I am frantically getting ready for my first craft fair of the season at the moment. There are many holiday fairs that start around now and continue almost every weekend until Christmas. These holiday fairs
can be the most lucrative time of year for selling and can also provide a great
opportunity to network and market your business.
I was looking at an old blog post I did about craft fair prep and thought it would be good to share it again.
Here are some tips and challenges:
1.
Which Holiday Fairs: Choosing the holiday fairs to participate in is the first challenge. Balancing the sometimes high cost of a spot with the potential for earnings. A great way to gauge which fairs are good and which to avoid is by talking to fellow vendors and don't overstretch yourself by applying for one every weekend between now and Christmas, pace yourself. On the weekends in between go and visit local fairs to see if doing them the following year might be worthwhile. Look at the other potential costs involved or doing the fairs such as the distance to the fair, hotel costs if
it's a two day affair etc.
2.
Plan your space. Once you have decided which fairs to do look at the
size and shape of the booth you have been allocated. A good way to plan your booth is to mark it out on the floor
of your house with masking tape. Arrange your booth furniture in the space
allocated making sure that you are aware of where the flow of people will come
and make your space easy to negotiate. A booth that's too cluttered will put
people off from entering, make sure it's open enough to entice customers.
Does your set up require an electrical outlet and where will it be? Remember to give
yourself a designated space/ chair to sit, the fairs can stretch on and on and
on and being comfortable is important. Take photos of your mock up so you can
easily replicate it on the day. Finally make sure all the booth furniture is
manageable and will fit into your car, doing extra trips costs more and wastes precious
set up time.
3.
Tablecloths: Make sure you have table cloths that cover the front and any visible sides of your
tables all the way to the ground. This makes your space look more professional
and also gives a great storage space for things you don't want to be on view. Choose
the color wisely to best show off your products.
 |
| My craft fair display |
4.
Presentation: Work out beforehand where your products are going to go and if you need special
stands/ baskets for them. Play around with the layout and once you are happy take
photos so you can remember. Keep your products clean, ironed and stored carefully, presenting dusty,
creased products at the fair will not help your sales.
5.
Branding: Label your stand with your business name as visible as possible. Banners are a great
way of doing this, Staples and other stationary stores are often giving good
deals on printing them. Keep business cards easily accessible to visitors and put
one in every customers bag. Donating an item to the obligatory raffle is also a good way of getting visibility for you
business. Remember to have out a visitors book for e-mail addresses so you can
start to build up a mailing list.
6.
Price your products with labels that are easily visible, do this
before the show to save time but also remember extra labels for any products
you missed or for any changes/ discounts you want to make on the day.
7.
Payment Options: Remember to bring with you a cash box with as much petty
cash as possible, at least $50-$100 in a variety of different denominations and
change. Look into ways that you can accept non-cash payments, this might be on
a smart phone or iPad with a Square/Etsy card reader or similar but be aware of the
additional costs. Remember to add the states sales tax to every purchase made,
bring a calculator to easily work this out. Register online to file these
payments.
8.
Be your own advertisement: If possible wear one of your products (if it's jewelry or apparel) and remember to tell people that its available.
9.
Don't Forget:
- Plastic or paper bags for customers purchases
and packaging such as bubble wrap or tissue paper if needed
- Business cards, banners and other branding items
- Calculator, receipt book and notebook to keep track of sales
- Pens, pins, safety pins, scissors, string, tape, small sewing kit
- Food and drink to keep you going and a book for slow times
- Extension lead for electrical supply if needed
- iPhone/card reader and cash box
 |
| I used my cart as a handy packaging station |
10.
Network: Lastly don't forget to tell people where you will be at
the weekend, make sure all your family and friends are going to visit the
holiday fair and especially your booth. Post details of your schedule online
and encourage visitors with promises of cookies!
Before anything else, preparation is the key to success.
Alexander Graham Bell
Good Luck and Good Making!
Sarah Omura -
So Handmade
