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?