I’ve been watching The Apprentice with my husband. It’s one of his favourite programmes. I enjoy watching the challenges they’re set, but don’t like the aggressive Boardroom bit so much.
One thing I do like is the way Alan Sugar draws parallels with his early market trading days to contemporary business sense, such as, ‘smell what’s selling’ (meaning notice what your best-sellers are and put the majority of your efforts into that).
There’s usually an episode when they have to run a market stall of some sorts and it reminds me of an early side-hustle I ran with my friend Caroline.
We ran a series of designer-maker fairs (called Oggle) in London every now and then on weekends. Located in a community hall, it would attract many hundreds of people.
It was hard work and we learned a lot.
Here’s 6 BUSINESS LESSONS I remember from that time.
1. Be Super Visible!
The fairs had a lot of potential but the location was difficult. The venue was tucked away down a long pathway and wasn’t immediately obvious to passers-by. We tried to combat this by hiring people to hand out flyers at the top of the path. It worked but it was a hard slog for them and it was an extra cost for us.
LESSON: make sure people can find you!
2. Make the Entry Point easy
At first, we charged ‘pay what you can’ which visitors hated! So, then we asked for one pound but we were criticised again, ‘you wouldn’t have to pay to enter a department store’, they said. They didn’t realise how much investment we put into the fairs but we had to concede that fact was irrelevant if potential customers refused to come in!
LESSON: think about the initial entry point your clients have to your product or service. Does that first engagement pose any barrier? Eliminate any ‘friction’.
3. Give people a Taster
We would often have someone at the event with a delicious cupcake stall. But how did anyone know they were delicious? Because the stall-holder would offer a plate of tasty samples. Once people had a bite, the sales flowed in.
LESSON: freebies are a great way to demonstrate value and build trust. I bet many of you reading this have tried a free version of brands like Gmail, Canva or Dropbox, you’ve probably talked about them to friends and some of you will have graduated to the paid version.
4. Show what your Products can do
The stall-holders that attracted the most customers created a bit of a show. Instead of just plonking everything down on a flat table, they added height and drama with arranged props to set a scene. For example, a savvy jewellery-maker would add a mini set of drawers, a mirror and a feather boa, sparking your imagination of what it would be like to wear their gorgeous earrings.
LESSON: remind people of the benefits of your product or service, ignite their imagination on how you will make their lives easier or better in some way.
5. Encourage Customers to take Action
Walking in to the fair didn’t guarantee visitors would buy anything. The stall-holders who skilfully engaged visitors in no-pressure conversation made the most sales because they were stimulating a genuine reason to act sooner rather than later. Ditto for those who had visual cues on display (such as evocative images or seasonal offers) that reminded people of occasions to buy, such as birthdays, weddings etc.
LESSON: Give people helpful, authentic reasons to buy sooner rather than later such as upcoming occasions, money saving-discounts and special bonuses.
6. Uplift your Energy for more Sales
At our events, if someone was having a bad day – maybe they were tired or were feeling a bit miserable – it would show up in their sales results. It was like they had a negative force-field around them! Upbeat energy is much more likely to generate positive action which creates sales. Downbeat energy creates the opposite.
LESSON: Bring your best self to your sales conversations and activities.
Thinking back to my old side-hustle has reminded me that no experience is wasted in life. Everything teaches us something.
