I have been helping my wife start her own fine art embroidery business. I make the particular distention of "fine art" embroidery versus the typical embroidery business, which you may see in a mall kiosk.

Custom embroidery has become a very popular business. Businesses specialize in digitizing a company's logo and then embroidering it to an article of clothing in multiple colors. But it is a 'business man's business'.

My wife's idea for her business is a craft or fine art business. She specializes in making custom handbags, baby clothing, baby blankets, and beautiful embroidered table clothes. This type of business has a distinctly different business plan and model from the baseball cap and corporate golf shirt embroidery business.

In the current economic climate, or any economic climate, I could not recommend going out and getting a business loan for $10,000 or $20,000 to get your home-based business started. I would recommend bootstrapping your business.

Bootstrapping is a way to start with $500, or even no money, and grow your business as your business grows. If you don't have any money, then I would recommend selling some things around your home on eBay to earn enough to buy your first embroidery and sewing machine.

Look for Amazon and eBay links below for recommended embroidery machines to start your business.

I wanted to briefly mention a couple of legal concerns regarding your embroidery business. I am not a lawyer and the following should not be taken as legal advice. I just wanted to mention a couple of concerns.

1st. Get your business license in your state of residence. It costs $15.00 in Maryland and the Federal Tax ID is free. You should also look into joining the local Chamber of Commerce. And with a tax ID you will be able purchase items from wholesales.

2nd. Most all embroidery designs, especially including the Disney characters, are only licensed for personal use. You can not buy the Brother machine, use it to make baby clothes with Disney characters, and sell the items (legally). Just be careful. You can probably get away with it at a craft fair, but if you start to list items on eBay, you might get a letter from Disney (or worse).