When I first started playing Star Wars Galaxies I wanted to be a creature handler—far cry from tailoring, right? The reason I mention this is that it sets the stage for what was to come. You see, I noticed Wookiees got racial modifiers for creature handler skills, so guess what my first toon was? You got it in one—a Wookiee. As you know, there aren’t too many clothing choices for Wookiees, so when a friend suggested I visit a tailor on Naboo, I wasn’t too hopeful…boy was I ever wrong. I found a vendor devoted entirely to Wookiees with over three pages worth of clothes. I was in heaven. I can hear you thinking “what does this have to do with partnering in the tailoring business?” I’m getting to that. I ended up developing a pretty good relationship with the tailor who maintained that vendor, really my first experience with a tailor in-game. She provided great service, reasonable prices, and—most important for this article—she had a partner to help keep the order volume from getting out of hand. That interaction pretty much set my view of tailors and tailoring. Fast forward through a creature handler nerf and two combat medic nerfs (I mentioned my Wookiee toon was a master combat medic, right? No? Whoops) and suddenly I find myself with a Zabrak toon on another server.
I decided that now that I could wear all that wonderful clothing, I wanted to be able to make it. …Okay, I’m lying. Really I wanted to be a dancer, but I’m not very good at that, so I tried my hand at image design, and tailoring seemed to be a great match for ID. Anyway, one way or another I ended up as a tailor, and my first thought after realizing I really liked it was “I want to be the best tailor I can…but how?” I thought back to my experiences in the Gorath Galaxy and decided I’d swipe ideas shamelessly. Seemed to work there, so why not in the Kettemoor Galaxy? I now had my checklist for tailoring success:
Looking over that list, it’s pretty time-intensive. Much as I’d like to be independently wealthy and play SWG all day, every day…I’ve got a job. And sometimes I like to go out…in the real world…and drink real drinks…. This meant if I was going to be the success I wanted to be, I’d need help. I first approached my tailor at the time—I was still working on mastering image design and hadn’t yet started working on tailor—and she seemed cautiously optimistic about the idea of partnering. But then she retired—although I’m very happy to report she’s back, and we’re still in fairly regular contact. (Update: She got lured away by FFXI. *sigh* I’ll miss her.)
I got very, very lucky. I met a wonderful woman who was also working on image designer and we agreed to partner to help each other along—and to split the cost of training. She introduced me to a friend of hers, who happened to be working on tailor. The three of us became good friends, and before we really thought about it we were selecting a name for our business. Beyond Image was born. We set up a salon and a tailoring shop and showroom, and we were off and running.
So, now that you know how it started, let me give you a bit of an insight into how it works. The core Beyond Image business is image design and tailoring, although we’re slowly adding product lines as time goes on. We have two master image designers (Aime and I) and two master tailors (Laysha and I) working together to make sure no one person gets overburdened.
The three of us agreed on a pricing structure to work from so that there wouldn’t be issues of inequality between us—all image design is tip-based, while the tailoring price list is calibrated on a price-per-resource scale set to make the Robe of Honor valued at 7800cr. We briefly discussed implementing some sort of “business fund” that would allow for a division of income between us…but we never really got the logistics for that worked out. So what really happens is this: one of us gets a request for image design or tailoring. If we’re able, we fill it and whatever profit is made we keep. If we can’t fill it, for whatever reason, we refer the order to the appropriate Beyond Image partner and they fill it and keep the profit. We each help out with general business expenses as we can, and if any of us needs something that the other can provide—or provide the money to get—we do.
Another issue of custom orders, which plays into cost and profit, is bioengineer enhanced clothing. You’ll notice I haven’t listed a bioengineer as a business partner at the end of this article—that’s because I have an exclusive contract with one of my guildmates to provide me tissues, but he is not technically a business partner. I do prefer to work with enhanced clothing, simply for the higher cost/profit margin, but that’s just a personal preference.
So, now you know how we handle custom orders. You’re probably also wondering how we handle vendor sales. For starters, any item made for Beyond Image follows a naming structure: for instance, “Paramilitary Camos (Black/Heather-6) Beyond Image (E)” or “Grand Healer’s Robe (Crimson/Grey-3) Beyond Image (L).” That last letter is the initial of the creator, and allows our shop manager to tip out profits based on whose items have sold. For dividing restocking duties, we simply take a look at the vendor, then the “To Sell” pack, and whatever we’re particularly low on, we make a few of. Any rejected custom order piece—as long as it isn’t specially named—also goes on the vendors. We have no set schedule for restocking or tipping out profits, but it generally happens at least every other day. Records are maintained via the holomail logs kept by our shop manager, which in large part depends on trust in our working relationship—I’ll talk about that in a moment.
I know, it’s a very people-based system. I couldn’t transport this system to another server because it’s built solely on friendship and trust…but it’s worked well so far, and I hope it will continue to for a long time to come. The best advice I could give from my experiences in terms of system-based procedures would be this: before you do anything, sit down with your partners and discuss policy. Write it down. Live by it. There’s nothing worse than having two people from the same business give you two different answers—it makes you look unprofessional.
Beyond simply following the same set of rules, one of the keys to our success as a business is making it known that we’re part of something greater than our own individual pursuits. Our shop, salon, factories, and harvesters all bear the corporate logo, and our “business card” bears the logo as well as our names. Whenever we discuss the services we offer, we make it a point to present those services as offered by the business, not by an individual. This united front and obvious pride in our partnership has gone a long way towards giving us individually, and our business as an entity, a feeling of professionalism that not only helps us to put forward our best face, but helps to build a trust with our customers.
We’ve not set too many official policies, but we’re a pretty laid back lot. So far I have yet to see a customer leave our shop unhappy, and in most cases quite the opposite. Our business is growing nicely, and we’re in the process of moving to a large house so we have more room for display models (we have belts, bandoliers, handwear, footwear, headwear, dresses, jackets, bodysuits, necklaces, skirts, pants, and shirts set up so far.) The future is looking bright, and it’s all thanks to my partners. I love you gals. (And you too, Nylim.)
Beyond Image is:
Aime Twine (Master Image Designer / Master Doctor)
Eicia Obai (Master Image Designer / Master Tailor)
Laysha (Master Tailor)
Melva I’Tah (Merchant / Armorsmith / Aspiring Weaponsmith)
Nylim Kaas (Master Doctor / Master Combat Medic)
Rapa Nui (Smuggler)
788, -6188 in Riviere Calme outside Coronet, Corellia in the Kettemoor Galaxy