or an embroidery business, the single most important piece of equipment is naturally, the embroidery machine. So an important question to ask is how new embroiderers make the choice on which machine to buy? They don't have the industry savvy that a contract embroiderer sewing for 15 years has. But that is the level of business to which they aspire. And it all starts with the machine.
Bob Jolet - Ultra Stitch Embroidery
In a suburb of Detroit Bob Jolet, Sr. has successfully run Ultra Stitch Embroidery, Inc. with his wife Marilyn and son Job, Jr. for over 9 years. He got into the business the way many people do - by observing how lucrative and fun embroidery can be. Previously, Bob was in charge of brewery sales and marketing at Stroh's and saw how embroidered items flew out of the various brewery gift shops. When he got the opportunity to change careers it was embroidery that was his first choice.
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 Bob and the Ultra Stitch Family in front of one of their 15-head Tajimas. |
Bob's first stop was a mid-sized embroidery shop in which he took an equity interest. This shop was running 65 Barudan heads. "It was what I learned on, so when I finally decided to scratch the itch to get into my own business 100%, I bought a 15 head Barudan", says Bob. Soon however, he discovered that it didn't exactly meet his needs. "At the time our business was generating a lot of hat embroidery, and the Barudan could not handle it. Plus the machine's main shaft broke down at least three times and it was tough to get it fixed. I had to scramble to fill orders at other embroiderers, and saw my profit fly out the window." Bob began to research the market by speaking to other people in the business.
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Quality stitching from the partnership of Ultra Stitch, Tajima and Hirsch International. |
Universally, they recommended Tajima as the most capable and worry-free machine in the world. In fact, one of the people Bob had worked with at his previous shop had left and gone into business, immediately buying a Tajima. Bob was convinced. He immediately picked up a 12-head and a single head Tajima, and since then has added two 15-heads, a 6-head, a 4-head and a 2-head to handle the large volume of contract work the company gets through the ad specialty industry. "Every time I purchase a new Tajima I know I am getting the latest technology available. Now, all of our Tajimas are running multiple shifts. Tajima is simply the greatest - a big part of our success, but equally as important is my relationship with Hirsch International. Hirsch is more than just my distributor... they are my partners, helping me whenever they can." Bob eventually made the right call by learning for himself what makes an embroidery business hum.
Inez Mobley - Embroidery by Inez
If a cat has nine lives, Inez Mobley is on number three, but she confides that she won't need the other six. "I have only been in the embroidery business for one year, but it is the greatest move I ever could have made", said Inez. "I came out of corporate America, and moved into education which I enjoyed, but the idea of owning my own business was very strong. For years I admired the craft lifestyle from afar. People just looked like they were having a blast. As for me, I did some quilting on my own and I knew about embroidery machines, so after careful consideration I decided to go for it." Inez realized the importance of the equipment, especially at the beginning. |
