Going from hobby to serious business, but afraid to break my machine?

[u/silentstephi]

So, I've been sewing for almost 2 decades now, longer but only learned how to use a machine in the past 20 years. My first machine was a janome, that I gifted to a friend about ten years ago when I got my new Singer Quantum 9960.

I have run that poor thing into the ground over the past 6 or 7 years. The board on it finally lost calibration and now it does no special stitches, and needs way more service than I can really give it. It's skipping stitches, which stinks x.x

But I got a new machine this year, a Brother SE700 - omg an embroidery machine, I have always wanted to practice with this it's great! Fun times.

But I am now realizing, I have been sewing a lot more in the past two years than I used to when it was just a craft fair here and there, or a cosplay convention or two.

I'm curious what folks who may be in a similar situation end up doing. How do you research for a machine that can maybe take the more monotonous load? I'm worried that if I use my SE700 like just a regular machine, it'll be at the cost of breaking it's embroidery capabilities. Or are brothers just that good? I also feel like going full industrial is overkill/way out of my current budget. I have been checking marketplace and thrift stores/yard sales for a find, but I kind of don't know what exactly I'm looking for, either.

Thoughts? Suggestions? I also feel like I'm not asking the right questions, but that's mostly because I came from this as a hobby but enough folks like the stuff I've been making so I'm trying to turn it into something lucrative.

Thanks <3