Your new embroidery business is outfitted with a machine, digitizing software, supplies and a market for your products. You have identified target niche markets and developed a professional image. The business is moving along nicely, when you receive an order from a customer who needs 100 polo shirts for a sales event and, to top it off, their logo has no less than 12 color changes! Do you turn down this opportunity or do you have a strategy to deliver this order on time with professional results? Two situations where outsourcing may be the savvy business strategy are digitizing and large quantity orders. In Part 1 of this series, we examine outsourcing to a professional digitizer.

Most people, who move from embroidery as a hobby to an embroidery business, have the tools and some ability to digitize designs, as well as stitch them out. Some hobby embroiderers may even have experience digitizing for a variety of fabrics (also known as substrates in the professional world) including swim suit lycra, velvet, leather and faux fur. While digitizing monograms and names in a variety of fonts are simple with the right software; professionally digitizing a company logo requires a combination of skill and time. The more skill you have the less time it will take. However, if your skill level is lacking, the amount of your time required for a professional result may not be in the best interest of your business. Situations of time constraints and the ability to deliver a professional product may require the assistance of professionals.

Not only can using a professional digitizer be economically feasible, but it is also practical. To put this in perspective, let's examine the following scenario. A customer needs ten shirts with a four color logo stitched on the left chest. The logo is approximately 1" x 3". Digitizing the logo yourself will cost you approximately 5 hours of time. If you have no other orders to stitch and no sales calls to make (you shouldn't have both), this might be a good use of your time.

Now, consider the difference in your business productivity if this design was outsourced to a professional digitizer. A reputable professional will offer you a quote and guarantee satisfaction with the work; don't waste your time, or money, with anyone who doesn't stand behind their work. In our example, this is the logo submitted for a quote to NetEmb with the following guidelines:

Copy of Artwork

Specifications Requested
Width: 3" (adjust height proportionally to width)
Fabric: Knit
Colors: 4
Other: Minimum color changes, minimum jump stitches (reduces production time)

The quote from NetEmb estimated the design at 2800 stitches and priced it based on turnaround time:
3 day: $25.20
2 day: $33.60
1 day: $42.00

First, examine the cost per item. If this design is being stitched ten shirts, the price per piece is $2.52 ($25.20 divided by 10); for twenty shirts the price per piece is only $1.26. At this point, any future business utilizing this design should also be taken into consideration. Once this design is digitized, you own it. You will not incur additional digitizing expense on any future orders using this design.

The other aspect to consider is the value of your time. We all have an idea of what our time is worth; and as a business owner, knowing this number is important to your business success. If five hours of your time is spent digitizing this design, your time is worth a measly $5.04 per hour (for the three day option). For the one day option, your time is only worth $8.04. It doesn't take a CPA to see that your time might be better spent stitching, marketing or developing new business.

The actual design was completed in one day for a stitch count of 2634 and a price of $39.41.

Computer representation.

Actual stitchout.

In part two of this series, we will examine when it makes sound business sense to outsource an order to a large embroidery house. Be sure to let us know your success with finding niche markets; we would love to hear from you. For more information and education, including free projects, free designs and free thread for growing your business, visit SewMeHow.com. See what you can do, we can sew you how!

"Sew" long for now!
Tamara