As I mentioned in blogs before I do two 10 day shows each year. Friday is arguably the most important of the two. Yes it's a Stock Show & Rodeo. However, for this particular show, the vendor area is truly one of the main attractions. An estimated 200,000 people will pass through in 10 days.
Of course it's been total chaos try to have enough products on hand to sell or show. Of course on top of this, i am in the process of becoming single again. Never easy, but something that has to be dealt with.
As part of the show, i get to have my furniture in the business areas where all the big-wigs make have meetings.
So the Stock Show has talked to their staff and searched the facility, no furniture found. They called me tonight to tell me that they will just pay me for it and write it off. I guess I am getting paid and should be happy. It still bothers me that somebody gets away with it with no penalty and system doesn't seem to care.
As I sit in eager anticipation of the crowds flooding in. I have been anticipating it for about an hour now. This is my first go at a home show. However to push the furniture more, I think this is a better venue than Arts and crafts shows. Time will tell.
For us, the weather is beautiful for this time of year. Hoping that helps bring folks out.
Monte,
Hope the show goes well for you.
I am selling today as well, a bit on the slow side but even though we are at the Spring Bling we are getting flurries on a dreary day.
I'm not saying it was slow yesterday, but there were a LOT of people somewhere other than here. On the other hand, I did do a couple quotes. Either of which would make it worth while.
I will throw out a question, I am working on a drawing for a custom bar. How tall is the average whiskey/wine bottle?
Well there's 2 days of my life I can never get back. Vendors that have been there before said it was the slowest they had ever seen it. I guess I should be relieved that they didn't consider it a big weekend. You never can predict how a show will go. I have had a few good ones in a row. So I probably was due a dud. I have plenty of work so I wasn't desperate for more orders. But it's preferred that the booth pays for itself. Live and learn.
I am back to the Central States Fair here. The last couple years it has been my biggest sales event. Major anticipation going into this year. The area in general seems to be doing better economically. The weather is about as perfect as we could ever hope for. Expecting great crowds. I have quite a few new items and of course I will be building all of the time I am here. The grounds opened a few hours ago and I have been pleasantly surprised by the traffic through the booth.
No big traumatic events leading into this week. I am getting better setting up and so far I don't think I forgot anything.
Weather has been nearly perfect, but the crowd numbers are down. I have talked to lots of people and I think I will get some decent orders. I have been building while I am here.
Hate to say it, but no real good fair stories yet.
As we had hoped, the crowd and business picked up a lotfunnel cake. The rancher community showed up in mass today. For those who do these shows, let me reinforce the ability to take credit cards. 90% of my business has been from them.
I was very happy today. After doing this show for 3 years, I am getting people coming here looking for me. At least to me it's an accomplishment.
Here's a night view from my booth
As a favor to Angie and Roger, i subjected myself to a funnel cake
As we had hoped, the crowd and business picked up a lotfunnel cake. The rancher community showed up in mass today. For those who do these shows, let me reinforce the ability to take credit cards. 90% of my business has been from them.
I was very happy today. After doing this show for 3 years, I am getting people coming here looking for me. At least to me it's an accomplishment.
Here's a night view from my booth
As a favor to Angie and Roger, i subjected myself to a funnel cake
10 days is a long time to be sitting there. The first 8 days were pretty so-so and only marginally paid for my time there. Then came day 9. It will probably take me a months worth of building to get the orders done. The right crowd hit at the right time. Single biggest day I have ever had. Will be building gun cabinets and poker tables for the next few weeks.
This was an enjoyable fair. The weather was near perfect. As always I hope for some of my "possibles" to come through for a really good show. I have 2 possibles that I am putting numbers together for that would dwarf anything else I have ever done. See if I can make the numbers work. I am trying to use LJ Huff formulas for pricing and marketing. If you didn't read his blog series on that, I highly recommend it. I feel I did a better job of "right pricing" my products.
I have already secured my booth for next year. No sense getting too comfortable yet.
Hope all of you are having a great year out there as well.
Although not a massive day, today was a very pleasant surprise. As usual the mugs and boxes did well. Also sold some shelves and a trunk. I did this show with my mother mainly because she wanted to. I didn't expect to sell much. For a one day show it was great. I would definitely do it again next year. The shows have been slower this year than last year. Only doing a couple select holiday shows, so my next big show is the end of January.
After having to skip the biggest show of the year 2 weeks ago, I knew I couldn't wait too long to get back to business. This one is the annual Black Hills Sports Show and Outdoor Expo. I have never done this show before. But it normally draws a very large crowd and the weather is supposed to be beautiful. I am hoping that the combination gets me some exposure and more importantly gets some orders.
This is my temporary home through Sunday afternoon
Thank goodness I am not near the food court. That causes excessive snacking and weight gain. I was a very late entry, so I don't know if this is a good location or not. For those who do shows, you know that is very important as well. The few pieces you see are the survivors from the fire. Not a lot, but it sure beats nothing.
After having to skip the biggest show of the year 2 weeks ago, I knew I couldn't wait too long to get back to business. This one is the annual Black Hills Sports Show and Outdoor Expo. I have never done this show before. But it normally draws a very large crowd and the weather is supposed to be beautiful. I am hoping that the combination gets me some exposure and more importantly gets some orders.
This is my temporary home through Sunday afternoon
Thank goodness I am not near the food court. That causes excessive snacking and weight gain. I was a very late entry, so I don't know if this is a good location or not. For those who do shows, you know that is very important as well. The few pieces you see are the survivors from the fire. Not a lot, but it sure beats nothing.
I have never done these shows before, I assure you that I will again. All of my expenses were paid on day one. I would encourage the custom furniture makers to look into these shows locally. The response has been great. I was the only furniture maker there and that is always a good thing.
They are expecting about 10,000 people to pass through today. Fingers crossed for the day.
Well it was a pleasant surprise to say the least. I had never done this show before and did not know what to expect. What I found out is that I need to find a lot more of these shows. My sales out of the booth paid for the weekend a couple times over. With the number of people I had talked to, I had high hopes for orders being placed over the next few weeks. It didn't take a few weeks , today I received 5 orders. That will make it the biggest show I have ever had. It may be a fluke, but I will definitely be doing a few more of these shows. Most of the orders are gun cabinets. It will definitely help pay for a bunch of tools.
Yes I am starting the blog a day late. I had a furniture delivery yesterday morning. Then rush home to load for the Central States Fair. 2 quick trips to get the basics here and setup last night. Last night was decent. My best sales are on concert and rodeo nights. Last night was motocross and tonight is the demolition derby. For whatever reason, those groups don't spend money. First half of the booth is setup.
The pictures are done by my 85 year old mother
My friend Tyler makes the antler chandelier and picture frames
Our weather is supposed to be nearly perfect for the fai. 80s with little chance of rain.
Yes I am starting the blog a day late. I had a furniture delivery yesterday morning. Then rush home to load for the Central States Fair. 2 quick trips to get the basics here and setup last night. Last night was decent. My best sales are on concert and rodeo nights. Last night was motocross and tonight is the demolition derby. For whatever reason, those groups don't spend money. First half of the booth is setup.
The pictures are done by my 85 year old mother
My friend Tyler makes the antler chandelier and picture frames
Our weather is supposed to be nearly perfect for the fai. 80s with little chance of rain.
Of course with sales you go into every show hoping that you sell everything you have. Then the show and reality bothstart. This year, the rreality started late. The weekend was huge. I was able to sell enough Saturday and Sunday to easily pass the break even point. Sunday alone I sold more than the entire week of the rally. I was figuring on being sold out quickly this week. Then came Monday. Oh the people are there, they simply aren't looking for anything. Still having a good week, but now thinking about how much I may have to haul home.
They have already said that with advanced ticket sales we will have all-time record attendance. Also the rodeo starts tonight and runs through Saturday night. That is usually the crowd I count on for sales. I have had a lot of good comments. I spent more time (and money) getting the booth setup this year. The idea was to look more professional so people could see that I am a real business. I have had a lot of great comments on the booth. Still improvements to make, but a step in the right direction.
Of course with all of my shows it's what happens over the next 2 months that determines the success of the show. There has been a lot of "possible " sales discussed. If many of those come to fruition then it would be a huge week.
Just so you don't think I have been just working, here's a few pictures.
Of course with sales you go into every show hoping that you sell everything you have. Then the show and reality bothstart. This year, the rreality started late. The weekend was huge. I was able to sell enough Saturday and Sunday to easily pass the break even point. Sunday alone I sold more than the entire week of the rally. I was figuring on being sold out quickly this week. Then came Monday. Oh the people are there, they simply aren't looking for anything. Still having a good week, but now thinking about how much I may have to haul home.
They have already said that with advanced ticket sales we will have all-time record attendance. Also the rodeo starts tonight and runs through Saturday night. That is usually the crowd I count on for sales. I have had a lot of good comments. I spent more time (and money) getting the booth setup this year. The idea was to look more professional so people could see that I am a real business. I have had a lot of great comments on the booth. Still improvements to make, but a step in the right direction.
Of course with all of my shows it's what happens over the next 2 months that determines the success of the show. There has been a lot of "possible " sales discussed. If many of those come to fruition then it would be a huge week.
Just so you don't think I have been just working, here's a few pictures.
Although it started with a bang, I only really had one more big day. However, I still had the 2nd biggest week ever and I am having my biggest month ever. So would I have wanted to sell more? Of course, that's the idea. But I can't be disappointed with the results. I also have several of what I consider "very possible" custom orders. If most of them come through it will be a huge show for me.
Another thing, is pricing. I have always been criticized for under pricing my goods. My main excuse has been that until I feel my work was worthy of higher prices, let would not raise them much. I am not saying that I am as good as I need to be, but I decided that it was time to start a move towards "right pricing". The formula that I am going by is based on LJ huff's blogs on business pricing and structure. Read it if you haven't, it was a great inspiration for me. Anyway, I raised prices almost 50% across the board. I had to grit my teeth a little when I did it, but I knew that it was the right thing to do. Oddly, I never had a single person complain about the prices. Maybe it cost me a couple sales, but the reality is that I can't compete with Walmart.
some other really important advances, the booth. I spent much more time making sure I had a much more professional setup. More organized and easily accessible. I received a lot of compliments on the booth layout. I am already planning improvements for next years booth. Another thing I did late that people liked was showing the rough lumber. Last week I put out the topic of High Pressure vs Low pressure sales. Several really good suggestions. Since I didn't have time to put together a presentation on sawing the wood through finishing the products nI chose to put some rough lumber out to show what I look for in selecting the wood for a project. Many seemed interested and I probably will get orders for just rough lumber.
Things that need improvement. First and most painfully obvious. About the 3rd day of the show, I realized that I did not have a sign with the business name on it ANYWHERE! It was one of those moments that I threatened to fire myself. I put up a paper banner, but I consider it awful considering what I was trying to accomplish in the booth. Second thing is small items. I was completely sold out of small items by mid week. Odds are that I could have had more sales with a better inventory. I had every intention of having more small items, but you can't eat good intentions.
My biggest show of the year is not till February. But I am already planning improvements for then. I still feel that I am going in the right direction and I can't take me foot off the gas now.
Thanks for reading. I hope everyone can learn from my experience and the comments of the others.
Sounds like you had a very good sale and learned quite a lot for the future shows. I am glad that you are doing well and you get better and better with each project. Keep on, keepin' on !
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