40 Quiltmaker • January/February ’20
If youareconsideringturningyourquiltinghobbyintoa business,youarenot
alone.Wedecidedtoasksomeprofessionalquiltersfortheirbestadviceon
howtheymadetheirbusinesssuccessfulandwhatthey’velearned.Is A QuiltingBusinessRightForMe?
ElaineTheriault- It’sone
thingtosewforfun,quite
anothertoconstantlysew
withdeadlines.Youno
longerhavetimetosew
foryourself.Is it worthit?
I seepeoplesellingitems
forlessthanthecostofthe
materials,nevermindthetime it tooktomaketheitem.Thisgreatlyhurts
those of uswhorelyonthisincomeasour
main sourceofrevenue.So,if you’regoinginto
this business,myadviceis beseriousaboutit.
AbigailDolinger– Think
aboutwhypeoplemake
quiltsthesedaysorwhy
quiltersvisita quiltshop
beforeyoustartyourbusi-
ness.Mostoftenquilters
gotoa storetopurchase
fabric,butsometimesit'sto fi nd a listeningear.Somefolksseekto
unburden theirheartsin a warmandcaring
environment.Kudostothequiltshopowners
who take timetolisten,whopersonallyhelp
with fabricselection,andwhocheerfullygive
practical adviceonquiltconstruction.
The BusinessBusiness
of Quilting
Things you wish you knew before you
started your business
Geraldine Wilkins - I wish
I knew more about the
business side of running a
business. Learning about
contracts, bookkeeping,
business licensing, and
taxes as you go is not for
the faint of heart.Rachel Rossi - I wish I
knew that I could actu-
ally do this! I knew that
most business take about
5 years to get really mov-
ing and felt so discouraged
those fi rst few years. Now
we are off the ground and
I'm having a blast doing what I love for a living.Charisma Horton - I wish
I knew that I work more
hours working for myself
than I would if I worked
a 9-5 job. I somehow
thought that if I worked
for myself, life would get
easier and I would have
more time. That is not true. If you work for
yourself, you work WAY more hours. I do have
more fl ex time; however, the benefi ts package
isn’t that great.