Well I have to say my first market experience was a roaring success, mainly thanks to my amazing friends and supporters! It feels like it took me a lifetime to recover, but that’s because I spent the week after the market with a fabulous head cold thanks to kindy/school germs (which, by the way, seem to be rampant this year).
I set up my table at Mt Eden Markets last weekend. The market runs monthly in a cute church building across from Circus Circus at the Mt Eden village. There were lots of vendors selling beautiful art and craft wares (I had to remind myself strictly that I was not there to shop), and everyone I spoke to was super friendly and generous. It’s a pretty special feeling to be surrounded by lots of makers. It reminded me of the vibe at Printopia festival earlier this year - people passionate about their art, getting together to share their creations.
I really enjoyed the process of getting ready for the market - once a project manager, always a project manager I suppose. Planning & prioritising what needed to be done, choosing works to digitise and reproduce, doing test prints, trial runs of the set-up, lists of materials, procurement, troubleshooting. Honestly, this is my happy place. It’s actually one of the things that excites me about running my own business, knowing that I will be juggling projects with multiple moving parts and deadlines.. I go on about how I was unhappy in my corporate jobs, but I absolutely do enjoy the mechanics of project management, it’s where I thrive.
Full disclosure here: financially, I did better than I was expecting to for my first time. The flip side is that all sales were to my existing network. That is, friends and family, for the most part. Which is totally cool! I so appreciate every single person who took time out of their weekend to come and support me, and I love that they have a little piece of me at their place. Everyone I speak to reiterates that friends and family are how most businesses start, and I am of course forever grateful.
But… there was a part of me that was hoping for at least one A5 mini to get snapped up by a random stranger. To prove to myself that the work can have an appeal to the general public, outside of my network, I guess? But alas. I did get a lot of people who gave me enthusiastic feedback about the work, and a bunch of new followers, and I had such a great day, so I absolutely cannot complain.
As a bit of redemption though, someone who bought 3 of my minis put in an order today for more, because their friend saw them and said they wanted some too! So I guess things always work in roundabouts and I am going to count that as having achieved my goal of selling to a stranger (yasss).
I’m definitely going to keep doing markets, at least for the rest of this year, but I feel I will try out different ones to find the ones that feel like they are the best fit. Currently, I’m booked to attend Ink&Indie pop-up market at the Mission Bay Tap Room on Sunday 14th September (praying for a sunny day!).
Hopefully see you there? xx