Since we started this business in 2014 it's been a long roller-coaster ride of ups and downs, originally I worked in a large corporate business on a nice safe salary as a Technical
Project Manager. I then met my long term partner and started a family, whilst I was on maternity leave I was made redundant.
With the redundancy money I decided to venture a loose dream to start an embroidery business, well you could say a crafts business given it isn't solely embroidery, we made most of our money in the early days from hand made cards (people still ask for them today). I started with a Brother PR600 machine brought second hand from Birmingham, which was one of my first lessons in business and being a sole trader at the time. These were hard cold lessons which I'll come on to now.
Do not, whatever you do buy a machine from eBay, second hand from someone in Birmingham, not that I've got anything against Birmingham! Within a month or two of having the machine it broke, being relatively new to running a business and not having the security and protection of a large corporate I did what any normal person would. I called the insurance company to see if I could claim on my home insurance for the broken machine.
Lesson number two, you can't have a business run from home on normal home insurance, my claim was denied and I was left without a machine, nor the money to fund a new one. and finally the third and final lesson learnt in my first year was don't setup a business as a limited company without knowing the implications and consequences, do your research first.
Since then, we've re-branded, found the funds for new machines of a higher quality and pushed past the first years lessons learnt. Here we are several years later with two Brother embroider machines a PR1000e and PR650 which enable us to create some fantastic and innovative designs. We have more people assisting in the business and products that make our customers happy!
Was it worth it, absolutely! People message us out of the blue from all over the world for various items, We've made some beautiful gifts for all sorts of occasions, we have provided poems on hanker-chiefs for the father of the bride, we've made photo real stitched patterns of peoples beloved pets, personalised quilts, the list goes on.
Having a crafts business has opened up a world of positivity, a job I really enjoy, it enables me to work from home and spend valuable time with my family. It allows me to work as hard as I like when I like, but most of all I get to make lots of different items and be incredibly creative. As well as getting out and about to craft fairs meeting people face to face and talking with other like minded businesses and stall holders.
This is my/our first blog and I'm aiming to do more over the coming months to see if I can share some industry insight, craft knowledge and overall experiences and perhaps in an ideal world build up a little following. If I get really confident I might even do some YouTube videos!
And in case you're wondering the answer to the question is YES!!! Start your own business and follow your dreams if that's what makes you happy.
I hope you've enjoyed reading our first blog, and if you've got any questions then please do drop us a line
-Sarah