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Embroidery Businesses Feel Like Home To Owner

Published July 07, 2020

It's 3 a.m. and Lyn Leisgang of Seymour is getting up for the day. She'll head out to the barn to feed the animals and do other farm chores.

Then there will be a brief break and breakfast before Leisgang, a self-described workaholic, heads to her businesses, The Sewphisticated Stitcher and Discount Embroidery Blanks. The businesses, with a specialty in the sale of embroidery threads, blanks, stabilizers, and sewing notions, are where she began as a sales clerk in 2009. Leisgang said, "From the beginning, I worked side-by-side with the owner, and I think I had been there for about a year and a half when she asked if I would be interested in taking over the business someday, and I said I would."

It was a long transition process as the seller, who loved the business, gradually ceded more and more control to Leisgang.

"In 2015, I became the general manager and I was her right hand. Four years after that, she was ready to sell. Working with her and negotiating the purchase was easy from the price of the business to the cost of the inventory. She always treated me like I was her daughter," she said.

That was the stress-free part of the transition. The business sale was completed with a combination of a down payment and promissory note. The real estate purchase was another matter. Leisgang said she made the mistake of not shopping for a variety of lenders, and her lender spent months arranging an SBA loan.

An appraisal she had completed shortly before the sale was not accepted, and the red tape was ominous. The loan finally closed recently, and the retail shop opened in Seymour last week. The shop is a compliment to the online business that has customers all over the world.

"This business was started in 2003, and as it grew, the owner decided to open Discount Embroidery Blanks in 2005," Leisgang said. "The building was built in 2007, and it is literally in my backyard. It takes me less than a minute to get here."

The building includes the warehouse, where products are inventoried and shipping is done, and a small retail shop.

"I wanted to open the shop so that customers can touch, see and feel our products. That was my focus when I took over," Leisgang said.

She plans other additions, as well. There is room for classes so customers can learn and create. Projects would include "make it and take it" with a variety for all ages. Her sister works in child care and wants to focus on easier items that children can do.

With the sale so recently completed, Leisgang is planning to make slow changes. She follows a schedule of filling online orders in the morning (her daughter picks, she packs, and her brother-in-law ships) and says her goal is to get every order that's in by 11 a.m. out the same day.

There is competition, but she has learned that exceptional customer service and a good Google ranking help her business stand out. It is something she emphasized in her business plan that was written with the assistance of Green Bay SCORE mentors.

"Paul Carron of SCORE helped with the financial part of the plan and Jim Herman helped me lay things out. They were awesome, and I tell others that they should never be afraid to ask for help," Leisgang said. "They provided templates to use, and for areas, I was experienced with, I went with my intuition."

When working on the competitive analysis, she found that her pricing is comparable to the competition, but the one thing she can't do and remain profitable is provided free shipping.

"That's why customer service is so important," she added. "Everyone has competition in the business world, but with my customer service, I've had people order supplies elsewhere and then come back because I help out everyone as much as I can and as quickly as I can."

Working hard to provide that service is a joy, she says.

"It feels like a home away from home," she said. "It is comfortable coming here and I don't mind if I work seven days a week. My husband will come here and help when he's not busy on the farm."

She admits that vacation days are rare and that other people might find their lives boring, but she and her husband love it. It is a simple life and there is always something to do either on the farm or at the business.

The day has passed and Leisgang heads back to the farm at about 4:30 p.m. where she'll once again feed the animals and help out. At 6 p.m., it's back to the house to make dinner and take a few hours to relax before retiring to bed for a few hours of sleep before 3 a.m. again beckons.

Tina Dettman-Bielefeldt is co-owner of DB Commercial Real Estate in Green Bay and past district director for SCORE, Wisconsin.

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Green Bay Press-Gazette

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