This is an important investment whether you are just starting out in your plans for a home business, turning a hobby into something that can make money, or you are a fully-fledged embroiderer looking for an upgrade. An embroidery machine for home business needs to be capable of keeping up with your demands so if you get a heavy workload, it won’t slow you down.
What you know what to expect from an embroidery machine, it makes purchasing one a lot easier. This is why we have created the following buyer’s guide. It details everything you need to consider so this is one investment that serves you well.
Memory Capacity
Although you want to buy a machine that has lots of options from the first use, you’ll no doubt need a machine that has a good memory capacity. Being able to upload new designs is part of running an embroidery business but you don’t want to have to push out all the old designs that you paid for to make room for the new.
As your business grows you will no doubt have to delete the old but this shouldn’t have to happen for a while.
Built-In Designs
The more you get, the more options your potential customers have. Although the more reasonably priced embroidery machines for home business might be lacking in what they can offer, some products come with 1,000’s of options.
Warranty
Because an embroidery machine for a home business can be a large investment, you need to know that if anything goes wrong with the machine, it is going to be fixed. This needs to be in a timely manner, will a reputable customer service.
The better brands tend to give you plenty of room with their warranties and you can expect to get around 25 years of protection with some. If your business depends on it, you don’t want to be caught short a couple of years down the line.
LCD Display
This tends to come as standard with an embroidery machine but some brands offer a better quality LCD display than others. We’re not overly keen on products that don’t have a color display and our preference is always a bigger screen with touchscreen responsiveness.
Hoops
The more demanding your customer base is, the larger the size of the hoop you will find yourself needing. Most embroidery machines for home business will give you 4 x 4 inches as a start but some of them won’t have room for more.
This is where you need a larger hoop option and even the next size up, 5 x 7 inches won’t be big enough for some professionals. Anyone stitching a t-shirt, for example, might want something closer to 7 x 12 inches.
Stitches Per Minute
Not only do you need plenty of design options, but the machine you choose also needs to be able to work on a project at speed. Don’t go for anything much below 700 stitches per minute as there are plenty of excellent products that are affordable and powerful.
Easy Connectivity
Although pretty much every embroidery machine comes with at least one method of connectivity, it is best to choose the one that is easiest for you. A USB port tends to be the most common but some accept SD cards whilst others can be plugged straight into your laptop or PC.
Some machines can be connected to another screen so if the LCD display isn’t big enough, you can make full use of a laptop or PC monitor for amending your designs.
Embroidery Field
This is a major factor to look out for when buying an embroidery machine. The field in which you can work will determine what sort of jobs you can use it for. A 4 x 4 capacity will be fine for smaller tasks and a lot of people will find that this is enough but a professional is going to require more.
Frames
Although this isn’t exactly the most important attribute to look for in an embroidery machine, it can help to add some flair to your designs. This will satisfy your customers and some products come with over 100 built-n frames. If yours does not have them then you can find they are easy to upload.
This depends on the machine as some are not heavy-duty enough to stitch through a rigid surface on some types of hats. Generally speaking, the brand will make it known that their product can be used on hats and will come with the right hoop for the job.
If your business embroiders a lot of hats then be very sure that the machine you are looking at is suitable.
This is a difficult question to answer as everyone’s needs are different. This means what you might need might not be enough for someone’s else business, and vice versa. What we can say is that anything under $750 is going to be better suited to a small business of hobbyists.
For around $1,000 you can find an embroidery machine that has loads of features so it can be useful for anyone taking on more work but a professional-grade machine that is capable of stitching tough surfaces and larger areas will cost anything between $5,000 – $10,000.
Such an investment might seem like a lot for some but the amount of work they are capable of and the options you get is incredible.
An embroidery machine for a small home business doesn’t need to come with 500 built-in designs and a 7 x 12-inch embroidery field. This is why we recommend the Brother SE400 Combination Computerized Sewing and Embroidery Machine.
It might only have 70 built-in designs but uploading more is simple as is the LCD display that comes with step by step tutoring. It has a 4 x 4 hoop that will be limited beyond the beginner stage but this is one of the best machines to get started on and turning a hobby into a home business.
The more you spend on an embroidery machine, the more memory you expect it to come with. However, this isn’t always the case. Don’t be caught short and have to delete your old designs to fit in new ones within a couple of months, buy a product that has ample room for more.
The reputable brands for professionals often have 3 MB of room at the least which should accommodate lots of new designs. At the end of the day, memory isn’t the most important feature. As long as you can upload new ones with ease, you’ll find you’ll always have plenty of design options.
With the low cost of stock and supplies, after the initial investment of an embroidery machine, it can be a profitable business. Anyone starting out will find that there is money to be made and the acquisition of new work might be challenging but with a quality machine, it can be very rewarding.
