When you own an embellishment business, the key to success is growing your company. The problem with growth is that you have to keep track of a steadily increasing stream of clientele AND their orders. For a company with limited staff this can be overwhelming. Does this sound familiar to you? Your customer service reps…
Embroidery is the technique of sewing a design, usually over a base fabric. It was likely first developed as a natural extension of sewing clothes, as people soon discovered that extra thread not only reinforced or patched the fabric but could be decorative as well. This led to one of the first forms of decorated apparel….
The printed T-Shirt. A global icon of pop culture. The foundation of the decorated apparel industry. The epitome of cool casualness. Have you ever wondered where this institution came from? The roots of decorated apparel go back to ancient China, where the technique of screen printing (a form of stenciling) was developed sometime during the Song Dynasty…
Small business ERP systems are available either as a client-server hosted software or a cloud-based system, and each have many benefits. (OnSite is available in both options.) Which one is better for your company? Let’s start with some of the benefits of client-server software: Client Server Advantages Software solutions for business that you host on a client-server are ideal…
You’ve probably heard it all before, but it’s worth repeating: giving customers too many choices is bad for business. We’ve all been raised to think that the more choices we have – whether it be products, services, or whatever – the better. However, all these choices tend to leave potential customers feeling confused – there’s just…
A common aspect of the decorated apparel industry are pricing wars. You know how it goes: That “other shop” across town slashed their prices, suddenly drying up your business. What do you do? The knee-jerk reaction, of course, is to drop your prices or offer the “Next Big Sale”. After all, we Americans like the idea of…
What is the one tool every shop needs to handle every step of the way between taking an order, producing it on the shop floor, shipping it and getting that order invoiced and paid? A shop operating system (also known as an ERP or Enterprise Resource Planning system). Most companies in the decorated apparel industry use a…
In the decorated apparel and product decorator industries, it’s easy to make mistakes. That’s true of any business or your personal life. In hindsight, it all seems so obvious, but the real key is to look ahead and find out how to avoid mistakes and do it right next time. Here’s a list of the…
The Advantages of Cloud ERP Software More and more small businesses are moving into cloud ERP systems (such as ShopWork’s Cloud Hosted OnSite product). The advantages are many: streamlined implementation, lower cost of ownership, and saving yourself the expensive headaches of maintaining and upgrading your own server and software. It mainly comes down to a question of the ease,…
At Google’s I/O Conference for developers, the Big G unveiled contraptions such as a touchless smart watch, a Micro SD card security computer, a modular phone, a password-replacing detection system and a new take on smart fabrics – Project Jacquard. Project Jacquard involves weaving electronics into fabric to create a touch surface much like the touchscreen on a…
