Custom Quilt Artist Business Plan

The company has only one full-time worker – the owner. Sew Distinct will also contract with two independent quilters to do quilting work on the hand-quilted pieces. The portion of the quilt price paid out to the hand-quilters is listed in the Profit and Loss table, under Direct Cost of Sales.

The owner has several years of experience at marketing, designing, and producing custom quilts for others. She has been working part-time at this business for the last three years; over the last year, demand has increased to the point where she can no longer do quilts simply as a hobby without saying “no” to 3/4 of the commission requests. She will use her contacts and word-of-mouth advertising to turn this into a full-time business.

One of the best contacts she currently has is with two local hand-quilters, through the local quilting association. Both have done contracted work for her before and are very interested in taking on a more demanding schedule of commissions. The commissions listed in the Sales Forecast ($150 for a crib quilt, $350 for a queen, $400 for a king) have been worked out already with the contracted quilters. One of these women is retired, and one is a housewife whose children have just left for college. Both make use of advanced hand-quilting techniques and are very skilled; they have experience with a range of styles, fabrics, and thread types.

My pay will cover living expenses and the cost of adding me to my husband’s health insurance policy. Since any illness on my part means an immediate drop in income from the business, it is important for me to aggressively maintain my health.