Sew Convinced

Let’s talk about zippers. Let’s talk about two things about zippers. First how much you hate the zipper business and promise it to whoever shows any interest in it whatsoever. I have spoken to at least 4 people who were promised this business. Secondly, let’s talk about how the zipper business actually operates. I would usually say works but that is just not appropriate, and you’ll see why in just a moment.
A zipper business, if run well, is very lucrative. The mark ups on brand zippers like YKK is extraordinary. For example I can purchase wholesale a 40 inch double pull for $1.49 here in Australia. They retail for around $10.00.
22inch and 30 inch can be purchased wholesale for well under $1.00 each.
So it looks profitable. It can be very profitable if you keep your costs low, that is pack the orders yourself and ship. Shipping has its own rewards — you can get a 15% markup on that — but that’s another article altogether.
So from the outside, someone helping with this business sees the potential and begins to want to enter this business themselves. But a clever manipulator will dangle this carrot in front of you, to make sure you stay around to help them pocket the profits, all the while knowing that this zipper business, although they hate it, is feeding them for the time being.
This is how it does that.
Let’s open a zipper buy. A zipper buy is when people pre-order zips that aren’t normally available. Usually the vendor has to make minimum numbers of these orders in particular colours for the supplier to be able to fill them. It’s how YKK works worldwide — extremely efficiently actually.

So you tell your customers that this order will take 8–12 weeks to fulfil.
You take the money. That money is then used to pay this month’s bills.
When the time comes to pay for the order you placed in February, and is delivered in March/April you have to come up with the funds to pay for it. So you open up another zipper buy. People order more — maybe — and give you the cash to pay for the previous order, now awaiting shipment but will not be released until it’s paid for.
So the second buy doesn’t go so well. You open a thread buy to make up the short fall. This doesn’t go so well either and it’s still not quite enough to pay for the original order in February.
What to do? Create a smoke screen of excuses until you can raise the cash to pay for the order that is sitting there.
This teaches the apprentice how they would be able to run this business so much better than that. They would not let their customers wait 4 months for zippers for example. They would have better cashflow. They become convinced that when they are given this business they are going to be way better off than they are now.
You’re never going to get this business.
As much as they hate it, it’s all they have right now. If they were watching their numbers they would also see that you can’t keep selling the same accessory in anticipation of a workshop that is supposed to happen the next month and expect everyone to buy more zippers for the same project they are still waiting on.
The zipper business was based on the value of a facebook group that was largely recommended to those that are current members and like any cow, it eventually runs out of milk and is put out to pasture. I know you have been convinced that there is still milk to be had, but trust me, that poor cow is done. There are other pastures.
Carry on.