Custom Quilt Commissions: Profitable Side Business or Time-Wasting Distraction?

As a quilt shop owner, you know the idea of taking on custom quilt commissions can be exciting. On one hand, it’s a chance to showcase your skills, build customer loyalty, and potentially boost your bottom line. On the other hand, it can quickly become a time sink, diverting precious resources from your core business and leaving you feeling overwhelmed. 

So, how do you know when a custom project is a golden opportunity and when it’s best to politely decline? It all comes down to a clear decision framework.

The Pros and Cons of Custom Quilt Commissions

Taking on custom quilt commissions can be a double-edged sword for quilt shop owners. While the potential for increased revenue and creative expression is appealing, there are significant drawbacks to consider.

Pros

Before diving into the specifics, let’s explore the general advantages of taking on custom quilt commissions.

• Increased revenue and profit margins: Custom quilts can command higher prices than ready-made items, potentially leading to better profit margins — your pricing should accurately reflect your time, skill, and materials.
• Showcasing skills and creativity: Commissions offer an opportunity to highlight your unique artistic vision and technical expertise, which can enhance your reputation and attract new customers to your shop.
• Building customer loyalty: A successful custom project can create a deeply satisfied client who becomes a loyal customer, returning for future commissions, supplies, and classes, and even referring new business.
• Filling downtime: During slower sales periods, custom work can provide a steady stream of income and keep your staff (or yourself) productive.
• Marketing and portfolio building: Each completed commission serves as a tangible example of your work, which can be photographed and used in marketing materials, online portfolios, and in-store displays to attract more custom work and regular retail customers.

Cons

On the other hand, the disadvantages can significantly impact your business if not managed effectively.

• Significant time investment: Custom projects are inherently time-consuming, requiring extensive communication, design iterations, material sourcing, and detailed execution. This can quickly eat into hours that could be spent on other profitable activities like managing inventory, teaching classes, or assisting walk-in customers if you don’t plan well.
• Underestimating true costs: Many shop owners fail to accurately account for all direct and indirect costs, including their hourly rate, shop overhead, and the opportunity cost of lost retail sales, leading to projects that are less profitable than anticipated.
• Customer expectation management: Discrepancies between a customer’s vision and the final product, or unrealistic demands regarding timelines and budget, can lead to frustration, dissatisfaction, and negative word of mouth.
• Impact on core business: Over-committing to custom work can detract from the day-to-day operations of your retail shop, potentially alienating regular customers who find staff unavailable or store resources stretched thin.
• Scope creep and revisions: Without clear contracts and communication, projects can easily expand beyond the initial scope, leading to uncompensated extra work and extended timelines.
• Stress and burnout: Juggling multiple complex custom projects alongside regular shop duties can lead to increased stress, burnout, and a decline in the enjoyment of your craft.

Ultimately, the decision to offer custom quilt commissions should be based on a thorough understanding of your business capacity, a robust pricing strategy, and clear processes for managing customer expectations. 

When managed strategically, commissions can be a valuable addition to your business; otherwise, they can quickly become a significant drain on your time and resources.

Related Read: Quilting Retail Strategy: Turning Fabric Sales and Classes Into Sustainable Profits

The Real Cost Beyond Fabric and Thread

Many shop owners underestimate the true cost of a custom quilt. It’s not just the fabric and batting; it’s your time, your skill, and the overhead of your shop.

• True hourly rate: Before you even consider a project, sit down and calculate your actual hourly rate. This isn’t just what you want to earn; it’s what you need to earn to cover all your business expenses. 

Factor in the cost of materials (at retail price, not wholesale, as this is inventory you could sell), utilities, rent, employee wages (even if it’s just your own), and the often-forgotten opportunity cost – the sales you might be missing by dedicating time to a single commission instead of running your shop or preparing for classes. 

If a project can’t meet or exceed this true hourly rate, it’s likely a distraction.

Timing is Everything: Seasonal Fluctuations

The quilting world has its seasons, and ignoring them when considering commissions can be a costly mistake.

Think about your busiest times of the year. For many quilt shops, that’s often leading up to holidays like Christmas, or during specific quilting events or classes.

Taking on a complex commission during these peak periods can strain your resources, lead to burnout, and potentially impact your regular sales as you have less time for your walk-in customers or inventory management. If you do decide to take on custom work during this time, consider quoting at a higher rate or padding the turnaround time.

If you’re a solo or small team, slower periods are ideal for filling your time with custom work, provided the pricing is right. Use your sales data to identify these ebbs and flows.

The Ripple Effect: Impact on Your Core Business

Custom commissions, while personal, are still part of your overall business strategy. Consider their broader impact.

• Impact on regular store customers: Will taking on a commission mean less time on the floor to assist regular customers, less time for merchandising, or fewer classes being offered? Your regular customers are your bread and butter. 

If custom work consistently detracts from their experience, you’re trading short-term gain for long-term loss. A happy regular customer who buys fabric and signs up for classes is often more valuable than a one-off commission client.

• Repeat business potential: Does this customer seem like someone who might return for more custom work, or who might become a regular patron of your shop? Some commissions are worth the effort for long-term relationship building, even if the initial profit margin is tight. Consider if the project could lead to referrals or showcase your skills in a way that attracts new regular customers to your store.

Quilting Skill, Sanity, and Expectations

Finally, be honest with yourself about your capabilities — and your capacity — to manage customer expectations.

• Skill level required vs. available time: Is the requested quilt within your skill set? Do you have the specific techniques or artistic style the customer is looking for? Don’t take on a project that’s beyond your current abilities, as it will inevitably take longer, cause frustration, and potentially lead to a dissatisfied customer. 

More importantly, do you enjoy that type of quilting? If a commission feels like a chore from the outset, it’s unlikely to be profitable or personally rewarding.

• Managing customer expectations without losing your sanity: This is perhaps the most crucial element. Custom work requires clear communication from day one. Define scope, design, fabric choices, timelines, and payment schedules in writing. Be explicit about revisions and what constitutes an extra charge. 

A customer who understands the process and has realistic expectations is a joy to work with — one who doesn’t can quickly turn a profitable project into a soul-crushing experience. Have clear boundaries and be prepared to say "no" if a customer’s demands become unreasonable.

Custom quilt commissions offer the potential for a profitable side business, provided a strategic approach is adopted. By carefully evaluating each project against these criteria, you can make sure you’re taking on work that truly benefits your shop.

Related Read: How To Keep Customers in Your Store Longer: 10 Strategies for Quilt Shops

Manage Custom Quilt Commissions with Like Sew

If you decide to take on custom quilt commissions at your store, the best way to manage these projects is with an industry-specific point of sale (POS) solution.

With Like Sew, for example, vendor integrations allow you to order the right materials for each project from your POS. You can also track client preferences and project details, making it easy to manage the scope of work, materials used, and timeline.

And when it’s time to evaluate whether custom quilt commissions are worth your time, Like Sew’s advanced reporting can help you refine your pricing strategy so you’re focusing on the most lucrative opportunities.

Ready to see how Like Sew can help you manage custom quilt commissions? Try our Build and Price tool to build your perfect quilt shop POS solution.