This four-color process, 500-piece order was subbed to a local company on a limitation-driven basis, enabling ZZ Topps Inc. to provide for the customer and make a profit without having to touch the order. (Photo courtesy Anita Shell, ZZ Topps Inc.)

Every office has those couple of people who fancy themselves coffee connoisseurs. Simple to spot, you’ll find them in their cubical nose deep in a bag huffing priority-shipped beans, by the coffee machine sifting a sampling of grind to test porosity, in the kitchen wasting an entire pot of your favorite roast because it’s been idling more than 15 minutes, and in your cube chastising you for violating any portion of the above regimen.

But one day, when their nerves can no longer sustain the caffeine jangle perma-percolating through their veins, they’ll be forced to reevaluate their snobbery and consider switching . . . to tea. Knowing nothing of the subject, these humbled elitists will reluctantly consult a mellow tea connoisseur, just as easy to spot for all the opposite reasons.

Likewise, when an embellisher inevitably receives an inquiry for a decorating technique outside his or her specialty, one practical solution is to call upon the expertise of an industry colleague with a supplemental realm of knowledge, and enter the world of subcontracting.

Points of entry

Scenarios necessitating someone else’s services are numerous, the most basic of which is a desire to keep customers satisfied without incorporating new machinery, techniques, expertise, personnel and so forth, in house.

“I didn’t want to loose embroidery orders to decorators who could provide both embroidery and screen printing,” remarks Jennifer DeRosa of Sun EmbroideryScreen Printing. So embroiderer DeRosa worked screen printing into her business model shortly after opening because of customer requests and the large local market for it. “A lot of my customers order both embroidery and screen printing. I didn’t want to lose business but, at the same time, I also feel that I responded to my customers’ needs by adding screen printing,” she states.

Still, necessity drives some to sub out, as is the case with Anita Shell and her husband who have embroidery and some screen-printing equipment in their ZZ Topps Inc. shop. “We sub out any screen printing that requires four-color process, as we cannot achieve adequate registration on our press,” reports Shell, who faces a similar equipment limitation on the embroidery side. “Our cap frames are in bad shape, and to replace them is just not a financial option,” she states.

Aside from keeping customers whose needs fall beyond in-house means, reasons for partnering with an outsider range from unmanageable order size to undesirable order items: “I absolutely hate caps,” declares Barbara Wells-Williams of Cactus Threads, her frustration stemming from the tedious task of hooping caps perfectly straight. When she’s busy, she delegates headwear orders of 24 or more to a company in Ohio with good pricing. For screen-printing requests, Wells-Williams sends orders two states over to Karie Eagle of Sunflower Graphics in order that she can stick to what she loves. “I would rather do embroidery,” she explains. “I work from home, don’t have the space, don’t want to make the space, and don’t want the learning curve of screen printing. It’s easy to take an order, contract it out, deliver goods, and make a profit for doing little work.”

Obtained through an online embroidery network, Wells-Williams is well pleased with the screen-print partnership that brings a convenient shipping arrangement to the table: “She gets her UPS by ten o’clock. So if I order it the night before, she’s got it by ten and, if she’s ready to go and I’m in a rush, she can get it done. And right outside her back door is the UPS hub.” With orders large enough to ship free to Washington, a fast turn time, and a trustworthy subcontractor, Wells-Williams has a business relationship that’s not always easy to come by.

Searching for subs

People take on subcontract work for varying reasons as well, lending their unique services to return a favor or forge a new relationship. In addition to the obvious extra-money benefits, accepting a subcontracted job can have more perks than bargained for. “I used to do contract embroidery work for a customer in a town twelve miles away, and we had a very good working relationship for about four years.” says The Linen Barn’s Aaron Sargent. His source eventually purchased its own embroidery machine and Sargent returned all embroidery files. But three years later he was surprised when his former customer found the embroidery addition to be too much to handle and sent copies of her customers’ files, along with the respective customers, back in his direction. “In her letter to her customers she told them if they would like to continue to have a great embroiderer that they should contact me directly and I would take care of them,” Sargent recalls. “I ended up with fifteen or so new accounts. She never even asked me if I wanted to buy her customer list and, basically, just gave it to me due to the fact that we had a good working relationship in the past and she wanted all her customers to be well taken care of. I was blown away with her generosity.”

With this quality subcontract job, Wells-Williams was able to sell $13,000 in forest-fire T-shirts and sweatshirts in five days. (Image courtesy Barbara Wells-Williams, Cactus Threads.)

Despite advantages, not all embellishers are receptive to contract work, requiring some seekers to do their research before finding someone who is. To avoid hitting walls when surveying for subcontractors, DeRosa says timing is a factor. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to call or communicate with them in their busy season,” she advises. During downtime, decorators are more likely to take on contracted customers and can afford to explain concepts such as screen charges and additional order-associated pricing. “This one printer I ended up using was more informative,” DeRosa reports. “He had the time to be that way. If I had called him up in June or July, I don’t know if that would have been the case.”

Another way to circumvent unwilling decorators is by opening up a search engine rather than a phone book. Garment-embellisher Internet resources such as Helen Hart Momsen’s EmbroideryLine.net are great networking options for those in search of a subcontractor or wanting to extend their subcontracting services and get jobs flowing their way. “It is my secret weapon in this ever-evolving profession,” Shell says of the E-Line.

No work and all pay?

With the many profits in subcontracting also comes a business adjustment from both ends. Just because you’re not physically fulfilling an order doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take an active interest. DeRosa recommends lurking on screen-printer forums to get acclimated to the lingo because, just like learning key phrases to get by when visiting a foreign country, having a grasp on decorating terminology will smooth communications with everyone involved. In turn, subcontractors must balance jobs with their existing schedule so collaborative endeavors remain profitable. Most important, both parties must be on the same page where quality is concerned. “One reason I feel that I found the right printer for me is I think we have similar expectations about the quality of the screen printing,” DeRosa declares.“I wouldn’t be able to work with someone whose standards were less than my own.” Being the storefront for the subcontractor’s work makes finding a trusted contractor, whom you’re proud to stand behind, paramount. “My printer’s told me, ‘If there’s ever a problem, you need to bring the shirts back to me,’ and if it’s his problem, he will reprint them at his cost,” states DeRosa.

Additional concerns entailing a special interest on the project-originator’s part include pricing strategy, artwork, and even computer compatibility. “I use a PC and he’s on a Mac platform,” she remarks. “He does have a PC, but all his artwork programs are on Mac, so we have had some issues.” DeRosa and her subcontractor work around these differences so the artwork can translate from platform to platform, but she admits that she would consider this point in the future. “Most artists are on Macs,” she says. “That might be one question, if I had to look around for another printer for whatever reason. I would definitely talk to them about their software programs and try to get specific with that. But it’s really hard, when you’re just starting, to know what questions to ask.”

The very positive working relationship between DeRosa and her printer causes her to see subcontracting as an extension of her business, just in a different location. (Image courtesy Jennifer DeRosa, Sun Embroidery Screen Printing.)

Proximity precautions

After the what and why, but before the who of a subcontracting deal is established, consider the equally-important where factor. (The when, of course, always being ASAP.) While some embroiderers such as Wells-Williams make the long-distance relationship work, most opt for someone located close enough to facilitate frequent trips and reduce delivery fees, but far enough away to avoid serving the same market and, therefore, competing directly.

Even with that provision in place, however, an avid bargain hunter still managed to bridge the distance gap, contacting both DeRosa and her subcontractor located 40 minutes away. “This particular business is actually located closer to me but he must have called around to a bunch of companies,” DeRosa informs. Her subcontractor quoted a price too high, but got to do the job after all when DeRosa, whose price was just right, passed it along. “I didn’t know it until I sent the job over to my printer and he told me he also gave the guy a quote,” she remarks, guessing that she quoted lower because of her lower garment price. “A lot of people assume that somebody who’s contracting out is going to be more expensive,” she comments, “and that might be true on T-shirts because the profit is so little and the initial blank cost is so little, but I think it varies.”

Sub without the contract

There is more than just competition to be said for partnering up with someone outside your immediate market, as maintaining a safe distance from a subcontractor can serve as a kind of insurance. According to DeRosa, someone you’re trying out may be less likely to go directly to your customers because of shipping costs or delivery hassles. “If I’m not close, they’d still either have to charge for shipping to this customer, or delivery,” she says. “And I don’t think they would do it.”

However, the good news is that, while customer commandeering is not a misguided concern, there seems to be an inherent sense of security alive in the industry that it probably won’t happen. “I trust people,” Wells-Williams asserts, explaining that she’s never had a disloyal experience to make her believe otherwise. And, fortunately, all our sources say the same, furthering their faith in fellow decorators. “I think most embellishers realize if they’re going to stay in business, they can’t do that,” DeRosa remarks.

And behind that faith is the golden-rule sentiment known by all who’ve seen the look on any coffee connoisseur’s face when you return to the office with a Starbuck’s in hand.