Just smile!
Good morning!
Hopefully it's a drier and warmer day today. Yesterday it didn’t stop raining, you might have seen the bricklayers using one of our gazebos so they could carry on working in it. Of course we were happy to help, you have to respect anyone who wants to get on and get a job done despite difficult conditions. Plus it made us laugh, free advertising on a building site!
We had a pretty good day yesterday, basically starting to ramp things up for the next few weeks ahead. We have the two small shows this Sunday and then next week it is Easter which is when things really get going for us.
We are typically full on from Easter through to the end of September and then October is a little quieter and then November and December are bloody bonkers.
It's funny, each year we are exhausted by Christmas, look forward to January to March but then in the middle of this time we can’t wait to get going again, well we are nearly through it and about to get going. We are all such a fickle bunch, give it a month and you will probably be reading how there is not enough time etc etc But that is the nature of our business, it tends to be all or nothing at the shed in the fens!
It will be good to get out regularly to the shows, even though they are long hard days and very unpredictable, they are great to meet people and see people out living their lives and enjoying themselves. If you only read the news and don’t get out and about you would think the world is ending, but it's not, yes things are challenging in the world but people still pick themselves up and get out doing the things that they enjoy. Whether that be attending food festivals, country shows or music festivals, people always show up and seem to have a good time. We will be at various different types of events this year and are really looking forward to it.
To give you an insight into what it's like attending a show as an exhibitor we will keep a diary at some and put it on here. If you have a passion for making a product etc it will help you understand what's involved and then you can decide if you would like to have a go at one. There is no better way to learn than get out in front of the public selling something you have made. People can be brutally honest, people can be rude and obnoxious but people can also be so supportive, encouraging and appreciative for what you are doing. The important thing is not to focus on the negative part, but that is very difficult to do.
There has been lots of studies on this and in our experience it is true, for example on a Facebook post you can have hundreds of positive comments and one single negative comment. That one comment can totally overshadow all the other ones. The same goes for the people you meet at shows. We have been doing it long enough now that it doesn’t bother us, we simply smile and then focus on the positive. But if it's your first show or your first attempt at doing something for yourself this can be crushing.
Off for a meeting and a coffee!
Catch you later