This message was posted by Pure Embroidery on AmayaUsers.com. PLEASE DO NOT REPLY VIA EMAIL. Instead, respond to the thread on the WEBSITE by clicking here: http://www.amayausers.com/boards/ultimatebb.php?/topic/6/47/2.html#000016 Okay. Here's my story. Started off with a reposessed AMAYA and DS Pro+. Did my homework before I bought. I wanted a platform where I could add a machine if needed, although I had NO intentions of adding more machines. Started in my house (and still am), with no intention of quiting my day job. This was an endeavor to bring in more income, work from home, have some fun, and get out of the business in 5 or 6 years after recouping startup costs and making some profit. Just started my 3rd year (June) and I am up to 3 machines, still in the house. I should have all of my costs recouped by early 2008 if not sooner. I'm spending about 30 hours a week at the embroidery/digitizing and range from $500 to $3500 a month PROFIT. I have no overhead costs, so my prices are very reasonable and I DO NOT ADVERTISE. I don't even have business cards right now. Have I thought about throwing in the towel? Yep, lots of times. Have I thought about going full time? Yep, a few times. My point is, I haven't failed because I did my homework before I started the business and I left myself options for expansion even thought I didn't think I would expand. I knew what my competition was charging and I knew my only niche would be quality vs. quantity. I took advantage of "free" floorspace in my home and kept overhead costs to a minimum. I also kept my day job and was sure that I could pay the bills. The most important part of my success was the fact that I purchased my first machine for cash. No monthly payments and no pressure to get work done. I allowed myself a learning period. The additional machines I added a few months ago I paid cash for one and financed the second. I have a monthly payment on that one, but am established now with a monthly income from the business, so no worries. I think businesses fail because of poor preparation either in startup or expansion. Faith is good, but blind faith in business is known as foreclosure! =========================================================== The AmayaUsers Mailing List Website: http://www.amayausers.com Discussion Board: http://www.amayausers.com/boards Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://www.amayausers.com/list ===========================================================