For about 10 yrs, I quilted by check and was very happy. Prices have definitely changed since 20 yrs ago. As my personal style developed in the piecing, the quilting needed to reflect my style. So I started quilting my own. Also, the size of my quilts shrunk considerably when doing art quilts. DH helped me buy a LA about 20 yrs ago. I thought I'd have a small business. Discovered I'm not in love with the quilting. However I do use it for myself and comfort quilts.
There is definitely a learning curve. It takes me at least 1/mo to stay proficient.
In the last 10 yrs, my shoulders have had 3 surgeries, rt hand surgery and the lt needs surgery. Unless the quilt is pretty small, it's hard to handle it on a domestic machine which has an 11 inch harp. Because of the space a LA requires, I've thought of a sit down LA but that wouldn't solve my body issues.
Space: My LA has 12' table + 4' clearance on one end. And width is 4' + minimum of 2' clearance on both sides. So that's a space of 16 x 8' minimum. The room it's in is 18 x 10' so there's storage and a work space. The room has double wide doors so it can be rolled into the garage and the room becomes a guest room.
I've thought of buying a new LA with robotics and only 10' table (that size would do for 99.9%). Cost????? Can't justify it. If anyone is interested in selling a good quality set up, PM me. I live in central California (8hrs to Mexico, 10 hrs to Oregon, 4 hrs to the Pacific and 3-8hrs to Nevada-the shortest route is closed Nov-June.
I do rent out my machine, give directions, help load the quilt and stay in the room for assistance. It was $50/day but now I think it should be $100/day. I think I'll make up new flyers and get a web-site up and running.