# Would you do this event?



## Chef Isaac (Jul 26, 2004)

my wife and I are thinking of doing a flower and garden show in June. It is a three day event and history shows that they have done 9,500 people. Tables are $250. 

Do you all ever do events with high table costs?


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## BjornBee (Feb 7, 2003)

NO. Too many other ways to sell my products. You investing three days, plus prep time.

So for a table at $250 and four days labor (200 per day???) and at a product profitability factor of 50% (sale amount less cost and labor to produce), you would need about $2100 dollars in sales to make it work.

I know some places do that amount, but I just tend to not risk the high risk/high cost venues.

Are they also charging admission??


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## Chef Isaac (Jul 26, 2004)

Not sure if they are chargin admission. I am sorta in the same thinking boat you are. It is a lot of money for the table cost and I am ALWAYS sweating the covering the table cost thing. Even though we do at every event but it is added stress for me!


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## nursebee (Sep 29, 2003)

YES. But get your act together to get people to stop and sample what they will buy. Live bees and samples of something different is how you do it. Charge enough! Split the table with someone else, or invite a small biz owner to share with you.

It depends upon how good you are with people. I love this kind of stuff.


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## riverrat (Jun 3, 2006)

I would pay that kind of money if it was an established show that has very high attendance. I would make sure there wassnt to many other guys selling honey has this will cut into your sells


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## arjay (Jun 8, 2007)

i did a little street fest last fall that emphasized green products; they specifically wanted a beekeeper, and didn't charge a vendor fee. i sold out. i'm scheduled for a much larger show this fall, (i approached them this time) and because they had never had a beekeeper and were excited by the prospect, they waived my fee. 

i realize it won't always be so easy, but i'm two for two on freebie shows, and i'll definitely continue looking for such opportunities in the future. if you look around, you might be able to do similarly.


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## manbee (Sep 22, 2003)

*show.*

For sure. To make it you need to sell it. I did one two day show last fall for $140 and 15000 poeple showed and i sold out the second day. you never know so give a shot.


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## Joel (Mar 3, 2005)

Chef, much depends on your goals. It's easy to look at the price and say I won't make much if any money. Building a business is all about getting your name out there and making connections and getting folks to try and buy your products. In my early days I worked under the concept of profitability and was dissappointed with sales vs effort at many events. Then I started to realize newspeople showed up at these and we found ourselves in the newpaper, on the evening news and any time anything about bees or honey comes up we get the call. This kind of exposure led to talks at local colleges, civic groups and schools. We had farm markets and bakers attend different events and ask for card and later hooked up for sales. Resturaunt owners who liked the idea of honey bears on the table, corporate type who ordered "something different" Christmas gifts of honey baskets of speciality honey's, we even have a store owned by a Jewish Family that every year orders $500 worth of specialtiy honey/jars to mail out with apples for Rosh Hashanna every September for the past 6 years. We are soon to be in a very exclusive womens store with our value added skin products in a very upscale area of NYC. If you don't make one thin dime this is a great opportunity.

I know you're serious about your honey business from the brief off grid exchanges we've had. Don't share your table with anyone, don't focus on the immediate results but look at the long haul and build your business one event at a time. One add in the newspaper would cost you much more than this. Get an observation hive, have your operation spit and polished, send out a press release and get some exposure. 

In the beginning stages the immediate profit margin is a small part of the value of doing an event. You can't measure the value of meeting people, shaking hands and making an impression with an organized set up, a good presentation and the great products I know you make. How much is one good story in the newspaper worth, one solid hand shake a solid eye contact with the right business owner?

I think one of the reasons so many business fail in the beginning is they focus too narrowly on profit instead of good business. Run the best bee business you can, be frugal but not cheap and look at things not just the present but the future. It's about finding your niche and you will, it just takes some time. Judge your choices by value not cost. I'm looking forward to seeing the story about Chef Issac and his bees on the Food Channel and maybe if you work really hard maybe even in Fortune 500! I'd go for it chef!


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## Chef Isaac (Jul 26, 2004)

awesome advice joel!


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## Grant (Jun 12, 2004)

I just finished a Southeast Missouri Home & Garden show last weekend.

They needed to bolster attendance and vendor participation so they appealed to the two local farmer's market associations to participate at no table charge. I shared a large table with some other vendors in my group. Sold quite a bit of honey and homemade soap, but most of all greeted people with, "come and see us at the farmer's market."

For me it was more about establishing business as most of the people weren't buying, just browsing, and a lot of these people were not the farmer's market type customers.

Worth the time? I don't really know yet. But I'm from the school of trying anything once along with nothing ventured nothing gained.

Grant
Jackson, MO


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