There are many routes to take when it comes to opening a fabrication business, and no one way is necessarily better—or easier—than another. But common to all successful shops is that they were helmed by owners willing to do whatever it took to deliver the goods and thrive.

Make the decision

When Steven Wayne, owner/operator of Southern Stitch Canvas & Upholstery LLC in Gulfport, Miss., first opened his shop in 2013, his biggest fear was that the phone might never ring—an understandable concern for any new business owner but especially for one whose path to this industry was somewhat circuitous.

He took the first step in 2007 while selling cars for a national dealership, where he also was general manager. The owner wanted to do something different and opened a small aftermarket leather shop installing premade auto upholstery kits. Wayne joined him learning that craft; in 2010, his way forward began changing again.

“Around this time, a guy from Cuba with a sewing machine in his van came by looking for work, and this led to the shop expanding what we offered,” Wayne recalls. “We began creating items from raw materials like canvas and upholstery textiles.

“This guy was the one who taught me the basic principles of sewing and running a sewing machine, working from patterns and creating templates and capturing patterns off boats,” he continues. “I realized that I enjoyed building things from scratch.”

Wayne asked for a stake in the aftermarket leather business in 2013—an offer that was rebuffed. In response, he decided to start his own canvas and upholstery business with his significant other. They set up operations in a 10-by-10-foot bedroom in their house. Within six months, work had picked up enough that they could move to a shop—a 1,000-square-foot space with a 10-by-10-foot roll-up door and a tiny office.

After outgrowing that unit, Wayne purchased a 6,000-square-foot building sitting on three acres, closing the deal in 2016. Currently, the company serves the auto, marine and commercial industries, making custom one-off canvas and upholstery items along with installing aftermarket premade calfskin and Alea Leather automotive kits. At one time, Wayne had up to five employees, but in 2022, he decided to go solo—an arrangement more to his liking.

Obviously, he got the phone to ring, but how?

“We went to every harbor we could get to, at least eight, and put a business card in a little bag along with a marble so it wouldn’t blow away on every boat,” Wayne says. “We did this every Sunday until we didn’t have to.

“For the first eight to 10 years, we had to make money, so we pitched everything and anything associated with a needle and thread,” he continues. “But now, after becoming successful, we’re able to be more selective about the projects we take, focusing on those that bring the most joy and profits.”

Discover your passion

Taking nearly any job that came their way was also the strategy owner Mike Charlton and his wife, Rachel, took when they first started their business in 2017. Located in Yorktown, Va., Charlton’s Marine Canvas provides high-end custom canvas products for vessels ranging from dingy-sized up to 100-foot yachts. But like Wayne, their business trajectory has allowed them to be a bit choosier.

Charlton came to this industry in a roundabout way. He started out in 1999 working for his father in the family business (Charlton Mobility Center), where they adapted vehicles for drivers with physical disabilities.

When the business was sold in 2011, Charlton decided to make a change by taking a job with a local high-end canvas shop, finding his “passion” in the process. After working there for five years, he knew he wanted to open his own fabrication business, but he had some reservations.

“One of my greatest concerns and challenges for starting my own business was that I wasn’t young with no responsibilities,” Charlton says. “I had a wife, two children and lots of bills to pay. So making the jump was extremely hard and scary because I didn’t want to let my family down if it failed.”

He developed a two-year savings plan to buy a sewing machine and tools, heading back to work in the accessibility industry in the meantime. Shortly thereafter, a friend who had purchased a new boat needed an enclosure, asking Charlton to fabricate it and giving him a check to buy the sewing machine and tools necessary for the job.

The mobility center had a spare room and allowed him to rent it for his fabrication projects as long as it didn’t interfere with his work responsibilities. After six months balancing those two worlds, he quit the center to do canvas work full time. Three years later, COVID-19 hit and his wife—at the time a dental assistant whose job suddenly was on hold—decided to join him full time.

At just 500 square feet, the first Charlton’s Marine Canvas was small; Charlton rented a space from a marine shop that did metal fabrication, electronics and fiberglass, building a room in the corner of that business. This year, the husband-and-wife team moved into a much larger building with 2,000 square feet of space.

“[It’s] been a game changer in terms of productivity,” he says. “We’re getting the work done so fast, we’re taking a lot more of the small jobs that we would have initially turned away.”

Work with and learn from others

Wayne cautions this is a “people business.”  To be successful, it’s important to enjoy working with the public or to have someone alongside you who does, he says. Wayne adds that managing cash flow and understanding how money works also are essential.

As for Charlton, one of the “best moves” he made early on was maintaining a firm hold on the shop’s project schedule, not agreeing to more than they could handle in order to deliver jobs on time. This approach lets them focus on details and quality instead of playing “catch-up.”

“I’d suggest taking any offers available to go boating with clients or friends so that you can get a real understanding of what the product qualifications need to be for what you’re making,” he says. “Last but not least, have a passion for what you do. I call passion the ‘cheat code’ for having a happy, successful business.”

Charlton and Wayne attest to the value of joining the Marine Fabricators Association (MFA). Wayne first connected with the organization around 2016 and is on his third term as a board member. He also participates in MFA trade shows, seminars and other activities. This has enabled him to build relationships with others in the industry, sharing ideas and learning from them whether they’ve been in business for 30 years or just one, are one-person shops or have multiple employees.

Charlton first joined MFA during his time working at the canvas shop.

“I went to all the major conferences each year,” he says. “I took a year off when transitioning to open our business and quickly rejoined because I knew the value it offered. It has proven to be priceless. We’ve been a member of the MFA for 10 years.”

Industry associations can connect fabricators to suppliers as well as to classes designed to advance technical skills and business know-how, Charlton says. Additionally, these relationships can guide pricing decisions, helping marine fabricators ensure they’re charging customers properly and “not leaving money on the table.”

Get real with risks

David Lewis, area director of the University of Georgia Small Business Development Center (SBDC) office, says the SBDC encourages clients to connect with those already in an industry to gain a better understanding of what is involved.

With centers in every state, SBDCs provide counseling and training to small businesses. They offer assistance ranging from the simple, such as where to obtain licenses and tax numbers, to the complex, such as developing business and marketing plans, loan proposals, financial projections and recordkeeping. They help those already in business or just getting started, adds Lewis.

One of the biggest mistakes Lewis encounters among potential business owners is underestimating the amount of work involved.

“Starting and operating a business can take a huge time commitment,” he says. “It will impact your personal life and schedule dramatically. It also involves taking a significant personal financial risk. This is a big step for those who have a low tolerance for risk.”

People also tend to miscalculate the amount of money they’ll need, Lewis continues. They typically plan for just enough funding to open the doors but fail to appreciate how common it is for expenses—also frequently misjudged—to outrun sales early in the business’s life. As such, they often haven’t amassed enough capital to cover this shortfall.

He encourages every entrepreneur to do their homework upfront.

“Understand the business model and their financial position. Commit the time and resources to make it work,” Lewis says. “[And] try not to depend on the business to make a living initially. Take out as little money as you can from the business in its early stages.”

When you’re getting started, try not to view every other company as competition—the most successful business owners are the ones that build relationships in their industry.

“Get off the ground running by learning and leveraging suppliers and other fabricators,” says John Pierce, vice president, Engineered and Contract Fabrics for WeatherMAX. “Treat other fabricators as a resource, not as a competitor. And make sure you give as well as you take from those relationships.” 

Pamela Mills-Senn is a Seal Beach, Calif.-based freelance writer.

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SIDEBAR: Build supplier relationships

According to John Pierce, vice president, Engineered and Contract Fabrics for WeatherMAX, a good supplier is more than just an order-taker. The supplier needs to really understand the fabricator’s business and be prepared to offer suggestions on products and services, even if the supplier doesn’t sell them.

Headquartered in Greenville, S.C., WeatherMAX makes high-performance outdoor fabrics and protective apparel for firefighting, military and work wear. The company also manufactures woven textiles for coating and converting markets. It’s part of Elevate Textiles, which makes sewing thread, denim and various other fabrics such as those used for commercial upholstery and performance apparel.

Pierce believes the hallmark of an ideal supplier/fabricator relationship is an upstream flow of information from the fabricator coupled with a downstream flow of products from the supplier based on that input.

“Suppliers in general are in many ways a repository of fabrication expertise,” he says. “Fabricators often advise us about what works and doesn’t with our fabrics and techniques that help them in the fabrication. We hear many things from fabricators and much of it can be shared.”