I received some wonderful news last night... I've been accepted into the Sugar & Spice Baby and Children's Market. The big day will be Sunday December 12th at Woodend in Victoria. It's the news I've been waiting and hoping for, but it brings up a range of emotions and obstacles to be overcome...
The first thing to deal with is the overwhelming excitement that my business is moving past the initial start-up phase and is starting to feel like it may actually be going somewhere. A market was always my first goal so I'm thrilled that I'm able to be a part of one. Opening the email at 9:30 last night when I was really tired and about to head off to bed wasn't exactly conducive to a speedy trip to the Land of Nod but I'm so glad that I did. I know that my product will do well, I have that confidence in myself and what I make. What is an issue is the short time frame that I have to get enough stock made in time for the market.
I've got Darling Hubby on the lookout for an easy and portable display system that I can take to the market to show off my handy work. How do you manage to show all that you have when the rugs are, at a minimum, 1.5m in size? I have a 3m space (requested the larger one given the product I was going to try to display) but am still nutting out how to show what I have 'under the counter' in their carry bags. It will be a nightmare to pull out each rug to show customers and then try to fold them again to get into the bags! I'm thinking that a clothes horse style set-up would enable me to display a range of rugs without too much trouble. Maybe I'll have to have a display book with photos of each rug and one or two on display for size comparison, touching and feeling... things to think about. Any advice would be much appreciated!
Time, time, time... where can I get some more of the stuff? I have about 4 weeks to make about 20 rugs. If I wasn't working and didn't have a baby it would be a no-brainer, easy peasy! Having a demanding 8.5mth old and a paid job that takes me out of the home 2 days a week throws up the challenge of finding the time to get the fabric cut out (most of it done), rugs and carry bags made. Darling Hubby is super supportive and will take Monster Head (Darling Son) off my hands when he can but that still leaves the other responsibilities that I have to try to juggle...
Rachel from AnEdge Designs has been terrific in making sense of my constantly changing ramblings over my logo and business cards. Hopefully we get it just right in time for me to get some pamphlets and business cards printed for the market stall. I also need to use the logo that she designs for the Use and Care Instructions that I have to supply with each rug.
What's holding much of my planning up is waiting on news about my application to register my business name... It's been 13 days since I requested a review of my application (Blog post Monday Nov 1st, "Waiting, Waiting, Waiting") and I've heard nothing. They have, however, been so kind as to take the application fee from my credit card! Hopefully that is because my application has been successful and not because you have to pay regardless of the outcome of the application!
So the excitement of last night's news is competing with anxiety about getting all of the rugs made, my (surprising) lack of coherence in conveying my ideas to Rachel for the logo and frustration at not yet having an approved business name! Add to that the cold that has taken up residence in my head and I'm all over the place at the moment!
Time for a few deep breaths, a clearer head (metaphorically and literally) and a positive outlook!
Hey Bec, am loving reading about your challenges and successes! Congrats on getting a spot at the market, I'm sure you'll do well! What about a swatch book for your material? That way customers can touch and feel the material without it taking up too much space... They can also have a play with different colour combos easily with a swatch book!
ReplyDeleteAll the best for the 12th!
Lisa (MarchMumma)
Lisa, that is a fantastic idea!!!!
ReplyDeleteLove your blogs Bec! Keep up the fantastic work!!!
Bella
Lisa, I have been thinking about a swatch book. My only issue with it is that I can't guarantee that I'll be able to source all of the fabrics that I've already used. Really depends on what Spotlight have in stock.
ReplyDeleteI'll definitely be putting together a display containing pictures of all of my rugs, just need a nice day to take some decent photos of the rugs outside on the grass (and a ladder so that I can get the whole rug into the frame).
Bella, thanks for the encouragement. Now it's time to get your blog up and published!
A simple 3-swatch card on each bag would save you and your customers time in sorting through the bagged rugs than a swatch book at the market. A 1"x 1.5" tag cut with pinking shears allows enough fabric to get the feel of it without wasting too much in frayed edges etc. Smaller pieces could show colour if you're minimising fabric wastage.
ReplyDeleteIts a much better selling point than photos when you have real colour and texture to judge quality of fabric etc. The swatch book would be very handy for taking orders! Two strips of coloured duct tape along the groud at the front of the stall would give an excellent way for customers to visualise rug dimensions. A rug of each size on display should be plenty and avoids hassles in case of rapid pack-up in inclement weather. One could be on a trestle table, one as a backdrop for your stall to add colour and draw customers. Be prepared for the display piece to get dirty so select your rug according to fabrics that won't show too many grubby hands... it is a children's market after all.
Enjoy. Congratulations.
Your humble and admiring quiet observer.
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