Lessons Learned at Nantwich
Take a small stool or chair! By the end of the two full days, my feet were like blown up rubber gloves: I am not used to being on my feet for that long. The Cornish Cheese Company had a long, thick piece of rubber matting that cushioned the feet, although I kept tripping up over it.
I think we need to tackle the Public Day differently as maybe we are not best placed for selling artisan cheese in such an arena. What do the public expect? Do we have cheap cheese…not really, so I think we have to take a different approach. Having said this, I do not wish to appear to be churlish – we had a great time and it was an invaluable experience, meeting customers, would be customers and making cheesey friends – a brilliant and unmissable opportunity.
Here is my check list for anyone thinking about exhibiting at a show:
Check List for Attending a Show As an Exhibitor
Display and Dressing
Trestle table if one is not supplied – wallpaper tables do well
Trestle table covering – we bought our black velvet from ebay
Descriptions of your goods – we bought A9 perspex display cards
Brochures/leaflets/flyers/ – we printed ourselves and put in Tri-fold leaflet perspex display holders
Banner – we designed ours at Vistaprint, along with business cards
Something to affix your banner to the trestle table – if using screws, don’t forget a screwdriver!
Something to sit samples on – we used sanitised slate
Samples
Disposable spoons
Knives to cut
Blue roll to wipe knives and clean displays
Sanitiser to keep hands clean
Blue gloves if handling money
Cocktail sticks for samples – we bought ours from Bunzl
Used cocktail stick holders – marked up olive tubs
A small bin and bin liner
Clothing
Logo-aprons, name badges, smart-ish clothing but comfy
The comfiest shoes you own
Refreshments
Take masses of water and a thermosflask
We bought our lunch the night before – sandwiches, crisps, chocolate
Other
A price gun, spare price labels
Camera and battery charger
Notebook and pens – you will lose them
Your products
In small packs, already priced
Sales
Bags for purchases over a certain amount
Money belt or cash tin
What we didn’t take but Should Have
Two small stools or chairs
A sack truck that we could fit our crates on to get things out quickly at the end of the day