Start a Successful Summer Business Selling at Outdoor Markets

The summer is the perfect time to start thinking about doing something crazy, like starting your own business. School is out and people are taking vacations. This is the perfect time for you to start thinking about taking a vacation from your job and potentially making a lot of money. This is not to advocate quitting your day job. Instead, you should endeavor to create a side job you can get started with right now. Getting started will not require a major investment from you. Rather, all you’re really going to need to invest is your time and your energy into making the business a success, and you can make a lot of money.

Where You Can Sell

One of the things that many people worry about when they’re thinking about starting a business is where they will set up to start selling. If you’re not sure about setting up a website and learning how to be an e-guru, and you don’t want to draft a business plan so you can borrow the money to purchase a building, you can simply sell out outdoor markets. The summer is the perfect time for outdoor markets, and according to FOX Business, it is an ideal situation for you to establish your brand and start developing a following of people interested in buying from you all the time. If you look online, you’re sure to discover plenty of festivals and markets happening all around you. All you have to do is contact the people putting on the festivals, markets or events to learn how you can get a booth space. You will need to pay a booth fee, and in some cases you may have to provide your own tent, but this is a much smaller investment than paying for a permanent location.

Get the Hardware You Need

As you’re getting ready to show up to your first market, you need to make sure you have all the hardware you’re going to need to sell your products, according to the Small Business Administration (SBA). Among the things you should have is a credit card reader that can attach to either your smartphone or your tablet. This will allow you to take credit card payments for everything you’re selling. The more expensive your merchandise is, the more important having this kind of hardware is. Of course, you should also make sure you have a receipt printer from ecommerce service providers like Shopify to go along with the credit card reader. This way, you can provide a copy of the receipt to your customers if they want it. On the receipt you should make sure to include information about your business, including your website, social media connections, phone number and any other ways you would like to invite your customers to connect with you. Keep the information as brief as possible as you don’t want to overload the receipt. These printers do not need wires or a power source as they run on Bluetooth connections and batteries. Just set it up and start using it.

Stop Hesitating and Start Acting

The first step is always the hardest when it comes to starting your own business. This is why ABC News suggests that you put down what you’re looking to accomplish in writing. You don’t have to get as detailed as writing out a business plan, but you should set goals, including dates when you’re looking to accomplish certain milestones in the life of your business. If you’re planning on attending your first event in a week, you’ll have to look at all the steps you’re going to need to accomplish on the days leading up to the event. By putting your plan down in writing, it is no longer a thought, it is now a plan. Putting a plan into action is a lot easier than putting a thought into action.

Keep It Going

The first time you go out will never be flawless. Even with all the planning in the world, you do not have the experience of actually showing up to the markets and selling to the crowds. Take stock in this and don’t give up after the first event, even if it was a disaster. Instead, you should analyze what went wrong and how you can make it better the next time around. Each time you go out to the markets, you will sell more and be more effective in your role. You will start to learn what the customers are looking for and how you can make more money. If your new business starts to take on a life of its own, you may consider quitting your day job. Fast Company recommends you only consider quitting your job after the side job has proven itself, and not a moment sooner. Either way, you’re going to have a lot of fun trying something new this summer.