Finding a unique niche and/or developing a brand reflecting this niche enables you to become better known in your field.  Kyra E.  Hicks, author and quilt researcher, has become an experi in the area of “Black Threads” (the name of her blog) and is a font of information about African American quilters.
Her most recent book, This I Accomplish about Harriet Powers and her quilts, also reflects Kyra’s expertise as a researcher.  She sought information about Harriet Powers’ Bible Quilt and other pieces, discovering little known and totally unknown details about this quilter’s life and her work.
Harriet Powers was a former Georgia slave , who lived from …read more

I did dressmaking and alteration work at home in different parts of the country for more than 15 years and then went on to include quiltmaking and patchwork items to my home sewing business.  At one time I made appliqued vests for children and sold them in shops in other states.
At first, my dressmaking endeavors were mainly a hobby and to make my daughter’s and my clothes.  However, it became more serious enterprises when additional income was needed for the family budget.
 With a pre-schooler at home, I wanted to be with her much of the time and also desired to avoid …read more

In establishing a direction for your sewing business, or any home business, look at the maket trends. 

*What is catching on in the market? 
 *What’s likely to be the new trend? 
*Does the current product you’re contemplating have limited or long life?

One of the current trends appears to be patchwork and fabric tote bags.  When I had a quiltmaking business, I found that tote bags, interspersed among my other patchwork products, were popular.  Some people have made an entire business with tote bags, especially if they can tie it in with the “green” movement.  Tying totes into environmental concerns seems to be a current trend …read more

For many years, I did dressmaking and alterations at home.  Then this evolved into a quiltmaking business as interest in quilts was renewed.  These were tasks I could do at home when our daughter was small.
I’ll be running a series on Developing a Sewing Business at Home and begin the first post on this topic tomorrow.  I’ll relate some of my experiences which you might be able to use as a springboard for a business of your own.
You can do this parttime or eventually develop it into something pretty much full time.  I always worked at the sewing business in …read more

HomeBizNotes.com 
Are there any home business owners who are quilters or involved in a quilting related business?
I’m sponsoring a drawing over at my Quilting and Patchwork blog for a quilting booklet, Bonnie Leman’s How to Make a Quilt – 25 Easy Lessons for Beginners.
Click on the title above for guidelines for the drawing.
Also, if you are a quilter, you might like to let us know in the comments below.
Share with us your projects or about your quilting business. Quilting and fabric art can be very relaxing in times of stress. Sharing or networking with others also encourages us in our …read more

HomeBizNotes.com
 When I was growing up on a dairy farm, the sons and daughters learned about their parents’ work from an early age.  We became involved as soon as we could do some chores and were expected to help with the family enterprise.
When my mom began operating a small country grocery store when I was in my teens, she expected my sister and me to help her.  Families worked together, pulled together, shared joys and challenges.
If a parent works outside the home, it’s more difficult for youngsters to know what Mom and Dad do.  Thus a national day for bringing your children …read more

You’re fed up with your regular job…or you need to earn some extra money, so you’re considering a home business.  What should you do?  Where should you start>
Do you have a hobby or special talent you can develop into a business?  When our daughter was small, I wanted to be a stay-at-home mom, but we needed some extra income beyond what my husband was making.
My writing career was in the beginning stages in the days before computers and Internet.  But I could sew!  I’d been making my clothes, my mom’s and sister’s since I was a pre-teen and in 4-H.  So …read more

I’ve been tagged by Kelly, at Taxgirl, in this 7 Random Facts meme.  What are 7 random facts my readers would like to know about me, possibly in relation to my Home Biz Notes blog and my background for writing it? 
Here goes…………………
1.  I’ve been involved in some type of home business most of my life, even while working as a reporter for our local newspaper where I wrote a column on traditional and home businesses.  Home Biz Notes evolved out of my experiences over the years. 
2.  I grew up on a dairy farm in the Hudson River Valley of New York …read more

When I worked at a sewing and quiltmaking business at home,  one of my customers hired me to make patchwork pillows, wrap-around skirts and placemats.  She was in the process of developing a market for these and other items and wanted me to make her samples.  Then I began to fill her orders.  When Suzanne had more orders than I could keep up with, she asked if I knew of anyone else who could sew for her.
Suzanne had the design and marketing expertise but didn’t want to be tied down with the sewing.  So she hired others to make her …read more

Find ways to include your home business in days/weeks/months of local and national recignition…and then let others know about it.  This is a way to become involved in a movement  that may be simply a local or regional one.  Or it might be a national time of recognition.  Tie in with it for unique promotions, or simply fun events, that will make your business name more recognizable. 
Let your customers know, by signs in your store and flyers you hand out to them.  Also, if you have a mailing list (nowadays, it’s often an e-mail, not a postal, list) let your customers …read more