All businesses / Embroidery and workwear

Fingerprint: capital · hours · speed to income · margin · ceiling. The dashed line is mid-scale.

Start a embroidery and workwear: the real numbers

Branded clothing for trades and clubs. Below is what it actually costs, how long before money arrives, and the part most guides leave out.

Startup capital

€8,000–€30,000

Hours / week

20–45

First income

~8 wks

Net margin

50%

Saturation

medium

Realistic ceiling

€900–€3,200+

This ceiling is not a wall

The figure above is what this earns in the shape described — you, running it. Past that it keeps going, but by hiring people or adding units, not by you working more hours. That is a different job from the one you would be starting, and worth knowing before you start it.

What nobody usually tells you

Boring and dependable: a plumbing firm that ordered 20 polos will order 20 more next year. The machine is the barrier, and unlike print-on-demand you hold stock and eat the mistakes.

The route, in five steps

  1. One good multi-head machine beats three cheap ones
  2. Sell to trades and sports clubs, not to individuals
  3. Hold blanks in the six colours that sell
  4. Charge setup separately from per-unit
  5. Repeat orders are the business; chase the reorder

What you'll need to buy

These are the categories every embroidery and workwear pays for in the first month. We break down what each one actually costs at this size on the tools page.

embroidery machineheat pressblank stockdesign software

Does it hold up for you?

These numbers are the average case. Whether this business clears your target depends on your capital, your hours and how long you can wait — put them in and see.

Run my numbers → See the tool stack