Every small business is about making risks. I’ve talked before about the risk we took going from just selling locally on craigslist, to having a booth at the first Vintage Market Days (VMD) of St Louis and how well that risk paid off. My husband and I talked earlier this year about possibly doing a show outside of St Louis, to try to broaden our clientele reach. So, when we heard that Northwest Arkansas was opening its first VMD this spring, we thought that getting a booth there might be a good way to expand! So we applied, got in and got working right after the Spring VMD here locally.
This might be helpful to someone out there, but mostly I’m writing this down for me. So I don’t forget!
What about you? Have you ever made a business risk that didn’t pay off? What did you learn?
I think you’re items were beautiful. I think the problem was you were the first booth, people wanted to see what else was there. Then they forgot about you or had already purchased somethjng elsewhere. I looked at your items and thought they were great, but I wasn’t in the market for a larger piece. Wish you all the best, hope you’ll give Arkansas a chance again.
Hi Betsy! Thanks for the feedback! It is possible that location was a problem… but I was the first or one of the first booths at both STL VMDs and was incredibly successful at both. I think several people were just like you and not in the market for a larger piece. Thank you for the well wishes and I hope you can come to the next VMD here in St Louis in September!
Lots of great tips, Rachel! Your pieces were fabulous and so was your staging. I’m betting it was the whole “new show” that kept you from selling out. VMD is big with the blogging world, but there were probably many shoppers who had never heard of VMD so they didn’t know what to expect. They probably weren’t expecting big furniture items and didn’t have vehicles with them that would allow them to take larger pieces home.
Your booth and your furniture look amazing! Don’t let this discourage you. Your pieces are stunning and I would have thought they would have flown out the door. All beautiful! I def. think for the bigger pieces people need to have a place for it and like the look. I always scratch my head as to what sells and what doesn’t. When I did the antique show it was more smaller pieces. x
Thanks. I especially like the white coffee table with the natural top.
Rachel, I typed up a long comment on this post last week, but see it never made it through! I just wanted to say thank you for sharing your experience, specifically with VMD NWA. I was thinking of heading up there for a show next year, so I appreciate learning from your experience. My bet is that the painted furniture trend hasn’t quite taken off there yet, but it another year or two there will be a bigger customer base. You paint wonderful pieces and I’m glad you were able to find other alternatives in the area for your pieces that didn’t sell. This is a hard business with lots of up and downs, but you’re great at it!