Ideas for Healthy Snacks for Break Time in Your Sewing Business

If you're starting or running a business providing sewn products, break time might not be one of the first things you think of, but maybe it should be a bit higher on your list of concerns. Here's why: people perform better when they're comfortable and when they feel valued - and what has more of a direct impact on morale than break time?

Healthy Snacks image courtesy of Pixabay

Ways to Provide Healthy Break Time Snacks 

Whether you decide to put out a few healthy snacks for employees to enjoy free, as a perk of employment with your sewing business, or you make them available for purchase in a machine or cafeteria, making employee health a priority shows your workers you care about their well-being.

• Small sewing businesses may prefer to simply set out a box of healthy treats for employees to enjoy at break time. You can either take the time to pick these up yourself or simply order them for delivery from a service that provides boxes of healthy packaged snacks.
• Mid-size sewing businesses may find that having more employees makes setting up a snack machine filled with healthy offerings easier. This is a bit less personal and hands-on than the option of setting out a box of healthy snacks, which fits the aura of a rapidly-growing business.
• Large sewing businesses may have the ability to set up a cafeteria line, which is a great way to accommodate the needs of multiple workers and varied break times. This is a way to provide nutritious, light snacks and healthy meals for everyone.

Healthy Snack Ideas for Your Sewing Business

Fresh fruit and veggies: Fruit is a great option because it provides fiber and vitamins, and it tastes great. Also, many people don't get enough fruit and vegetables, so making these items readily available makes it easy for your workers to incorporate these nutrient-rich foods into their lives.

Nuts and granola: Nuts combine fiber, protein, and flavor for a slow-release energy boost that helps workers ride through the legendary afternoon slump without feeling drained. Granola adds a touch of natural sweetness from honey or stevia to the heart-healthy fiber of oats, and other ingredients like raisins and nuts.

Muffins and high-fiber cookies: It may sound counter-intuitive that baked goodies could be healthy snack options, but when carefully chosen, they can be exactly that. The addition of oat fiber or whole-grain flour ups the nutrition without wrecking the flavor of these treats.

Special Dietary Needs to Consider: If you know one or more of your workers have specific dietary needs, choose healthy snack options for your break room with that in mind. Healthy gluten-free options, nut-free offerings, or dairy-free delicacies are all easy to find and will help keep all of your employees healthy and happy. 

Thanks for reading, and I would love to hear your suggestions on healthy meals and snacks to provide for workers. Stop back soon for frequent updates, or follow Stitching it Right on Facebook for frequent updates on all things sewing and crafting.

Tips for Starting a High-Demand, High-Volume Sewing Business

If you've got a great idea for a high-demand product to sew, you've created your own designs, and you're making plans to start a high-volume sewing business, there are a few things that can help you get off to a good start.

High Volume Sewing Business image courtesy of Pixabay

High-Volume Sewing Business Plan

Sewing is a creative business, and it might feel like something as formal as a business plan squashes creativity, but it's actually the opposite if you go about it right. Make the plan about how to merge your creativity with the business details needed for success, and you'll be off to a better start.

While a lot of sewing businesses start as home businesses, when you develop an idea that has the potential to sell in large quantities it's time to start thinking about things like:

• where to put the business.
• how to market your products.
• competitors and strategic alliances. 
• things that need to go inside the facility, like industrial sewing machines and pallet loaders or a gravity conveyor to move boxes of your products around inside the building.

Including the important details in your business plan gives you a solid roadmap for success.

Importance of Location for a High-Volume Sewing Business

If you're setting up a launch with the plan to produce a large volume of your sewn products, look for a location with room to grow. You need: 

• space for large cutting tables
• room for several industrial sewing machines
• an area for pressing machines to smooth wrinkles out of textile products
• space to package and ship your creations.
• easy accessibility to shipping routes

Develop Your Sewing Business Marketing Plan

The time to put together marketing plan is before you begin business. But - if you're already in business and don't have a plan yet, it's better late than never. Include things like: 

• Starting a website to promote your products
• What kind of paid advertising you want to try 
• What kind of advertising your main competitors use
• How much you plan to include in your budget for each type of marketing
• A schedule to review and assess the effectiveness of your marketing efforts regularly so you can change anything that isn't working.

The Role of Competitors for Your Sewing Business

The market for sewn products is huge, and there are many types of products out there. You can take the idea of beating the competition, or you can form strategic alliances that boost your products and the products of other companies. 

For example, if you decide to make messenger bags, you could form a strategic alliance with a clothing company, and when people see how great your bags look with the other business' clothes, they'll want to buy both items.

If you prefer to take a 'stomp the competition' approach, things get harder, but you can carve out your own niche in an existing market segment by carefully researching, determining, and promoting what makes your sewn products unique.

Amenities Within the Building That Enhance Sewing Business Success

Some things are kind of a given when you're planning a high-volume manufacturing business making stitched items, like bathrooms for employees and the need for good lighting. Other things may not be as intuitive, but they're just as important. 

Things like setting up a floor plan that allows the products to move through production, into shipping, and out of the facility are every bit as important as the obvious stuff. Make sure to allow space between machines for floor jacks and racks to move freely. Take advantage of things like conveyors that reduce the number of steps employees have to take to get the finished products out the door quickly and undamaged.