you could work out something similar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butterfly Posted January 10, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2013 Hmmm...Linda, I hadn't thought about making and selling quilted items. Every time I make a small wholecloth, like really small (20x20 or so), people treat it like a masterpiece. I wonder if there is a market for that sort of small item online. I love making wholecloths, and it doesn't cost much to make. Jess Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAQuilts Posted January 10, 2013 Report Share Posted January 10, 2013 My GF makes wholecloth kitty pillows to sell, She loves to do freemotion on her DSM and needed a way to get rid of all her practice pieces and came up with the idea. Her practice pieces sold so well she now does really nice traditional quilting designs on nice solid colored fabrics, her wholecloth kitty pillows are about 18x18 with a zipper. She uses her batting scrap pieces for the pillow and it's her DH job to cut the batting to size and stuff the pillows. She puts the pillows in a pretty box she gets online, includes a cheap kitty toy and washing instructions, sells them for $99-$125. Says her biggest expense is the box. Terry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butterfly Posted January 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2013 A friend just showed me how to get started on a Facebook business page, so now I have one with a few pictures on it. Next I would like to come up with some of my own work to put up for sale. It's a good start and I will be offering a meandering sale in May and again in September. I need to figure out how to put the Facebook page at the bottom of my posts here on the forum. Jess Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chocoholic Posted January 13, 2013 Report Share Posted January 13, 2013 The problem that I found with teaching is that most shops do not pay for your samples and unless you have a sample, people don't want to take the class. I have made many samples only to have the class not go because no one signs up. And also, the shops want the samples done is current fabrics so they can sell that fabric to the students, as everyone wants to 'copy' the sample. Once I put up a sample to advertise a class. Well, the class didn't go, but the clerks in the store said everyone wanted to buy the fabric that was in the sample. It was an older fabric from my stash and so the store was unhappy as well because they didn't make money from either the class or selling fabric. I have pretty much quit teaching any kind of quit top classes as they just got too expensive and making the samples took time away from my quilting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffq-lar Posted January 13, 2013 Report Share Posted January 13, 2013 The problem that I found with teaching is that most shops do not pay for your samples and unless you have a sample, people don't want to take the class. I have made many samples only to have the class not go because no one signs up. And also, the shops want the samples done is current fabrics so they can sell that fabric to the students, as everyone wants to 'copy' the sample. Once I put up a sample to advertise a class. Well, the class didn't go, but the clerks in the store said everyone wanted to buy the fabric that was in the sample. It was an older fabric from my stash and so the store was unhappy as well because they didn't make money from either the class or selling fabric. I have pretty much quit teaching any kind of quit top classes as they just got too expensive and making the samples took time away from my quilting. I agree with your assessment of LQS classes, Sheila. Here's what a wise instructor does for her classes locally. She prints her EQ-designed quilt that she will be teaching--on a handout. She does it in many different colorways so the students have a wide range of choices. Sometimes a different colorway will accent some secondary design that will be appealing to different people. Notice she doesn't have a "sample". The first day of class is "fabric/color" day. Students decide on a colorway they like and the LQS--just for that day and class--offer a 10% discount on full-price fabric to be used in the class. If someone wants to use their stash they are welcome to--but very few can turned down that discount. The instructor offers some guidance and a sheet for the student to place snips of their fabric choices and yardage requirements. While she might have students with similar colorways, the students all build different quilts. The students take home their fabric and do all the cutting to be ready for the next class. When the class is over and they have show and tell, the instructor brings her finished quilt to share. This has worked well for her and for the shop. The shop doesn't have to have bolts of the same fabric on hand for potential sale for one class. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindy Skinner Posted January 14, 2013 Report Share Posted January 14, 2013 Jess, I'm glad you raised this topic. I am always looking for ways to expand my business. My husband and I own 3 businesses. My quilting business is the second biggest and believe it or not, he is a mole trapper and that is our biggest business. Anyway, prior to quitting my "real" job and longarming full time, I was a marketing director at a very large company. I love marketing as much as I love quilting. Here is the plan I follow. First you have to understand where your money comes from. It is basically the Customers X Invoice = Income. In this business we are very dependent on our own ability and time. If you are already putting in as many hours a day as you want, then one part of the equation is already maxed out. Personally, I gave up the teaching aspect because I didn't want to give up my evening hours. My day time hours are already devoted to quilting and I prefer that to teaching. So, if you look at how you make money, you have to decide for yourself, what part of the equation can you improve upon? More customers, same number of customers but more frequency, higher invoice? Be sure you focus on the part that you truely want to go up. Don't drive yourself crazy if you aren't going to enjoy it . If you aren't maxed out on your time then you don't have enough customers. Focus on getting more quilts in, send out advertising emails, ask local quilt shops if they will let you do hand outs in every shopping bag for a week, if there is a quilt bus trip in your area, provide a coupon for every lady on the bus, start a referrel campaign giving a slight discount on the next quilt when your customers refer a friend, teach classes at night (this may lead to quilting customers but it is still the part of the equation that equates to your time). Remember, there are only so many hours in a day/week that you are able to work, spend those hours doing what you enjoy whether that is quilting, piecing together items to sell, teaching, whatever. Now, if you are maxed out on the amount of time you have then you have to focus on the second part, the invoice. The most obvious is review your pricing, is there any room to raise your rates. What do you make the most money on and how can you promote that more and the less profitable items (time wise) stop doing. Just because you are good at something doesn't mean you should continue doing it (unless you love it and want to of course). For me and most longarmers, our profit is in the pantos and the profit suckers are the custom quilts. The meandering special is a great way to hit both sides of the equation, more customers and high invoice (relative to the time spent that is). For me, I carry wide backs, and lots of them. That is an easy way to add $30-$60 to an invoice without taking up any of my time. I promote this heavily so that all my customers know it. They also have to walk past them each and every time they come to my studio to drop off a quilt. I also embroider a label on the back of the quilt, for a fee of course. This bumps the average invoice $5-$10. While one quilt is running (I'm computerized) I am embroidering and getting the next quilt ready to load. If you aren't selling batting then you could consider that, again, it will add $20-$40 to every invoice. (I sell 3 to 1, wool over cotton and I make the most money there). Have a "clean up your UFOs" campaign where you offer $10 discount to everyone who brings 3 full sized quilts or more. Offer to quilt the class samples for the other teachers at a discount so your quilting gets shown and include a handout to the teacher in exchange for her allowing you to quilt her quilt. The key to all of this is getting the word out so be sure that you are collecting email addresses for all of your customers. You may have a customer who is willing to exchange quilting for running an email campaign for you. This forum is a great way to get other ideas on how people have brought in more customers and increased their average invoice. I think I will spend the next hour designing a new email, I like the "clean up your UFO's" idea . Good Luck Mindy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butterfly Posted January 15, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2013 Thank you Mindy for taking the time to write such a thoughtful reply. You have given me much to think about. Jess Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaC Posted January 15, 2013 Report Share Posted January 15, 2013 Mindy, great food for thought! I don't quilt for others but your advice is sound and I enjoyed reading it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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