lessons learned

      You might remember that I've been selling my clothes for the first time this week at the Seaport Market in Halifax to the cruise ships that dock there. Well, there's no teacher like experience and it's been a full week of learning.
      Ten things I've learned this week:
1) The market vending community is very friendly and supportive.
2) Compliments on workmanship don't equal sales made.
3) Sales can vary radically from day to day - and some vendors (ahem... me, this week) just cover the cost of their table. No cause for panic.
4) Most tourists won't pay more for organic products because they don't recognize the value added.
5) $10 to $35 is the optimum price range for cruise ship sales.
6) Items that sell well for cruise ships require a small investment of the patron's time and money, don't need to be tried on, fit in a suitcase and aren't specific to gender or age groups.
7) The pricing formula (labour +material)x3 won't fly in the cruise ship market. NSCAD business course you steered me wrong.
8) Vending requires a positive mindset and a thick skin. (Most people are very nice and some are indifferent, rude or creepy - but none of them know the value of my skill, materials and labour better than I do)
9)  It's very, very important to take breaks - timeouts and days off. When something frustrates you, take a breather and if you're totally exhausted take the day off - you're not going to get any work done anyway. Otherwise you'll get tired, make mistakes and start thinking negatively.
10) Success requires determination and flexibility. Last night after making poor sales from 8:30 to 5 at the market I came home pretty tired but I know I'm going back on Monday and I want to have a better day. So after a little recuperating romp with my dog I picked up the fabric scraps on my studio floor and designed something I think the tourists will like and this morning I'm reworking my pricing formula, cashflow and business plan.
      OK, so I don't really know if this will lead to success - but it leads away from failure and that's a start, right?

I saw the sign ...

      Monday is the big day. I'll finally be selling my wares and you can come have a look, try them on and buy them between 8 and 5 at the Seaport Market. I'm a bit ahead of schedule actually. I was planning to start selling in the first week of September on the weekends but I got an email from the market saying they were looking for vendors to come in during the week to serve the cruise ships. I carefully weighed my lack of readiness against my lack of money and decided to give it a go.
      For those of you locals who'd like to check it out I'll be at the Seaport Market on

Monday the 22nd, 

Wednesday the 25th and 

Monday the 29th 

during cruise ship hours which range from 7 or 8 am to anywhere from 3 to 7 pm. I'll be brown bagging it so if you want to stop in on your lunch break I'll be there. My booth is set to be on the main level near Steve O'Reno's, but I hear that things can get moved around a lot so if you don't see me ask at information under the main stairs.
      In preparation for my big entrance into the world of retail sales I have made myself a sign. I'm not sure yet if it's finished, I think I might add a bit of blue to the background (many of you know how I feel about blue). Here it is so far:

      Now picture it hanging from a white iron, scroll-work divider behind my table of wares.
      Hopefully you'll be able to compare what you've imagined to the real thing when you come to the market in the next two weeks, or on a weekend over the course of the next few months.
      Wish me luck with the mountain of sewing to be done between now and then and I'll let you know how it goes when I write again next Friday. See you soon :)

ps- apologies to Mike Dixon for calling him Matt on the poster and flier I posted last week. It's fixed now  so if any of you posted last weeks poster you may want to replace it with the poster that is now in last weeks post - say that ten time fast why dontcha...

Shameless Self Promotion

      It's time for some shameless self promotion... Tamper Sustainable Fashion is having a grand opening party at the Seahorse Tavern in Halifax on September 28th beginning at 7 pm. The lovely Julia Feltham, the better half of the Saddle River String Band - James Phillips and Matt Dixon, The Sorrys and Hindlegs will be on stage with soulful lilting, good time jigging and rockin' rollin', respectively.
      I just finished doing up the poster so have a peek (if you double click you can see a bigger version which you may print and display where ever you see fit):

There's also a flier that you a encouraged to share freely (two to a page so don't forget to cut'em in half):

    

      And of course you're all invited to the facebook event: 

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=123293054434180

      I'm happy to say that this is my second week in a row of blogging so here's hoping I can keep that up. Leave me some comments to encourage me why don'cha?

      As for the business in general things are really moving along. I'll have my first market days at the end of this month at the Seaport Market while some of the Cruise ships are in port on the 22nd, 25th and 29th. Based on those sales I'm going to revamp my sales projections in order to go before the funding committee at CEED in the 1st or 2nd week of September. Wish me luck because I'm already feeling some Dragon's Den induced stage fright.

      Also these days I'm networking my little heart our. I've attended two Balle NS events in the last two weeks and I met with a representative of the NS Chamber of Commerce yesterday over dinner. Did you know that the NS Chamber of Commerce is the oldest Chamber of Commerce in Canada? 

      I'm sure I'll have lots to fill you in on in the coming days and months so I'll sign off for now. Until next time...

Up and Running

      It's really happening. Last weekend my mother and I put in three 10 hour days sewing prototype garments together to get ready for a dress sizing event held at the Hub on Barrington St this past Tuesday. I would've blogged about the event if I wasn't scrambling to get ready for it. I got some great feedback from friends and people who were working at the Hub and now I'm going into production.
      What's the Hub? Well, that's where I'm writing this blog from today. It's a shared space in downtown Halifax where independent business people come to work. There's an international network of similar spaces around the world. I've begun volunteering here on Fridays in exchange for use of the space and I have to say I'm loving it. I'm meeting lots of great people and making connections for the business, I have access to fax, photocopier and scanner and meeting rooms if I ever need them. Not to mention a lovely bright space to do my computer work with people around as opposed to all alone in my basement.
      Speaking of my basement, here's an update on my studio renovations. It's not a miracle yet but it's a workable space now. Check it out (you can see the before shot in the blog archives) :

      Well that's all for now, my dears. Now that I'm at the Hub every Friday I hope my blogging will be slightly less erratic. Until next time ...