Hey, hope you have all had a great week so far. Thank you so much to everyone who reads the blog :) I really enjoy writing them and actually find it quite relaxing to just write about what is on my mind each week.
So this weeks blog is all about Craft Fair Prep. Now I am no expert, I have never done a Craft Fair but I have one a week this month so I am hoping that by the time they are done I may know a little more and I will be able to pass on some tips (fingers crossed).
I have honestly found the prep quite challenging (which I like because I have always been told I like a challenge haha). I think I have everything that I need but I guess until I have done them I may have missed something important...I tried to do some research and found some great blogs but I didn't find much on YouTube so I am just going with what I think I will need. We are excepting cash and card so have bought a sumup which so far is very straightforward and easy to use. I will be taking cash as well and have a change box to keep it all in.
For one of the fairs we need a gazebo...we don't have one but a lovely neighbour has agreed to lend us hers which is amazing and I am borrowing a table from my Mum. We aren't sure how well they will go so didn't want to invest in all of these things incase they aren't used but if it all goes well then we will certainly start to think about getting more things we can use.
I've made all the price labels and signs myself and have a price list as a reference. I have also decided to go down the route of orders because I can't print every single print and size and because we offer a custom option too I think order forms are a good idea. They are pretty simple for the customer to fill out and then I can work on the orders back home.
Stock is the hardest element I feel. How much do you take? Which sizes? What if they don't sell? How about examples and displays? So after some thinking I have decided to go with the local area and UK prints with a couple of examples of the others that we offer including examples of custom prints. I will also take the Christmas prints as the fairs are all based around Christmas and gifts. I have decided to use some of the prints we have up in our own home, in frames as display items so that saves printing out any extra. I'm not going to take loads of stock as I don't feel it will be needed, I could be wrong but I think I'll know after the first fair. If anything I want to get our name out there a bit more and just make people aware of us and the website.
I am really looking forward to interacting with customers face to face and talking about what we do in person. As much as I enjoy the social media side of things I am a face to face kinda person so I think this will be fun. I am excited to also present the stall in a way that matches our brand but with a Christmas feel to it too. I am seeing it like a mini shop!
Will update you all on how they go. I guess you don't know unless you try...
Speak soon x