Virtual sewing machine service training for the home sewist
Learn service skills and build your business at the same time
Who is this for?
those that are learning machine troubleshooting and service skills for a future retirement income or side business
those that enjoy fixing machines and selling them for a profit
those that just want to see what's possible, even if you haven't started service training yet
those ready but don't know where to start
You do NOT need to be enrolled in our other programs to join this group
What will I learn?
How to start exploring your business possibilities while you are learning machine service skills
How to get the word out about the services you are offering
How to manage machine inventory, check in forms, documentation
How to invoice your customers, accept payment
Setting up your systems and processes to spend less time on the business side and more time on machines
Almost any aspect of business you can think of, including different types of business that fit your lifestyle, personal interests, and financial need
While I will touch on accounting and legal-related things, I am NOT an accountant or attorney and have limited advice in this area
Important to note about this program:
This program will be hosted in a private FACEBOOK GROUP to give guidance and direction on starting and growing a service business WHILE you are learning your service skills
Each week we will post a new lesson on an aspect or topic of business, provide forms, resources, and useful tools for you to modify and use as they work for you
We will offer accountability support to help you progress even when life is busy and everything feels overwhelming - this group is meant for all of us to support and be supported
Every Friday night at 8 p.m. ET we will host a live call for Q&A, continuing conversation about the week's lessons, host special guests, and more
We will NOT be taking questions about sewing machine issues or anything related during these sessions
A private Facebook group will house all of these items and events and everything will be available all the time. This group will allow discussions to continue indefinitely.
You do NOT need to be enrolled in any our service programs in order to join and be a part of Business School. This is because many folks want to know what's possible as a service business before diving right in, and we FULLY support that.
That being said we will NOT support or advocate for those that plan to try and learn solid service, repair, or restoration skills from YouTube and Facebook Groups. When you start to work on machines that are not yours, you have a responsibility, and information gained from these resources is not adequate. We provide affordable programs to make sure you learn professional procedures.
How much does it cost?
First 30 days = FREE
(cancel anytime)
First 30 days = Free
1 month = $7, billed every month until cancelled
This program is expected to last for at least a year, at which time we will evaluate which direction it needs to go. This program will provide the base of our future mentorship program, so you are getting early access to this side of the mentorship programing 8 to 12 months early, and an extremely significant discount. We expect to test and provide resources, tools, and teaching styles in the program to build the Mentorship program foundation, so we will be asking for feedback and suggestions on how to help you reach your goals faster.
As always, we do our best to keep everything as affordable and accessible as possible, for as many people as possible. We are only charging a small fee for this program because of the investment in technology, time, and materials we need to host this program.
This program was born from our early Industry Night sessions, which we started at the beginning of May. So many of our students asked for a program to help them understand the service industry, what a service business looks like, how to determine if it's a good idea to start one, and help starting and building a business.
We started testing some ideas by hosting a live, virtual event on Facebook and YouTube each Friday night in kind of an "ask me anything"-style format. As I moved into a more structured presentation that answered people's questions, it was obvious that a solid, structured program is needed to guide people in various stages of learning and business interest.
And thus, the Sewing Doc Academy Business School was born.
If you'd like to see our Industry Night event replays, you'll find the links below to each one.
Going forward, I will include the Information Session replay on May 31 here, but all other broadcasts will take place inside of the private Facebook group, and replays will also be available to group members on YouTube.
Who are you, anyway?
I guess if you're going to learn something about starting and growing a sewing machine service business, you might want to make sure your guide knows what she's talking about :)
My name is Andi Barney, and I've been a professional technician for 15 years. I started in vintage machine service, repair, and functional restoration, guided by two elderly mentors, and that grew into a very long, successful, and satisfying career. I started at the kitchen table like all of you, just out curiosity and "tinkering", and the bug hit me hard. I love working on sewing machines as much as I love making quilts on my machines or by hand.
I became an owner of a quilt shop in 2015 and moved my business into a public space where it really took off. Within a year, I had way more business than I could handle, so my husband and his brother joined. They took over vintage machine restoration and major repairs like gear replacement so that I could focus more on modern machines, which were coming in by the dozens.
It was very clear to me that there were far more machines that needed service than there were qualified people to do these services. I toyed with the idea of teaching people my skills, especially since there aren't any schools or programs to teach your average sewist these skills. I tested these programs live and in person in my shop, just to see if there was any interest. Turns out there was massive interest! I sold out every single session on both vintage and modern machine maintenance basics within one day of opening registration.
In 2021, I offered my first comprehensive program, the Vintage Sewing Machine Mastery, through our new virtual academy, followed by Remove Your Covers for modern sewing machine maintenance, Troubleshooting like a Professional Technician, and Motor Service & Rewiring. In 2024 we are launching our Timing & Advanced Adjustments program, Serger Maintenance Program rounding out ALL of the skills of an independent technician, and potentially the start of our full mentorship program.
The demand for teaching my skills proved that we could help more people faster and with more support than I could with my service shop. In Fall of 2022, I made the very difficult decision to close my service shop and focus 100% on teaching and building programs.
Our programs focus on teaching home sewists how to service and maintain their machines like a professional, but also provide a path for those that want to build their skills to offer their services to their community through retirement income, small business, and volunteer work.
To date we have 1200+ unique students across all of our programs and growing.