Starting a buissness. I KNOW NOTHING !!! HELP

Seems your a busy guy. I must tell you that embroidery business is it self a full time job.
Running a machine needs a good level of expertise. Its not like a printer that will do the printing for you on a peice of paper.

Id suggest you check Ebay for some machines... they sell for cheap there.

How discouraging!!
My sister (London) makes a reasonable living selling caps, T-shirts and polo shirts. She gets £9 to £12 per item ( whatever that is in dollars). She uses a supplier for cheap bulk clothing (£2-4/item) and sells at local markets and through newspaper advertising. On average she sells 40 to 60 items a week, more at Christmas and other main events. Her range is town/village/county logos. If she does a London market she includes the area name as well. The hire of a stand is between £8 to £20.
You need to decide how much effort you want to put into the business and, of course, your circumstances. (lots of kids - forget it!)
Hope it helps
Peter

First things first. You will get out of it what you put into it. If you buy a cheap machine and let somebody run it for you at minimum wage, then don't be suprised at what product gets turned out. You (or someone) will have to tend to the machine. Even the simplest designs will cause the occasional thread break, and the machine will need periodic maintenance. You can have your logos digitzed at a number of places for what ever machine you get.

I stay pretty busy running my machine. It keeps me hopping. I really don't have much opportunity to do much else. Now with the addition of 2 more I expect to be on the edge of insanity ( I hear it's a nice place though). IMHO, if your not wanting to be hands on, don't bother.

I didnt mean to be discouraging up there. Appologies if my post sounded like that. All i meant was to compare the difference between the work of a graphic designer and a embroiderer. He will certainly have to put more time and effort to get things rolling.

Wish you good luck what ever you do !!