How to Start a Curtain Making Business

What you will be doing.  They keep the sunlight out and the coolness inside. They can be thin, room darkening, or thicker and more elegant. We are speaking about curtains.

Curtains have had to adapt to the changes in window sizes and shape. As a curtain maker, there is ample chance to grow a successful business in this area.

How to start.  Demographics are important here. Obviously in an urban area, there are more opportunities to find clients. Hotels, private homes, stores, showrooms, and restaurants all need curtains. Wherever there are windows, there is the potential for curtains. 

For a rural area, the curtain making business will need some help from the Internet. When the area is limited, consider adding other services to your business. Consider making cushions and pillows along with custom curtains. These things are often bought in shades that match the color scheme of the curtains. This is more a service for private homes and small lodging facilities.

Starting costs. The costs could be high. If curtain making is a hobby, you will already have the most important tools: a sewing machine and fabric samples. Fabric is not cheap especially when you are talking about heavy brocade, silk, and other popular fabrics. Businesses like hotels and restaurants will want something elegant that will stand up to stains and resist tears from frequent washings.

Mending curtains means working with needle, thread, and a lamp. To keep a stock of the most popular types of fabric and maintain your sewing machine, think of spending somewhere in the area of $500 to $2,000. An area dedicated to sewing complete with computer (or laptop), telephone, and fax machine makes the job a lot easier to manage in the home. Unless you want, there is no reason to rent a space.

Skills needed.  A grasp of sewing techniques, curtain measuring, and curtain design is necessary. Curtains used to be simple pieces of fabric that hung from the windows. Now, that is not the case. Curtains are curved, tab top, panel backed, and deep pleated. 

Other skills include marketing. When talking to restaurateurs, you’ll bring to the table what you can offer over their current supplier. Be prepared to answer all sorts of questions and bring swatches and samples of your work. They may not give you much time for presentation so be ready to hit the highlights.

Marketing.  Marketing will add to the cost. For businesses like restaurants and hotels, a color brochure that features different curtain styles and materials are in order. They can see what they will possibly be getting with you. Also including the price of any onsite alterations will attract customers. Don’t neglect private citizens. We all love nice looking curtains. Your clients here will be high end so a color catalogue would be appropriate for them as well.

A custom curtain making business on the Internet doesn’t have the benefit of onsite alterations, but customers can send for a swatch book for a nominal fee. Your curtains could hang in some of the most beautiful places in the world.