# Got myself a Pr 650!! from Brother!!!!



## valleyboy_1 (Jan 23, 2010)

Hi, I am new to this forum as well as to embroidery. After months and months of researching embroidery equipment, i've decided to start small and work my way up as the business grows. I decided on the pr 650 because the shop is ten minutes away from me, and they have a anniversary sale where you get a laptop and some kind of monogramming lettering program with the purchase of the pr 650. I will probably add on the accessories to the pr 650 later, but what adds on are a must to START with? Also, is the pe design 7 a pretty good starter digitizing software? i will probably outsource the digitizing for now, because I really wanna educate myself on the software I go with. It probably will be Aps-Ethos but that thing is $6,400. So the software will be waiting for now. Any how, these are my major questions and comments:

I currently live in a area that I believe has HUGE PROFITABLE POTENTIAL. The competition in my area is very limited. My son attends an elementary school that's in a very large school districts, There are a bunch of bowling alleys and golf courses in my area. I myself have a bachelor degree in Fine arts, and my wife has a Bachelor, and two Masters degrees. I'm in a fraternity and she's in a Sorority. We are both actively involved in our church, where we are related to the pastor and first lady. WE HAVE ALL OF THESE POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS!!! I also work for a fortune 500 company where I interact with thousands of people all day. I have people just waiting for me to get my equipment so we can do business. I am so excited i dont know where to began. Can someone with experience give me some kind of game plans I can execute to attack some of these targets? Also, i've thought about advertising on a billboard over a highway, do you think that's a bright idea starting out just to reach the local general public? Where should I began, i'm so excited I don't know where to began!!!!! Any tips will be greatly appreciated!


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## valleyboy_1 (Jan 23, 2010)

I forgot to mention that I have experience with Adobe photoshop and Illustrator from my undergrad experience in college. I've been waiting for an opportunity to work within my field of study because now I do warehouse related work. Now that opportunity arrived, I'll be purchasing the brother gt 541 for the dtg so I can utilize photoshop and illustrator. Do you guys think that starting with a pr 650 with the above mentioned potential customers will be enough? I would like my next purchase to be the gt 541, do you think that i'll need another machine first before I purchase the gt 541? Man, i'm so excited!


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## LUV DEM TIGERS (Jul 25, 2008)

Be careful with Fraternities and Sororities. A LOT of them are trademarked.


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## valleyboy_1 (Jan 23, 2010)

oh yeah I know. My frat and my wife sorority is INCORPORATED. I know about the licensing from the organization, trust me i've been down the road. I researched everything I possible can when it comes to this business.


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## IYFGraphics (Sep 28, 2009)

Congratulations on your PR650, we own one and it's a great machine, we do mostly caps on ours, all in all it's a great little machine.

As far as the GT541, I'd try to determine your market before I bought one, not that it isn't a great machine also because it is...but it doesn't do darks (no white ink) so you need to try to see what the market is. We probably sell 3-1 dark over white/light colors, most of the kids want dark colors.

That said....the 541 is a great choice, it's a very reliable printer, I've heard the ink is kinda' pricey but that wouldn't be a deal breaker if you have the sales to support the investment.

Good luck....


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## WWinstin (Apr 14, 2007)

Don't forget your local city and county fire departments. Good source of income from there uniform T shirts and hats.


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## dan-ann (Oct 25, 2007)

I think you need to slow down and learn your new embroidery machine first. there is a learning curve and the last thing you want to do is to take orders before you know what you are doing. It is great you have such a good market just go slowly and turn out a good product


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## Prinsz (Oct 6, 2008)

Good luck Valleyboy with your new machine.
All the best to you and you business man!


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## valleyboy_1 (Jan 23, 2010)

I know there's a learning curve, that's another I researched on these forums. I really don't plan on taking on any orders until I learn the equipment and probably have all the additional accessories so I can embroider easily. I wanted ideas on how I can attack a inparticular market mentioned above. What would some of you guys consider first? holla back


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## tfalk (Apr 3, 2008)

I have 2 PR600's, complete workhorses... you will really like the machine once you get used to it.

I purchased a couple of tutorials for PE-Design from madmumbler.net - Leslie is on of the mods for the PR600 yahoo group. I learned most of what I know about digitizing from the tutorials and watching how other designs stitch.


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## bungy (Aug 24, 2006)

Firstly, congrats on your purchase.
Yes, the learning curve is steep. Many newbies will learn their machine first then learn the software. Others, like myself, try and do both at the same time, makes for some interesting days. 

What I would do first, is stitch out as many samples as you can on different types of material so you can see how a design is affected by the material it is stitched on. It will also allow you to become familiar with the controls of your machine. The material can be just scraps, don't waste good garments at this time (obviously). You will have a few failures as you progress, but they will become less and less as you learn the process and become more confident.

Also, I would stitch the same design on different types of material. That way you will see how different fabrics affect the design. In time, this will make you a better digitiser, you will know that certain fabrics will require different settings in your software and you will instinctively adjust based on the fabric being stitched.

Once you are comfortable with how your machine works. Then do different designs on different fabrics, this is the start of your sample collection, this is the best of your work to show prospective customers what you and your equipment can do.

Allow upto 12 months to become proficient (yes, that long). You can be productive after a couple of weeks, but at the end of 12 months, you will be doing everything quicker and with fewer mistakes. You will also be able to diagnose what went wrong when it does, how to fix (tweak) a design.

After 12 years doing this, I am at the point where I can tell by the sound my machines make what is happening or about to happen. A needle break, thread break etc.

As far as digitising designs go, I would outsource all designs to start with, just do the simple stuff in-house. But this leads to another problem area, finding a good digitiser (topic for another thread)
In the meantime, practice on your software until you are comfortable using it. Also, do any training courses available, there are many courses around that are not software specific and deal with the steps involved in getting supplied art to the ready to be stitched stage. 

With the designs you have outsourced, watch how they stitch out, this will give you an idea how the design was pathed (travel from one part to another efficiently), also look at stitch type, length, density and direction.

In my experience, people with experience operating embroidery machines tend to learn digitising quicker than graphic artists. The operators have the advantage of watching designs stitch out all day, everyday. They know their machine and what it can and can't do. While having some artistic experience is helpful, it is not essential to being a good digitiser.

Sorry to be long winded.

Good luck with your business.


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## Louie2010 (Feb 26, 2010)

valleyboy_1 said:


> Hi, I am new to this forum as well as to embroidery. After months and months of researching embroidery equipment, i've decided to start small and work my way up as the business grows. I decided on the pr 650 because the shop is ten minutes away from me, and they have a anniversary sale where you get a laptop and some kind of monogramming lettering program with the purchase of the pr 650. I will probably add on the accessories to the pr 650 later, but what adds on are a must to START with? Also, is the pe design 7 a pretty good starter digitizing software? i will probably outsource the digitizing for now, because I really wanna educate myself on the software I go with. It probably will be Aps-Ethos but that thing is $6,400. So the software will be waiting for now. Any how, these are my major questions and comments:
> 
> I currently live in a area that I believe has HUGE PROFITABLE POTENTIAL. The competition in my area is very limited. My son attends an elementary school that's in a very large school districts, There are a bunch of bowling alleys and golf courses in my area. I myself have a bachelor degree in Fine arts, and my wife has a Bachelor, and two Masters degrees. I'm in a fraternity and she's in a Sorority. We are both actively involved in our church, where we are related to the pastor and first lady. WE HAVE ALL OF THESE POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS!!! I also work for a fortune 500 company where I interact with thousands of people all day. I have people just waiting for me to get my equipment so we can do business. I am so excited i dont know where to began. Can someone with experience give me some kind of game plans I can execute to attack some of these targets? Also, i've thought about advertising on a billboard over a highway, do you think that's a bright idea starting out just to reach the local general public? Where should I began, i'm so excited I don't know where to began!!!!! Any tips will be greatly appreciated!


Hi, I just bought a PR-650 about a week and a half ago myself. For what this advice is worth as a total newbie, I went ahead and got the PE-Design 8 software with it and I couldn't imagine starting out without the software. It just seems so much better to use and set things up then using just the 650's screen. I have been practicing a lot with it and while I don't intend to digitize any one's logo any time soon it still seems important in assisting in the process. One example is resizing and changing stitch count when doing so. It also allows you to edit designs if you want to eliminate a certain part or add to it.

You asked some good questions about what first steps are recommended in going after certain types of businesses. I am looking forward to the responses myself. What is the best strategy for attempting to sell a bowling alley or golf course? Anyone have success with this?


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## Tumble_weed (Apr 3, 2010)

I have a cap driver for the PR 650 for sale if you are interested. Its only the part that attaches to the machine. I dont have the parts that you hoop the cap with.


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## valleyboy_1 (Jan 23, 2010)

email me the info. [email protected]


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