If I Were Starting From Scratch: How to Turn a Love of Sewing Into a Real Business
If I were starting from scratch, I’d choose the same work all over again. But I’d approach turning what I love into a real business completely differently. When you love what you make, it’s very easy to forget that skill and enthusiasm alone aren’t enough to run a business.
Before opening, I’d spend more time learning how a business actually works. I’d join professional communities early, talk to other makers, and listen to what they argue about and what they complain about. I’d try to understand what clients really need, what problems studio owners run into and how they get out of them.
Then I’d sit down and run the numbers. Not just what the machines, fabric and rent cost, but how much I personally want to earn to be happy with my life. How many orders that takes, at what price, and whether I can realistically get that many every month.
I’d study the market and pricing before my first sale. Better to spend an extra month on research than to open a studio with rose-colored glasses on and then spend years wondering why the work you love doesn’t bring in the money you were counting on.
Marketing is part of the job, just like sewing
I’d start learning marketing much earlier. Today you can be an outstanding maker and still nobody will know you exist. You need to be able to talk about your work, show it, find your audience and build relationships with future clients. In a way, every small business owner also becomes the author of their own professional blog.
I’d treat it as real work from day one. I wouldn’t squeeze marketing into the evening, after everything else is done, and I wouldn’t save it for a spare minute. In my schedule, marketing would have the same place as cutting, sewing and client fittings.
Finances and paperwork from day one
From day one, I’d take money and paperwork seriously. I’d record every payment and expense, put orders and every agreement with clients in writing, and keep my client and materials information in order. And I’d pay myself a regular salary: a fixed amount from the business, not “I’ll take what I need, when I need it”.
Once a week, I’d sit down and look at the results: what actually brings money in, which expenses are worth it, what should change and where it makes sense to invest. Without those numbers, it’s very easy to mistake a working business for simply being busy.
Boundaries between work and life
From the very beginning, I’d draw a line between work and my personal life. I wouldn’t build my business on sleepless nights and endless overtime. You can keep that pace for a while, but you can’t call it a business model. When your whole life revolves around orders, one bad day or one unkind review can knock you off balance.
I want to build a business that makes life better, not one that takes it away piece by piece.
Build a team sooner than feels necessary
And finally, I’d start thinking about the people I could work with much sooner. When everything rests on one person, the business can’t grow bigger than what that person has time for.
Of course, at first you want to do everything yourself. It feels cheaper, safer, and like no one will do it better than you.
Michael Gerber calls this a trap in The E-Myth Revisited: many makers open a business and end up creating a job for themselves, with themselves as the only employee.
At some point you have to learn to trust, hand over part of the work, find help and agree on how to work together. Yes, it costs money. But if I want more than a job for myself, a business that can grow, I’ll need a team, even a very small one at first.
Where to start
If you’re just starting out, begin with one thing: grab a calculator and work out how much you want to earn a month, how many orders that takes and at what price. Those three numbers will show you right away how realistic your plan is.
Once, when I was thinking about opening a new business, I went to my business coach. He didn’t ask a single question about the product. He asked only two things: what my average order was worth and how much I wanted to earn. He multiplied them on a calculator and turned the screen toward me, and there was some astronomical number of clients. Then he said something like: “Do you want to spend five years of your life only to find out you can’t make the money you wanted here?” It sounds harsh, but it’s better to “close” a plan that doesn’t work in five minutes on a calculator than to find out after five years of work.
And if you’re only just trying sewing and wondering which niche to choose, see where almost every performance costume maker starts.
What I wish I’d understood much sooner
Your own business should give you more opportunities, not just more responsibilities. I want mine to bring not only the joy of work I love, but a good income, the freedom to make my own decisions, time for myself and the people I love, and room to grow and try new things.
After all, we don’t start a business so that our whole life turns into work. We start it to build a life we truly enjoy.
Performance costume patterns are in the AROA Patterns catalog. Your first pattern is free.
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