I bought mine a few years before retirement and thought I would start a business but limited until after I retired. After 2.5 years I decided I really didn't want to quilt for others. For me, it was hard to get business (but I wasn't very aggressive). My first big paying customer wanted custom quilting. She is a sweet lady but she picked me because of beautiful feathers I did on a quilt then she spent 1.5 hrs telling how she wanted her quilt done but no feathers. I worked for hours on that quilt and it was very stressful to me. I still think of things I could have done better.