The Sanchez sisters' Kente quilt. (Sanchez sisters)

More Than Bedding
Derri Lynn makes bed-sized quilts and smaller ones for wall hangings, scanning customer-supplied photographs onto cloth and surrounding them with satin and lace, traditional or Kente fabric, or the buyer’s choice of material. Besides the bed quilt, Heritage Wall Quilt and Heritage Pillow, you can buy Sisters’ Woven Purses — you pick the color scheme.
     Time will tell whether the combination of heritage and hardheaded acumen will bring lasting entrepreneurial success. Meanwhile, the Sanchez sisters are taking an enlightened approach to their business. Here’s how:
     Doing what they do best.
    Tani handles the business side of Sister Fabrications, including the Web site, which took up 10 hours a day for most of the summer. She’s also a serious student of African American history, working on a Ph.D. in comparative cultural and literary studies at the University of Arizona.
    Derri Lynn contributes her artistry. She designs and creates each piece, another old-and-new practice that involves both ancient pride of craftsmanship and modern one-to-one marketing techniques. Incorporating both customer preferences and standardized processes, Sister Fabrications practices a scaled-down form of mass customization.
     Claiming a niche and adding value.
     The Sister Fabrications Web site is complete with value-added features like the story of African American quilting (“Did you know that enslaved Africans made many of the very first quilts in America?”) and the availability of relevant books through affiliation with Spree.com, which also sells flowers, CDs, golf gifts and other merchandise.
     Blending excitement with enlightened decision-making.
    As children, Tani and Derri Lynn made patches for their grandmother’s quilts, but Derri Lynn got serious about quilting during an extended visit to a conservative Tennessee Mennonite community, where life was spare and winter evenings offered little entertainment other than sewing.
    When she returned to Tucson, afire with the love of quilting, she and Tani methodically laid the groundwork for a full-fledged business. They tested the market, sought copyright and trademark protection, and assembled a focus group. Now their attention is on marketing, not just via the Web site but through other channels (home parties are a possibility).
     Going for it.
    Derri Lynn dreams of growing Sister Fabrications into a full-time career. Meanwhile, Tani has a part-time job in addition to her doctoral studies, and Derri Lynn, also a student, is working with her mother on Unsung Memories, a “scrapbook” of the 1900-1950 African American community in Tucson, Ariz. Both sisters have families to look after.
     “They” say, do the work you love and the money will materialize. Derri Lynn has the first part nailed down. “We want Sister Fabrications to be lucrative,” she says, but it’s essential to “enjoy the total experience.” She advises the entrepreneur with a dream to “try to develop something within yourself and never give up. Enjoy each phase. Don’t become stressed out and crazy.”
     Striking a balance.
    The partnership is harmonious for the most part, the sisters concur. “Sometimes we disagree,” Derri Lynn admits, “but we negotiate.” Adds Tani, “recognizing where expertise lies” helps them defer to each other’s better judgment.
    Above all, Sister Fabrications is a family project, and their grandmother (who died in 1985) and African forebears are as much a part of it as the living. Almost equally important are the unborn among those for whom the heritage is being preserved.
     Putting it together.
    “They” say passion for your work, determination, and information are timeless entrepreneurial attributes. If “they” are right, the Sanchez sisterhood is powerful indeed.

An editor since the age of 6, when she returned a love letter with corrections marked in red, Mary Campbell writes and edits for The University of Arizona College of Business and Public Administration and for dozens of entrepreneurs, publishers and authors. She is editor of the midsized-business journal The FINOVA Quarterly.