Should I Buy EmbroidMe?

See the part I high lighted? Well thats BS and only something someone from with in Embroidme would actually say, you know a pushy salesman tactic! Your talking about 9 years of business and it took seven to get to 700k gross, that is not much really if you think about it. Not to mention a slice of that 700K went to the franchise oh yea. Sad thing is you are talking to people that are in this business and know it top to bottom, you cant BS us with that crap.

I have no problem with someone needing their hand held by a big daddy if thats the way they want to do business, but to claim its the only way it can be done is ignorant, especially when your claiming a whopping 700K yearly gross after nine years.

When I get those spams I reply and ask if they need my digitizing service instead. Funny I don't hear back from too many after that,

A simple solution, jareme, if you're indeed in business and own this franchise, I'm sure you'd love some free publicity. Give us the location of your store(s), your web page url, and we'll just check it out. Put up or shut up so to speak.

And for any other current embroider me franchise owners, same thing. Let's see what you got.

Otherwise, hush!

We don't expect you to open your books and taxes for us, no one would do that. But if you're truly in business, today, show it off to us. There's no reason not to.

I've dealt with franchises before, owned 1, looked into others. Most franchise oriented business's, eventually close or sell out, depending on the market area and geographic location, (rural or city), and the owners simply copy the business model, and open up their own independent business, and make the money for themselves. Such as oil change franchiese, cleaning companies, and many others you see on TV and the internet.

A good example is the show "Undercover Boss", where many of the shows are about the corporate owners checking to see if their franchisee's are operating within their contract, and how they perceive the franchise. Most are not within contract, it appears, due to unreasonable requirements of the franchise contra

ouch... well for all that money you think in today's world their websites would be current... I just looked up one of the local ones here in San Antonio....under the CURRENT SPECIALS tab: "Offer ends Oct, 2011"

What I wonder is if you earn buying power with the vendors by being an embroidme franchise r does embroidme only do the purchasing? I would hate to spend thousand upon thousands a dollars for years and not have any buying power what so ever if I decided to go out on my own, or as in the case of the above poster he would waste tons of cash and open a second embroidme. Some people never cease to amaze me.

I remember no less than 3 embroidme shops in my small state open and then closing, not a good track record at all. One I know the owner well and he explained the pipe dream (smoke blown up his arse) deal with being a franchise of embroidme. It was not pretty and left him in some serious debt. Currently he is running several Dunkin Donuts in an extremely competitive market and making hand over fist. Wonder what the difference is?

Look in a nut shell you are either an able entrepreneur and no no help to set up your own business model or your not really capable and need a big daddy to help you out.

Something nobody else seems to emphasize about embroidme is the machines they hook you up with. They are made with inferior chinese steel components, and really take a good tech to keep running properly. DON'T BOTHER. Plan your business and buy any of these three machine makes, ZSK (Used to be the best in the world, but the Tajima TXFM Bridge machines are just as good), Tajima (Spend the bucks for a Bridge machine) and Barudan. Barudan hasn't had the same level of service since MacPherson went bye bye, but the machines are nice and durable.

IMO, avoid SWC, Ricoma and Babyloc. Happy's are OK if Bridge type. Buy Japanese or German.

Not so sure about Barudans service suffering, we still enjoy amazing service from them on our 12 head.

But a great point on machine quality they provide, I think from memory they give you a low end Brother model but I could be wrong.

Probably depends on area of the world you are in... we had a large ZSK once at a hat company I worked for, but service in this part of Texas for that type of machine really did not exist... So while it was a great machine it was not a right fit for the company. Around here Tajima, SWF, and Happy seem to have local techs available.... so for this area those would make more sense. (instead of paying travel, lodging, board, etc... before even getting to the parts and time charges!)

The EmbroidMe locations here have Brother machines

I mentioned the brother in post #15.

Also, I was told that US domestic tajima is mostly chinese parts. This came from someone who worked for hirsh. Don't know about all of their machines though. I'm in agreement with the ZSK. I run mostly barudan machines but bought a single head ZSK. Once I figured it out I've found I like it better other than the time to change cap drivers and the split thread tubes. Eventually I'll sell my barudan's and end up with stretch ZSK's.

I know of both a sucessful Embroidme store and I know a few that went under its management and knowing how to run the shop, when you buy a franchise like Embroidme they provide all the hardware, training and basic and support to get started however you still need to get clients and keep than happy.

Yup - He has very forcefully shown me a digitizer that I will NOT even think about using, if I ever need a digitizer!

No no no!!! they charge too much up front, nag you to get out and pound the pavement to market your shop, and the training is not even close to what you need to know to be really good at embroidering. They even convince people to use 401k funds for tax benefits ad you are stuck paying them more than you'll gross each month with the overhead and franchise expenses.
If you want to learn the business, look for a private seller who already has established customers and hire an experienced embroidery machine operator. Then, you'll have lots of time for marketing your business and learning what it takes to be successful. You'll also have money to pay rent, expenses and for marketing, maybe even a few dollars for yourself.
Looking back, the BEST thing I ever did was NOT buy a franchise from them.

i worked for an embroidme. the owner was great, the customers were nice. the equiptment worked well. all that said, it didnt stay open for more than a year. between franchise fee's rent utilities materials.. like someone else said onsey twosy orders just dont cut it. its a good start for someone starting there own personal business but not a franchise.

It sure looks bad when someone posts as "EmbroidMe" posts to prop his own franchise. BOOOOO.

I've been told that Tajima hooks and needle bars are all Chinese, but not the beam steel that's 1/2" thick. From what I've been told, Tajima spent a ton of money on automated gear cutting, so that's still done in house. I wouldn't be suprised if they used round 1/2" shaft stock from China. Most of that product actually comes from a plant that used to be Allenwoood Steel in SE PA. Chinese moved the whole plant in early 1981. The equipment supposedly can roll out 2" down to 24 gauge wire stock. My neighbor's pop worked there for 35 years until they closed.

The Denver EmbroidMe referenced above is now out of business. http://www.bbb.org/denver/business-reviews/embroidery/embroidme-denver-south-in-littleton-co-90114004

For what it's worth, EmbroidMe does an excellent job!

I have to ask, but, are you, this poster, an Embroidery Me franchisee or member of the company, or any any way connected with the Embroider Me company. Your name implies it even though it's not exact. If not, I apologize.

NO WAY NO HOW!!! Stay away from this franchise. Do as Robery Young says, he's been in the business and knows it.

You can do fairly well on your own, and even if you make a few mistakes along the way, you won't have a long term lease staring at you or a franchise contract to fight.

6% of gross paid to corp for commission, plus 1% of gross to corp for marketing... not to mention the over 200k suggested to open the place to begin with.. yikes...... I am sorry but there is nothing they could do for me to warrant me paying $70,000+ per year.

I wonder if their "gross" includes the cost of goods sold?

Well I think the original question has been answered quite vocally. . the ONLY posts that say YES.... 3 of them are from people that THIS IS THE ONLY THREAD THEY HAVE EVER POSTED IN.... and the 4th is from a person that has 6 posts and this is the ONLY one concerning embroidery. hmmm.... makes me wonder.

There are many advantages to franchising rather than starting a new business by yourself. Franchises have a proven business model, support, training and marketing support that can assist in building the business.

Check out this Denver EmbroidMe Owner talking about his experience as an EmbroidMe Franchise Owner on CNN

This is an unfortunate effect of our current economy. The recession is at the root of most of these high small business failure rates, according to Byron Vielehr, president of global risk and analytics at Dun & Bradstreet. Over the past 5 years the small business failure rates in the U.S. have risen by 40%. Some states have seen failure rates as high as 67%. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, however, franchises have approximately the same failure rate as small, independent businesses.

I stopped reading right there.

Embroidme are unsuccessful here too, for the same money you could buy a commercial embroidery operation with big machinery and twenty years customer base and staff fluent in all aspects.....

Embroidme as a company is succesful that does not mean the franchise buyers are succesful it's the failures and some success that makes Embroidme succesful. Unfortunately there is a sucker born every minute.

Digitizers like megrisoft have the real pulse on the succesfulness of these franchises they are one of the first vendors to get burned when the cash flow does not exist toay the vendors.

Of course the franchise is succesful they get a big chunk of change upfront.

Here is my take on Embroidme....They normally get middle aged men who get laid off for few years and are drawn into it as a turnkey business that will make them money...

it is not up to Embroidme to make sure they succeed...we do business with a few of them and from what I hear is horrible...there is no support, no advertising ect. they usually put them next to a sign-a-rama...heck the local one here has changed hands at least 4 times in the last 6 yrs....do you really think that is successful? I don't...and for the franchise fees and buy in I could build one bad *** shop.....

but then this is just my .2 cents...

Sam

ps. I would stay away....

uh, then WHY buy a franchise then?? you can enjoy NO BRAND RECOGNITION and FAIL all on your own and NOT have the additional fees?

beat me up everyone.. but i am going to shout a NO from the rooftop. I am sorry, but if you spend the time to do a proper business plan then you do NOT need to buy a franchise in an industry that only really has ONE franchise as an option?? They are obviously (as ALL of us are, so not knocking the idea) in it TO MAKE MONEY... well they will be making money off of YOU.
Franchises are to either make YOU money right off the bat because they have BRAND recognition.. OR they are for the people that haven't a clue what they are doing... hence spending the time to do a proper business plan which will force to you answer some hard questions before you spend any more than the nominal amount Best Buy will charge you for the business plan pro software. Sorry, but the franchise you mention does NOT have brand recognition to our customers... it is true, nomatter what you are told.

as an example , if you bought a Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise... well everyone knows what that is.. so those inclined to buy that food will just show up.....but Embroidme is really no different than you opening your own LS Embroidery Shoppe to the consumer. so what is the benefit??

Isn't that concept something you can do by simply calling Tajima, Barudan, or any other machine dealer?

Some people have to be led, others don't. Those that have to be led probably shouldn't be in the embroidery business or any other business as well.

I have 6 heads and do very well even though some in this forum seem to think there is no way an Embroidme franchise can prosper. Well, it can. One additional thing that the franchise does is that even though we pay a 6% royalty, that royalty is capped at $45,000 per month, so once you go above that monthly amount that is no royalty or Ad fee. How many franchises have that? I would say "0". We have plenty of support and education and I only see my business continue to grow. It did not take me 7 years to get to 700K as suggested above (only 3)and not paying anywhere near 51k in royalties( see above comment).You need to take the time to see both sides of the story and do your homework.

I have to respond to this post because I have owned an EmbroidMe for the last 9 years and have been very successful with this franchise. I am grossing over $700,000 each year the last 2 years plus there are several stores that gross over 1 million! I don't agree that you could do very well on your own as the support from the franchise plus the buying power we can get helps you grow at at much faster rate than if you did it on your own. I did not know a thing about embroidery and have been able to grow my business with the support of the franchise as well as other franchisee's. If I had to do it over again, I would in a heartbeat!

Hi, not arguing whether you can prosper or not, just that your base line is obviously much higher because you have royalties to pay on top of all the normal bills your competitors have... so just have a hard time thinking that the 45k(assuming you meant per YEAR? not month as you wrote) is worth it. And the site does not mention a cap.. just that 6% for royalty, 1% for advertising and then the web hosting and site fees.

OR do you mean you only pay fees on your gross up to 45k per month? again that sounds MUCH better but it is not in their advertisments on the site.. so if I were looking at the buying of a franchise that is a HUGH difference.... most people probably see that and think what we thought... make sense?

Sorry, I got the 7 years to get to 700k from your quote: " I am grossing over $700,000 each year the last 2 years" not the last 6 as it now seems to be? maybe we are wrong in our opinions, but we can only go off what we read on the site and what you tell us, and so far both seem to be clear as mud. sorry. please clarify. thanks.

I entered into negotiations to purchase a Schlotsky's franchise. After telling them I would not disclose the location until we had come to an agreement, the deal fell apart. They wanted to tell me where to put it and how to build it. I told them if they wanted to control all the aspects then they didn't need me (or basically they needed my money).

You don't need the headache of the franchise. I'd walk simply because of the franchise fees charged by the lessee and the state. You can do the same thing yourself without getting stuck with a lower grade machine they "include" in your deal. I've seen embroidme's getting liquidated and the machines are brother. Far as I know they aren't even making large machines anymore so the parts are going to become impossible to get.

Dumb and Scamstreet called me once in my previous business and wanted to know all about the details of our business. I ask them if I could access their database for free for research. Of course the caller said D&B was a paid service. I then ask why they should expect for me to give them my details for free.

yes, do you digitize for any EmbroidMe franchises and have a thought based on that whether someone should buy into the franchise or not? I am sure that is what you meant to add to this discussion, please elaborate. thanks!

Hmmmm just the other day citydigitizing spammed the forum, someone deleted it all (thanks mods) then this guy shows up hmmmm new alias? I have been getting bombarded lately with both email spam and cold calls from digitizers, funny thing when they call their english is so poor you cannot even understand them yet they want your business?

That comment right there just disqualified your statement from having any credibility. You just tried to tell everyone that an embroidery business cannot work with out some Big Brother corporation to help you out. Terrible and ridiculous statement, especially considering the majority of Emroidme franchises do not succeed and yet many many privately owned embroidery shops do.

How many heads are you running to get $2243 a day based upon a 6 day week?

I have only heard failure stories about the franchise and no success stories.

The one person i know personally that bought into it lost all his life savings and racked up a huge debt.

I remember his biggest complaint was the franchise fee that came up monthly if he did not earn enough he was screwed.

Also he told me they sold him on a pipe dream, promising huge amounts of clients from his area based on referrals well that was non existent.

He also told me his biggest issue was onsey twosy crap he could not make money off of and required a lot of effort.

They did say Gross sales... and it took 7 years to get to that level of 700k where they have been for 2 now. I would just have a hard time justifying paying home office $51,000 per year at this point after running the shop for 9 years!! They already have all the other expenses any other shop would have... rent, utilities, payroll, shipping, supplies, etc... but on top of all that they have to give an additional 51k away.... so you have to sell 100k before you are even with any competitor as far as overhead?

well at least that sandwich shop has brand recognition.. I mean they serve a pretty unique product and if you like that, then you are going to go there... no guessing. but Embroidme does not have such recognition yes.. as i stated earlier... it has the same cache to the general public as L & B Embroidery Shoppe.... maybe less in fact

Robert,

Try 150K at 33%. Adding everything else, maybe 20-22%. At a 25% accounting for no problems their overhead is going to ding them for 200K debt service to the franchise. Unsustainable the way I see it. The whack is the inventory tax (super whack at the 700K) and the property tax if they own the building. Rent alone at a paltry 1K a month is going to set them back 36K at the 33% minimal expense. Like working for free, get into embroidery.

I kind of agree with Robert. I went to http://www.findafranchise.com to see EmbroidMe's franchise info. A $42,500 franchise fee is high for a business you can start on your own. I'd put that money toward equipment and advertising vs. paying out to a franchisor.

I sell embroidery machines.I have met franchise owners that succeded and ones that fail.
My impression is that these franchise opportunities are designed for the type of business owner that knows nothing about the market and think they are buying that knowledge to insure their success .In fact the information is provided at considerable expence,increasing in some cases the startup cost by as much as 100s of %.
With this additional burden of cost ,the franchise has given the owner more of a handicap than an advantage .The franchises that were successful were owned by people that had the determination to make it work and would have also made it with out the franchise.
The fact of the matter is that the knowlege you need to succeed in this type of business,
is readily available from many places with little or no cost and if you carefully purchase your equipment,the vendors will provide the support you will need to make them work.
The rest comes from you