Category: Blogs

While we are very confident in our software solutions for business, we also acknowledge that they may not be ideal for every company.  We know this to be true because we designed it with promotional product companies, including apparel, printing and awards companies, in mind. If you are looking for new sign business software, print estimating software, or another type of software, here are some things to look for within each system and company you consider.

• First, look at the SAAS company’s record. You want to make sure you are purchasing software from a company that has a good track record, including high customer retention and customer satisfaction, and a high rate of acquiring new customers.

• You also want to make sure that the company is continually expanding their product and updating it. This means having machinery and applications that allow for enhanced functionality within their software.

• If possible, find a company with low employee turnover, since employees who have stayed with a company for an extended period of time know the products better and are more able to assist customers with problems and questions that may arise.

• The software you ultimately decide to use should have shared data in a single platform, or high levels of integration. Instead of running many different applications separately, they should all integrate seamlessly within a single platform.

• The information flow within your system should be logical and have minimal steps. All of your information and informational archives should be accessible. Your system should also be able to offer you high-level, dynamic analysis reports on information, so that you can examine a single project, machine or employee effectively.

Let’s be honest — businesses in the industry of digital printing systems, such as screen-printing t-shirts and similar endeavors, are hard work. They require more than just your basic computer software systems. They require more than a simple accounting program and other random programs that work independently of each other. Your business needs a software system that is all-inclusive — a suite of programs that operate together to help streamline every step of an order.

That is where ShopWorks can help. Our suite of software known as OnSite is the all-inclusive answer you have been searching for. Instead of trying to balance numerous programs at once, trying to keep track of orders with one program, keep track of payments with another, keep track of expenses with another, and keep customers updated with another, you can do it all from the comfort of one suite of software.

OnSite is more than just a single program. It is several programs put together. Each has a purpose, a primary “job” to perform. Yet, each program works in conjunction with the rest, so that every step is streamlined. From the marketing you need to promote your business, to the orders you take; from delivering proofs to clients, to receiving payments and paying expenses, our software suite will take care of all aspects of your business.

No, this software is not going to do all of the work for you. However, it will free up plenty of your time, so that you can concentrate on improving your business, your products, and your bottom line. Contact us today at ShopWorks to learn more and stop letting multiple programs take over your business — streamline and enjoy less stress with OnSite.

Operating a business that specializes in signs and slogans, such as a t-shirt business, is hard enough without having to worry about managing every tiny aspect on your own. Here at ShopWorks, we understood that need. That is why we worked hard to create a suite of sign business software that takes some of the worry out of your hands with OnSite software suite.

Our OnSite software suite is different from all the rest. It is different because it is capable of helping you manage and monitor every aspect of your business, from the convenience of one software suite. This means that you can check on an order at the same time that someone on your design team is tweaking a design. You can then check the new design, and the software will notify the client of the proof. Every step of the process, from ordering to shipping, is managed by the software. All you have to do is monitor the software at any point in the entire process, and you will see exactly what is happening with a particular order.

This convenience is important to a business owner like yourself. You have your hands full with marketing your business, getting new customers, and keeping your current customers satisfied — not to mention making time for your personal life and your family. With OnSite, you can have the best of both worlds. You can have an almost-entirely automated business, and you can have time for your own life. Contact us today at ShopWorks to learn more about OnSite and how beneficial it can be to your business.

Software for Digital Printing Companies

ShopWorks has developed some of the best digital printing systems available in the country, and the systems have enjoyed widespread use since first being released. The specialized applications and features provide managers and business owners with a wide range of useful solutions.

• The system allows business owners to track the production rates and efficiency of different departments, individuals or machines. Through this, managers are able to pinpoint specific problems in the production line and increase productivity.
• Managers can set inventory and pricing based on square footage, linear feet, square meters and many other variables that are commonly used.
• You can store production and design variables based on imprint locations, file location, material type and more.
• Each item included in a sales order is stored with its own unique set of units that have defaults based on your product settings.

Steps to Start an Embroidery Business in Today’s Competitive Market

Entrepreneurs everywhere are exploring business ideas likely to provide a solid, steady income in the current business environment. While there are a variety of businesses with potential, starting an embroidery business is certainly worth considering. If this is on your radar, there are several factors to consider that are unique to this industry.

Why Choose an Embroidery Business?

Anyone thinking about starting a business today must like the industry. Because any startup will require a significant investment of both time and capital, enjoying what you’re doing is vital to avoid burning out. Before deciding on starting an embroidery business, prospective entrepreneurs are strongly encouraged to carefully research the industry to determine how they operate and the commitments required.

After evaluation, if you’re still interested in pursuing this industry, it’s time to look at the other challenges you’ll face. Taking the time to create a well-thought-out, detailed plan which considers as many variables as possible will make your entire endeavor much easier than it would be with poor planning. Continue reading and learn how to start an embroidery business.

Research the Competition

Far too many prospective business owners fail to look carefully at the current environment prior to opening a business. If there are several direct competitors in a limited market area, the odds of success are significantly reduced.

Online marketing efforts can mitigate the situation to some degree, but also remember the online marketing competition is fierce, suggesting that on-the-ground sales will most likely be needed as well.

Establishing a niche market can help, but that’s generally difficult to do unless a truly unique product line or category is developed. Again, knowing your competition is incredibly important to succeeding.

Another step in starting an embroidery business is carefully identifying a target market is also vital to the long-term success of any business, and the embroidery business is no exception. If your target market is small and products are not quickly consumed and replaced, it can be difficult to maintain a consistent level of sales. That’s why considering all market venues at this point is an absolute requirement.

Develop a Business Plan

While this would appear to be common sense, the majority of new businesses don’t have a plan that addresses all possible contingencies. Business planning takes time and generally requires the assistance of accounting and legal experts.

The business plan must contain solid, accurate estimates of costs for a building to house the business, the embroidery equipment and other materials necessary to begin operations, and the costs of hiring and training employees. While a small embroidery business may not require several employees initially, planning for growth before opening the doors should definitely be included in the plan.

This is an area where the research conducted earlier can help. Look carefully at successful embroidery businesses to see what they’re doing. Also, look at lower-performing operations to see how their practices may be influencing their lack of success. Emulating the successful businesses will enhance a new business’s odds of success.

Explore Financing Options

Financing any business, especially a new one, has traditionally been somewhat difficult. That’s especially true in the years following the onset of a recession. Banks will remain somewhat reticent when it comes to financing new ventures, so looking at all available options is important to ensure adequate financing is obtained.

The term, adequate financing, is important to remember. A large percentage of new businesses fail quickly because they lack the financing needed to become established, not because the products or services they’re providing aren’t needed.

Discussing the proposed embroidery venture with a traditional lender shouldn’t be ignored, but don’t be surprised if they aren’t overly excited with your plans. Being open to different strategies is a requirement. So, what does that mean?

First, look for anyone in your life willing to invest in your dream. While borrowing from family members and friends can cause issues, it’s always an option to consider. Venture capitalists are also an option, with some focusing on helping small businesses get started. Newer options, like GoFundMe, shouldn’t be ignored either. While most people won’t find the level of financing they need from that type of source, they may find a significant percentage of the total amount required.

Another option that’s currently being used successfully around the country is grants. Anyone considering a new embroidery business should certainly consider applying for economic development grants in their regions. While the conditions of those grants will vary depending on the new business’s location, virtually everyone will find there are different types of grants available to aspiring entrepreneurs in their region.

It is likely that no one source of financing will be adequate, suggesting that it’s important to develop a mix-and-match strategy using all the available resources. Of course, it’s also important to make sure repayment terms won’t cripple the new embroidery business before it’s ever established.

Look Ahead

The embroidery business isn’t static. That means your business plan should evaluate both current and future. While online sales still trail brick-and-mortar sales, they are consistently gaining ground. That means a website is essential and an ecommerce site is highly recommended.

Technology is rapidly evolving, meaning new businesses must evaluate the trends prior to investing in expensive equipment. While the newest technology may be more expensive initially than older varieties, opting for the newer technologies may save money in the long term. While making predictions can be difficult, doing the research and looking carefully at what competitors are doing can make the process easier for new embroidery business owners.

Choosing the Right Embroidery Management Software

Even the best hardware available won’t benefit an embroidery business if the right software solutions are not installed and used.

Make sure the embroidery software you choose insures seamless communication between sales and marketing, order processing, purchasing and inventory, production management, shipping and receiving, finance and accounting. This will prevent bottlenecks and minimize quality control issues. Clients will be happier and employees will be less frustrated.

To avoid major obstacles in the beginning and throughout the growth of your embellished product business, don’t overlook the right software.

Getting Started

Opening any new business presents a significant level of risk, but that’s never stopped successful entrepreneurs in the past. Yes, many new businesses fail within the first couple of years, but when a business is carefully researched and comprehensive business plans are developed, those risks are dramatically reduced.

If you’re truly motivated to develop a new embroidery business, get started now. Get the advice needed from accountants and legal professionals and explore all the funding options available. You’re likely to find getting established is difficult and time consuming, but the benefits merit the work involved.

Don’t forget to view our Business Growth Tips.

Business Money Saving Tips

We gave you several tips to save during the holidays in our last blog, including making sure you have software solutions for business like Apparel ERP that was specifically designed for companies like yours, purchasing office supplies from cheaper stores in bulk, and only buying office machines — like screen printing equipment — when you need to. Here are a few more tips to help you save this season:

• It’s always fun to decorate for the holidays, but it is not nearly as much fun to figure out how to store and save those decorations throughout the rest of the year. If you buy new decorations each year, you end up spending several hundred dollars each year that you don’t need to do. Make sure you save your lights, Christmas ornaments, tinsel and other decorations so that you can save money next year.
• It is important to be sure your employees are comfortable while they are at the office, especially when it’s cold this time of year, but you can do this without breaking the bank. Buy coffee in bulk, instead of picking up a bag of Starbucks beans; purchase items from wholesale suppliers, instead of stores; and encourage employees to bring some comfortable items from home to decorate their spaces.
• Make sure you have signed up for accounts with the companies from which you typically order supplies, so you are eligible for free shipping. You should also contact the company and request a discount. If you are a big account and purchase large orders regularly, they are likely to give you one, to ensure your loyalty.

Best Business Software Tools

Software solutions for businesses have revolutionized the way that business is conducted in the past few decades. Whether you are purchasing screen printing software, apparel ERP or another type of business software, you are going to be using many of the same tools. Here are a few of the best business software tools that software systems such as these offer:

1. Accounting Services: One of the most useful tools that is built into every software system for businesses are accounting services, from tracking employee hours and wages, to withholding taxes, to storing all of your tax return information. Many systems come with a flowchart-based system that helps nonprofessionals in accounting handle their business finances with ease.
2. Blogging Tool: Many business software systems also offer you the tools to regularly create and post blogs on your website, which are essential for keeping your site up to date and drawing traffic on a daily basis. You can also install WordPress or Blogger to create this ability with many systems that don’t already include it.
3. Recovery and Backup: It is important that you regularly back up files to external hard drives or cloud-based storage accounts so that your entire business doesn’t get wiped out should a massive fire occur or should you get a particularly bad computer virus. Most business software systems have such tools already in place, and have an infrastructure that allows you to organize and store your records and financial information in a manner that is logical and easy to access.

Webinars are one of the most convenient ways to provide you and your staff with greater training in using your onsite software, such as sign business software or print estimating software. They are prerecorded and can be “attended” any time, with no advance notice.

Here are some of the pre-recorded webinars that are already available for you and your staff:

• Online Art and Document Proofing: This webinar helps you master art proofing through your OnSite system. Attendees learn how to set up the proofing process with customers, how to administer it throughout the process, and how to proof during processing. This is an important webinar for businesses that regularly deal with art proofs.
• Production Touch Screen Interfaces: This webinar was created for your production staff, and helps teach them how to use your OnSite system using simplified interfaces and touch screen monitors. This webinar will help your business and employees stay on the cutting edge of business solution software and technology.
• Business Software for Digital Printers: This webinar was created for digital printing companies, and demonstrates the useful OnSite 7 features for such companies. The features demonstrated are wide ranging, making this webinar perfect for employees at all levels of these businesses.
• Online Art Proofing: This webinar makes art proofing easy, and helps screen printers master proofing from start to finish. The functions included in this webinar include tracking art proofs and following up on them, and include setup, admin, and proof processing. This proofing is run by ShopWorks president Jay Malanga.

Take a look at our collection of Free Pre-Recorded Webinars.

Digital Business Printing Software

Having a successful, efficient business comes down to how well information flows through your company. To facilitate the smoothest flow of information, it is important to establish a clear chain of communication, consolidate your records and information, and ensure that all of your records are stored in one convenient place. The easiest way to do this is to get digital business printing software to help your streamline your business and make sure everything runs as smoothly as it should.

 

One of the main goals of ShopWorks is to provide the best software solutions for business in the screen-printing industry. To achieve this goal, we’ve combined software developers who have worked in the industry for years, and feedback from professionals currently working in the industry, to create a system that directly addresses the problems that regularly arise in your business.

 

OnSite 7 allows you to store more information for years to come in one, easy to find place in your system. This includes storing design and production variables like mesh count, ink colors, thumbnail images, and as many as fifteen custom parameters that you use during the job. By storing information for years to come, it’s easy to go back and recreate a successful job or learn from a not-as-successful job in the future.

 

Furthermore, OnSite 7 allows you to calculate prices based on margins like volume discounts, additional add-on prices and more, and track production through your print software based on several different factors, such as the individual working on the project, the department, the machine and more.

Onsite 7 Software for Printing Companies

If your business is in the digital printing industry, then ShopWorks has the perfect software for you. Our Onsite 7 software has features that are designed specifically for the digital printing industry. This print estimating software is exactly what your printing business needs, for many reasons, including:

• The ability to track production schedules, including tracking by machine or by department
• The ability to price and manage inventory based on different variables, such as linear feet and square feet
• Detailed cost analysis for every product ordered, including employee costs, to help you stay on top of expenses and profits
• The ability to store production information for future use and future orders — ideal for long-term customers that enjoy your services and always come back
• Overall, makes your printing company fulfill orders quicker and smarter — and we should all work smarter, not necessarily harder

The digital printing industry is a complicated industry. When customers come to you with a specific order, or a precise set of printing needs, you need reliable software to keep track of that order. You need the ability to manage that order from start to finish, to ensure that your company doesn’t lose money, but also to ensure that the customer gets exactly what he paid for. Our Onsite 7 software is perfect for digital printing companies, as well as embroidery companies and product distribution/manufacturing.

Contact us today at ShopWorks for more information about Onsite 7 and how it can be an asset to your digital printing company.