Start a business

Do you want to turn your passion for quilting into a profitable home quilting business? We’re here to help!

Getting started

To start, we recommend doing some research in your local area to find out how busy professional quilters are. In many cases, you’ll find a backlog of six months or more, indicating that this is a terrific business opportunity for you.

Create a quilting business plan

Creating a quilting business plan will provide you with a three- to five-year road map that outlines how to achieve your goals – whether that is to quilt only one quilt a month for friends and family for a small fee, or to earn a living quilting for others.

Here’s a quick overview of the sections we recommend you include in your longarm business plan:

Executive summary

All business plans include an executive summary, which typically includes your mission statement, how you intend to grow the company, financial information, products and services you will offer and a summary of future plans.

Description of your business

Outline information on all the services you plan to offer. This could include quilting or even piecing for others, basting services, binding, etc. This would also include any products you intend to sell such as thread, batting or backing. Define what makes your business different or unique.

Market analysis

The next (and probably the most important) section should be a thorough market analysis. Research what the competition is like in your area:

• What services do your competitors offer?

• Do they specialize in any type of quilting?

• What is their “waiting list”?

• What is their pricing structure?

• Explore the customer pool as well. Are there active guilds in your region?

• What about quilt shops or fabric stores?

• How are those groups currently getting their quilt tops completed?

Services

With a good understanding of the market your next business plan section should outline the services that YOU plan to offer, and how they will benefit your customers.

Marketing

With quilters, word-of-mouth is the most powerful advertising available. With today’s technology that can mean a face-to-face encounter or it could mean making use of several of the social media platforms available.

Financial projections

In this section you’ll outline what earnings and expenses you expect over the next five years. This section will include documents such as income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements on at least a quarterly basis for your first year. The financial section will also include an outline of any capital expenditures you anticipate.

If you’d like to explore the possibility of starting your own longarm quilting business, take a look at these return on investment calculations for APQS longarm machines.