Having a system in place to help manage your embroidery business is extremely important! Common questions that have been asked by my students when they are trying to organize and manage their business as they are starting or growing their embroidery business are:
- How do I manage my business?
- Where do I go to get the help that I need?
- How do I know what I will need?
- Where should I Start?
- Is there some type of software that I can purchase to help me?
So many people that start an embroidery business do so because they love what they do and are very creative. I was one of those people. They do not even think about what it takes for the business side of the business. There are certain components that every business needs in order to run smoothly and create a profit.
One of the main components is a system for daily checks and balances to see if you are profitable. It is very important that you learn how to manage your entire business and it starts on a daily basis with each and every job. Whether you are a one person operation or a large apparel decorating shop, there are some important factors that must be present in whatever type of business management system you choose.
- The ability to create and deliver a quote very quickly
- A way to follow up on the quotes in a timely manner
- The ability to measure the progress of each order as it goes through each and every process.
- A way to measure your production
- A way to measure your profitability
- A system to keep track of your acquisition of goods
- A way to schedule your production
- The quick way to see if you can handle a rush order
- The ability to create a repeat order so there are no errors in ordering or production
- A system to see how quickly your money is coming in.
I have found that many businesses do not have any type of system in place to help manage any part of their apparel decorating business. You can create your own management system or you can use one of the Business Management Software packages that are easily available for the apparel decorating industry. Either way, you must have a system for checks and balances. This is a must in order to manage your growing business and become profitable at the same time.
Choosing The Best Type Of System For Your Embroidery Business
There are several business management software packages available today but there are also many price ranges within these software packages. You need to know what is important to you and your business in order to be able to choose the right package. Each business is different and has different needs.
You need to create a total snapshot of your entire business before thinking about which type of system or package you will need. Take an analysis of all of your business needs and answer all of the following questions.
- What type of software are you using for your accounting at the present time?
- How many employees to do you have?
- How many different types of decorating does your business offer?
- How many customers do you have?
- What type of business, wholesale, retail or contract?
- Do you offer products along with your services?
- Are you a service business only?
- What are your monthly sales and revenue?
- Do you have a concrete pricing system in place?
- Do you know what all of your actual costs are in your business that are associated with each different type of decorating that you offer? It is very important that they be separate in order to have true costing and pricing.
- Do you have a concrete way of planning for future growth?
- Do you have a way of measuring your growth and profitability?
Some of the Business management software companies have starter packages or entry level packages that will handle your quotes and invoicing. This is not enough to get you started, in my opinion. You must be able to provide your customer with a quick quote, but you also need to be able to take that quote, turn it into an instant work order and then into an invoice when the job is completed.
Many of the business management software packages will integrate with QuickBooks. If your business is a large shop with more than 10 employees, you may want to look at one of the packages that is a stand-alone package that will handle all of your accounting needs. If you are a small shop you may want to start with one of the less expensive packages that will integrate with QuickBooks to accommodate all of your needs. When you are looking for a business management software package, you want to make sure that they contain each component that is necessary for your particular business but each package should contain the following components.
You want to be able to manage everything in your business with or without software, but having a software package makes it much easier to manage all aspects of your business. No matter what type of a system you adopt to use in your business, make sure that you have a system that will help you to create quotes in a hurry, measure the progress of each job, measure your production and measure your profitability. If you cannot measure it, you cannot manage it!
Joyce Jagger
The Embroidery Coach