Calculating Your True Costs of Embroidery

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Please find some links and notes from the 2 Regular Guys Podcast. If we are in this industry as a business the goal is to turn a profit. Terry and Aaron have seen way too many business struggles just to break even and the main culprit is the inability to truly calculate their costs and then accurately set their prices. This week we are circling back to wrap up this series with a friend of the show, Andrea Bommarito. She will dive into some pricing strategies and provide you with some great info that can help your business turn a profit by Calculating Your True Costs of Embroidery.

Sponsored by: SGIA.org | 2017 SGIA Expo in New Orleans – Oct 10-12

Our regular listeners know this, but 2 Regular Guys are all about garment decorating, a bit of fun, and no rants or lectures or selling. We are not doing this for our employers, but rather for our industry. Since February 2013, The 2 Regular Guys have been the first and the most listened to garment decorating industry podcast on this planet! We are humbled by all of you tuning in each week. We work hard to bring you information that will make your business better, and our industry better. Take a look at our incredible weekly guest list and you’ll understand where this industry goes for news, interviews and the heartbeat of garment decorating. Thanks for listening!

News and Notes

  • Few manufacturers have matched OKI’s commitment to the textile transfer market in 2017. At NBM Long Beach, OKI will be showcasing its full portfolio of innovative LED textile transfer printers. In booth 951, you’ll have the opportunity to get hands-on with print samples from the Pro6410 NeonColor and the latest in OKI’s industry-leading line of white toner printers, the Pro8432WT. This new tabloid-sized white toner printer provides an efficient and affordable way to create full-color graphics on both light and dark-colored substrates, from ceramics to apparel. Beyond print samples and product demonstrations at NBM, OKI’s seminars in booth 951 will show how OKI and its partners are redefining traditional print processes. OKI’s “Raising the Bar for the Decorating Market” seminar describes how these products fit into your print operation and the industry at large. Neenah Paper will present its Exostencil™ Screen Prep Paper during its daily “Be a Screen Shop Superhero” seminar, while Forever Media compares OKI’s White Toner Technology with traditional Direct-to-Garment processes in its daily seminar. Don’t forget to take advantage of these exclusive NBM promotions: Fruit of the Loom has partnered with OKI to offer six dozen free shirts with the purchase of select OKI transfer printers including the C711WT, C831TS, Pro6410 NeonColor, and the new Pro8432WT. Neenah Paper and Forever Media will also be offering up to $150 in free paper. NBM Long Beach July 20-22.

Calculating Your True Costs of Embroidery

It has been too long since we have has her on the show, but we are finally welcoming back a wonderful “Regular” gal. Andrea Bommarito is joining us today and she is a self-proclaimed Embroidery Nerd. In fact, that is her Twitter handle. She works with customers in training, education as well as technical support at a leading machine supplier of ZSK Embroidery Equipment.

  • Give us the overview of embroidery costs and pricing.
  • Talk to us about the impact of embroidery production time as it impacts your costs.
  • Let’s talk about paying the bills – our overhead expenses and breaking them down.
  • Now we’re getting to the part that listeners tuned in to hear. How about the actual costs of producing a garment?
  • Let’s discuss efficiency in what we do as it impacts our costs.
  • Are there some ways to improve efficiencies to have more production time?
  • Let’s talk about what we charge and making a profit.
  • Anything you want to share to wrap up this embroidery portion of our series?

Addition questions from the chat room:

  • VeeAtCentralianShop: If starting new or starting over, what technologies or systems should business owners consider when buying machines and/or supplies
  • VeeAtCentralianShop: Is stitch per thousand still relevant for quoting prices to customers?
  • VeeAtCentralianShop: Are machines becoming more energy efficient?

Other Events

  • Complete Screen Printing Business Course – Atlas Screen in Chicago – Aug 5-6
  • Complete Screen Printing Business Course – Workhorse Products in Phoenix – Aug 26-27
  • How to Make Money with Digital Decorating – Mind’s Eye Graphics in Northeast Indiana – Oct 6-7

Digital Decorating Class

Trade Shows

  • NBM Long Beach – Jul 20 – 22
  • Embroidery Mart – Nashville Aug 4 – 5
  • NBM Secaucus – Aug 17 – 19
  • ISS Orlando – Sep 7 – 9
  • NBM Denver – Sep 8 – 9
  • ISS Ft. Worth – Sep 22 – 24
  • SGIA (Specialty Graphic Imaging Association) – Oct 10 – 12
  • NBM Charlotte – Oct 26 – 28

Terry’s Books

Screen Printing: A Practical Guide to Starting Your Own T-Shirt Business Just $4.95 as an e-book.

Direct to Garment: A Practical Guide to Starting Your Own T-Shirt Business Just $4.95 as an e-book.

Scheduling and Estimating Production Time for Garment Screen Printing Just $2.99 as an e-book


This show is brought to you for a full hour by:

Specialty Graphics Imaging Association – SGIA will continually strive to be the foremost resource for information and education within the specialty imaging industry. SGIA supports the digital and screen printing community in the USA and Canada by providing services and activities specific to their interests. While the majority of SGIA services and activities are specific to US and Canada, SGIA will continue to partner with national and regional associations around the globe to continually develop the international community. The SGIA National Affiliation Program brings together a multi-national community to enhance awareness and encourage the exchange of information. Supporting the Leaders of the Digital and Screen Printing Community

Equipment Zone, with 20 years experience selling garment printing equipment nationwide. Equipment Zone offers the new Epson F2000 SureColor direct-to-garment printer, their own VelociJet-XL DTG printer, and the all new SpeedTreater-TX automatic pretreat machine with a full 16”x24” pretreat area. Equipment Zone also carries a full line of DTG inks and supplies. Go to EquipmentZone.com

Siser North America’s new and improved website! Just recently Siser NA’s website was updated with a ton of new colors, helpful tools, and fun things to read. Head over to www.siserna.com and check out for yourself. A new great add-on to the site is the “Cutter Settings”. You will be able to get an idea of how you should have your vinyl cutter set up for each Siser material type. Then find out how each Siser product is applied, with the instructions available right there for you. Have you heard about the EasyPatterns™? There is a whole separate tab that will show all the different printed patterns Siser offers. Then while you’re at it, check out the Siser Blog. Get a great scope of all the “out of the box” ideas you can achieve with Siser HTV!


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