How do you handle it?

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squigglz

squigglz

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Like many of you know, I've been making soap for a couple years now. It's always been great fun, and more of a 'hobby' than anything, even though I do sell it.

My target market is very narrow (though I name my soap and make it high enough quality to appeal to a broad spectrum), and that particular market also has conventions. To that end, I'm going to a convention in four months to sell.

And I am seriously panicking.

It seems like an incredible amount of pressure to get so much done in such a short time. New loaf molds came in the mail today, so I can now do about 20 pounds of soap per day, but there's just...so many kinds, so much to reorder, waiting on suppliers, etc etc...

I guess I just want some words of wisdom (I've never done a show before) and maybe some assurance that I won't, in fact, completely screw it all up x.x Advice is so very welcome. So very, very welcome.
 
Conventions are great fun and I rather miss them
Take a deep breath & write a plan. Make a list of things to take, as you think of them. Get a vertical banner and stand from Vistaprint. Find someone to go with you because you can't leaveyyour booth unattended. Lots of business cards. Be able to take credit or debit cards. Set up your booth & take pics so you can get setup without too much stress. Good luck!
 
First of all BREATHE! :D Second, hugs to you. Now, I've not ever done a convention before, but I am self-employed. I do know the stress of waiting, needing, wondering, clock-watching. The best advice I can give is to slow down. One thing at a time. You can only do what you can do when you can do it. In between, you MUST find something else to do to take your mind off it. You need the mental off-time to recoup and relax. It will help you avoid mental overload. I am sure someone else will have words of wisdom regarding your show, but I hope from me you can take away the importance of focusing on one thing at a time and spending some time on yourself as well. Good luck to you at your convention!
 
Miz Jenny said:
Conventions are great fun and I rather miss them
Take a deep breath & write a plan. Make a list of things to take, as you think of them. Get a vertical banner and stand from Vistaprint. Find someone to go with you because you can't leaveyyour booth unattended. Lots of business cards. Be able to take credit or debit cards. Set up your booth & take pics so you can get setup without too much stress. Good luck!
Click to expand...

I do have about 10-15 friends going to the con with me, all of which have volunteered to help me with the soap hauling/booth watching parts. The only issue is that I can't allow anyone besides me behind my table, which kind of sucks because bathroom breaks :( But I suppose they can stand in front and keep an eye out for me, at least.

I was definitely planning to do the Vistaprint thing for sure ^_^ I can't take credit or debit, simply because the fee to have wifi at my table is frankly ridiculous and I can't afford it =/

I'll keep your advice in mind-thank you so much!

melstan775 said:
First of all BREATHE! :grin: Second, hugs to you. Now, I've not ever done a convention before, but I am self-employed. I do know the stress of waiting, needing, wondering, clock-watching. The best advice I can give is to slow down. One thing at a time. You can only do what you can do when you can do it. In between, you MUST find something else to do to take your mind off it. You need the mental off-time to recoup and relax. It will help you avoid mental overload. I am sure someone else will have words of wisdom regarding your show, but I hope from me you can take away the importance of focusing on one thing at a time and spending some time on yourself as well. Good luck to you at your convention!
Click to expand...

I definitely have a ton of other stuff to do, haha. I have a four year old (who is away 2 days a week) and dogs and a boyfriend and Team Fortress 2, plus I do writing and drawing, so I definitely can take a break :3 Right now I'm just breaking down what I need to make and how to do it in time. Figure I'll do my HP soaps first, get those done and curing, and then work on bath bombs/sugar scrubs/etc etc etc.

Thank you!
 
Did I hear TF2? Relax...."sometimes you just need a little less gun" :) You'll be fine.
 
christinak said:
Did I hear TF2? Relax...."sometimes you just need a little less gun" :) You'll be fine.
Click to expand...

You did indeed :3 Though, I play Pyro more than anything, so I guess you need a little less gun and a lot more fire ;)

And thanks.
 
Something my husband always tells me to do (and I rarely listen, but should!) is to make a list of what needs to get done, and try to figure out how long it will take. Then do the most time consuming thing first. He also urges me not to leave things until the last minute, but it seems I work better under stress :crazy: I think you have lots of time to do it, good luck!
 
Enlist help. I always get a neice or two to help me cut and label the night before and ALWAYS set up several days in advance to make sure your display will work and look the way you want it to. Make sure you have plenty of small bills and change and bring a calculator so you can do math and talk at the same time!
 
marghewitt said:
Enlist help. I always get a neice or two to help me cut and label the night before and ALWAYS set up several days in advance to make sure your display will work and look the way you want it to. Make sure you have plenty of small bills and change and bring a calculator so you can do math and talk at the same time!
Click to expand...

Sadly, I don't have family or RL friends to help me before I leave (the con is 3 hours away). It's a one woman show, lol. Happily, the gentlemen I am going with/meeting there have all volunteered to help, so I'll see what I can do. I'm allowed to set up before the con opening, but it's only an hour or so, so I get one shot at it, haha.

I was going to bring a lockable cash box and a decent calculator with a paper ribbon to do the math and such on, that way I have the ribbon to prove I did it right, just in case.
 
Oh but you can!

squigglz said:
I was definitely planning to do the Vistaprint thing for sure ^_^ I can't take credit or debit, simply because the fee to have wifi at my table is frankly ridiculous and I can't afford it =/
Click to expand...

If you have an Android or an Iphone, you can take credit cards on your phone - check out https://squareup.com/
 
Do the vista print groupon deal for banners & T-shirts!!!! You can buy groupons from any city & use them. The vista print deal comes & goes. If this one is expires before you use it just google & another will show up soon. I have bought sitckers, banners, cards, tshirts. $17 for $70 worth of product. I have done this deal 3 times & considered doing it again.
http://www.groupon.com/deals/vista-...edium=afl&utm_campaign=2401295&utm_source=rvs

If you don't have a logo there is an etsy shop that made mine & she was GREAT!!!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/xinkblot?ref=search_shop_redirect

Wear comfy shoes & smile a lot!!! You will do great!
 
jcatblum said:
Do the vista print groupon deal for banners & T-shirts!!!! You can buy groupons from any city & use them. The vista print deal comes & goes. If this one is expires before you use it just google & another will show up soon. I have bought sitckers, banners, cards, tshirts. $17 for $70 worth of product. I have done this deal 3 times & considered doing it again.
http://www.groupon.com/deals/vista-...edium=afl&utm_campaign=2401295&utm_source=rvs

If you don't have a logo there is an etsy shop that made mine & she was GREAT!!!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/xinkblot?ref=search_shop_redirect

Wear comfy shoes & smile a lot!!! You will do great!
Click to expand...

Nice! I'll definitely keep that in mind-apparently it's good until October 13th, which is more than enough time :3 And I will, unfortunately, be wearing heels for part of the convention (I'm cosplaying), but i'm definitely bringing flats!

paillo said:
About a third of my sales at festivals, markets etc. are debit or credit card sales via Square on my Droid phone. I wouldn't be without it!
Click to expand...

That seals it! Definitely going to grab that, then.
 
Just a few thoughts and things I have picked up along shows: Cash box is nice to have, but it is a lot easier to someone to grab so I always keep mine in my apron pockets. I keep about 20 bucks worth of $1's, $5's and about 4 $10's and all the rest goes into my jeans pocket so I don't accidentally drop any, give out the wrong change or have to worry about it wandering off.
Secondly - the people coming to the show/con do not know what all you had planned. Whatever you end up with is what they think you were going for. Do not stress the tiny details of your set-up in the end you are the only one who is going to be freaking out over it and the only one who is going to know something is "missing." Best of luck!
 
Congrats! It's stressful, but fun. Do you have insurance and a sales tax number yet?
 
Accept that you will forget something. Or something will go wrong. It will happen, just like weddings and travel, and that's okay. This is your first time, so go with low expectations - have fun, sell stuff, and make notes of what you'll do better next time in your downtime later. Keep an eye on the more successful sellers and think about what you might want to do yourself.

I would also suggest taking along paper and markers that match your packaging (think nice paper, like scrapbook paper, available by the sheet) so you can make signs on the fly if you need to, but they don't scream "I'm desperate for sales" like white copy paper and a sharpie (or worse, the back of someone else's flyer!)
 
I would not go to any show/ convention/farmers market without my square!. It works great unless you do not get a signal, and I have had it only happen once. Good luck and enjoy! Personally I would ditch the heels :p and strictly wear a pair of nice comfy shoes. Standing in one spot most of the day is tough.
 
paillo said:
About a third of my sales at festivals, markets etc. are debit or credit card sales via Square on my Droid phone. I wouldn't be without it!
Click to expand...

I second this. I do not sell soap. Rather, I am an avid consumer (meaning I buy soap not eat it, no matter how delectable the fragrance). I am also at the upper end of an age group that simply do not carry cash or a checkbook as a rule. I do not carry a purse and therefore hate to deal with change (in jeans pockets...sure, but slacks?). The square and PayPal apps have made carrying anything more than my ID, debit/credit card, and a phone (in a single specialty case, mind you) unnecessary. I would think that an inability to process credit cards would severely curtail your sales from customers like me.

Soap is very much an impulse buy. The more accessible you can make the product, the better.
 

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