Scheduling Custom Digitizing - Don't Spin the Wheel! Embroidery Project

I read an online post by an independent digitizer who offered to complete and deliver a small corporate logo within a speedy 30 minutes and scratched my head in wonder. As an independent veteran digitizer, wearing all business hats, I’d have to relinquish some of the quality I’m able to produce, or some other step of the way for a 30-minute turnaround. Even for a simple layout, I’d need that much time just to prepare artwork, calculate a sewing path, determine style parameters and punch the design, which leaves absolutely no time for a test-sew, editing for polish, invoicing and delivery. I suddenly felt a bit slighted and critical of my own skills as I pathetically whined, “I wish I could do that.”

Then later I regained confidence when I read another post from the same digitizer asking what to do about many clients who hadn’t paid for delivered orders. Why did clients suddenly stop paying? Yes, there will always be a few wolves wearing wool out there, but if a majority of invoices are going unpaid, my guess is this digitizer’s wheel of business had started spinning a bit too fast. This sets the stage for digitizing errors to occur, as well as a great loss of individual attention many clients need – in other words, poor service that no one wants to pay for.

Granted, having orders coming in on a steady basis, while meeting every deadline, including the 24-hour rush order, is certainly a difficult thing to achieve without working many hours in high gear. And since the days of charging $30 for every thousand stitches are long gone, it requires many digitizing orders to barely earn a fair income. It’s helped that sophisticated software has allowed creating designs in less time, but it’s also raised the number of competitors. Unfortunately, the pressures of this scenario have caused many digitizers to work carelessly, leaving them perplexed as to why once-satisfied clients are no longer paying or returning. It happens quickly – the wheel spins so fast it seems nearly out of control when suddenly it comes to a screeching halt. What’s the solution? Slow down!

Easy to say, but slowing the wheel is not always easy to do. Usually, the thought of shifting to a low gear is smothered by fear of losing all business. Add to that offers from various competitors’ of “First design free! $1 per thousand stitches! 1-hour turnaround!” and it sets a flustered digitizer into a panic. It must be remembered that not all digitizing services are created equal and not all clients have the same needs. It simply requires targeting and acquiring clients whose needs can be filled by the services offered.

Embroiderers who are new to the industry benefit by working closely with an independent, skilled digitizer who has the time to exchange knowledge and who can help them produce quality. But too often only the numbers are considered and these potential clients clamber to find the lowest-cost, fast service. An extremely low-cost, fast service may or may not produce quality, but it should be noted it often employs a crew of digitizers, along with an office and sales staff. A one-on-one conversation with the actual digitizer is rare and if information is misunderstood, requested revisions may be slow or come with additional charges. Some of these services are known to be very reputable, but deliver exactly what is paid for – a design that needs polish. In this situation, the seasoned embroiderer with editing skills chooses a low-cost, fast service and accepts less quality, because investing their own time and labor to complete the design is a fair exchange for what is saved.

On the other side, some independent digitizers will neglect important steps that produce quality, while trying to match low-cost, fast offers, even when it drastically cuts their own profits. Imagine a two-person digitizing service trying to accept 10 first-time “free” orders in one day with a promised deadline of 24 hours. Even if it were achieved, it would eventually become an unprofitable nightmare! And if the goal is to grab new clients by offering them a free design, accepting too many orders could lead to an overwhelming schedule; errors slip by in haste and the plan fails. In an industry where “word of mouth” is the best advertisement, poor service and/or producing poor quality designs quickly closes a digitizer’s doors.

The dynamics involved in building a client base that turns the wheel at a speed suitable to one’s own personal ability is actually not that complex. It’s really just a matter of acknowledging one’s own skill, concentrating on achieving quality in each job and designating and promising enough time to produce that quality. When a job comes along that’s obviously difficult to achieve well in the time the client needs it done, don’t be afraid to say, “No.” Of course, the refusal should be accompanied by an explanation, advice of other options and an invitation to return in the future.

In my early years, I personally had trouble finding my workable speed and recall accepting more jobs than I’d attempt even today. I also recall the sleepless nights, the headaches, and stress that followed from requests for revisions added to the schedule to fix errors I couldn’t believe I’d made! Eventually I’d realized it might be a brighter idea to turn down orders (with occasional exception) that I couldn’t fit into a 10-day period, and instead, offer my overflow clients referrals of digitizers whose work I respected and who could do the particular work requested. I admit I did so with hesitation, while ignoring the fleeting temptation to recommend someone known to produce poor quality. After all, I didn’t wish to lose clients to another digitizer! But I also realized each client’s needs were as important as my own and my word could make or break any possible future business. Indeed, many of those clients didn’t return, but many did. Fact is it eventually resulted in acquiring an ideal client base whose needs have kept my services humming at a comfortable rhythm, and most important, without the need to relinquish quality or service.

So, if it’s time to get a handle on a hectic schedule – if you know your wheel is spinning so fast that you can’t recall what designs you did yesterday or what is due tomorrow; if clients are refusing to pay or it’s necessary to schedule an entire day for revisions to fix elementary errors; if the faces of friends and family members are becoming a blur – it’s time to shift into a slower gear! Following are a few “Dos and Don’ts” to consider. Not all points will work for every digitizer, but certainly a modification or two and your wheel of business will begin to turn at a realistic speed!

1. Don’t worry about what the competition is achieving or make efforts to do the same! Do focus on the quality you produce and the needs of clients whose work is already on your schedule. Remember, it’s better to create one quality design than to turn out many shoddy jobs, because your reputation is only as good as your last delivery.
2. Don’t make promises that you’re uncertain you can keep. The embroiderer’s deadline is important; if you can’t meet the requested deadline by delivering a quality design or can’t negotiate a more workable due date, turn the job down. Do refer clients to another service you know to be reputable; if a client doesn’t return for future work, be assured it only opens up time for others in the future you won’t need to turn away. You might even find time to accept those 24-hour rush jobs without working all night!
3. Don’t over-pack your schedule or work more hours than scheduled. Do create a realistic 2-week schedule and make a daily list of priorities each morning. At the end of the day move unfinished priorities to the next day’s list. If a heavy overflow occurs, turn down new jobs or offer clients a discount if their deadline can wait until priorities are caught up.
4. Don’t over-market yourself. Do get your name out there, but once you’ve built a client base suitable for your personal needs and schedule, pull back on excess advertising to allow enough time to produce quality for the clients you already have.
5. Don’t panic if results leave you with an occasional day or even a week of no digitizing. Do be thankful for the time to catch up on other duties, and then if more than a week flies by, do a little marketing – but only enough. In this industry, I assure you the quiet periods don’t last forever and when it picks up, it usually happens all at once! And remember, every wheel needs time to rest; lest, the spokes begin to shatter! So, if necessary, schedule time off to experience the life that you are working to have!