About Initial Impressions
Founded: September 1999
Headquarters: Colorado Springs, CO
Customer demographics: A wide range of people, with a focus on new mothers, grandmothers, baby gifts and weddings
Blog: www.initial-impressions.net/blog
If you’re an embroidery shop owner who’d like to share your experiences with readers in Stitches’ Snapshot column, send an e-mail to nrollender@asicentral.com.
Snapshot:
A Lightbulb Moment
While browsing the aisles of an embroidery store, a lightbulb went off in Peg Bowles’ head, leading her to start her own business..
By Ashleigh Ormsby
Stitches: How long have you been embroidering?
Peg Bowles: When I turned 10, my grandmother took me for the summer and taught me to sew. The embroidery end of it came to me rather abruptly. My husband and I were in Minnesota visiting family, and I went into an embroidery store. I was just browsing around when I turned to my husband and said, “This is what I want to do.” It was a lightbulb moment.
Stitches: What did you do from there?
PB: I talked to the store owner about what she did and how she did it. Then, when I came back to Colorado, I researched machines and what I wanted to do. It went very quickly, because I had a sewing background, so I just needed to figure out how to use the software, and how to market and the business end of things.
Stitches: What was the hardest part of getting everything up and running?
PB: Because my business is almost exclusively Internet based, it took a while to get the Web site figured out and to get someone to design it. Also, inventory control – that is, having the right amount of the right things at the right time, especially during the holidays when it’s really busy. Over the years I’ve gotten a better handle on what I’m going to need and when I’m going to need it, but it’s still difficult.
I gradually built my client base. My first clients were the girls at my daughter’s sorority who all wanted blankets to give to each other at Christmas. A lot of people who purchase from me are people who’ve received a gift and are buying the same thing or something similar for someone else they know. It was about a year and a half before I could say I was really profitable and had a viable client base.
Stitches: You have a blog that people can access from your business’ Web site. Does it help you better connect with customers?
PB: I send out a newsletter, but I always feel as if I’m imposing on people, so I thought a blog would be a good way to talk about – and show – some of my ideas. That way it was an active thing on the customer’s part. She could look if she wanted to, but I wasn’t thrusting my company or ideas too vigorously toward her. I’m hoping as time goes by people will use it as a vehicle to tell me their thoughts.
Stitches: On your blog, you write that two of your daughters are getting married this summer. Has planning two weddings sparked you to offer products you hadn’t thought to offer before?
PB: Absolutely! One of the most popular items, and it’s taking off like wildfire, is wedding labels. I have several different kinds – large ones that brides are using to put on a hankie to wrap their bouquets with or on the flower girls’ baskets; I have smaller ones that brides put on the bodice of their gowns. It has the name of the bride and groom and the date of the wedding.
Stitches: What’s been your biggest career challenge? How did you overcome it?
PB: Allocating the time and energy I needed to in the early stages. When you work at home, it’s very easy to get distracted. You really have to make a decision that during working hours, you’re working. I solved this by setting fixed hours and sticking to them. This established a business mindset and the discipline required to launch a new business.
Stitches: What’s your business philosophy?
PB: I like to please customers – go beyond their expectations and really impress them with my creativity and ability to make something extra special for them. I have a large number of return customers, which is satisfying for me to know I’m doing a good enough job to keep them coming back.
Return customers and word of mouth have helped me grow my business. They say it’s a lot easier to maintain your company by keeping your customers than by getting new ones.
Stitches: What’s the best tip you can give to an embroiderer who wants to launch her own business?
PB: The most important thing is to treat it as a business and expect to put in the same kind of effort you would put into any kind of employment. You can’t really make a success of it if you treat it as a hobby that you’re just calling a business. You really have to give it 100%, especially the first couple of years.
ASHLEIGH ORMSBY is associate editor for Stitches. Contact: aormsby@asicentral.com.