You Win Some, You Lose Some
All told, we've actually been doing pretty well since shows started happening after the COVID-19 shutdowns. We've had a few that were weak, but none where we outright lost money.
Until this weekend. We were told this show would have ~2000 people, but to judge by the amount of foot traffic I saw, I don't think we had more than 200. I haven't run the numbers yet, but I don't think we even made booth. And given it was an out-of-town show, which meant a hotel stay and gas to make the trip, we're going to be a lot further behind than we would've at a local show.
We haven't done this badly since 2019, when we tried out several shows for the first time only to have them flop hard. In some cases, we just didn't have the right line of product for the market, but in others, the customer base just wasn't there. And given that other vendors at this event were worried about making expenses, I'm pretty sure it's the latter at this one.
We're going to have to seriously rethink our strategy for expanding our business in this direction. We can't keep pouring good money after bad.
Until this weekend. We were told this show would have ~2000 people, but to judge by the amount of foot traffic I saw, I don't think we had more than 200. I haven't run the numbers yet, but I don't think we even made booth. And given it was an out-of-town show, which meant a hotel stay and gas to make the trip, we're going to be a lot further behind than we would've at a local show.
We haven't done this badly since 2019, when we tried out several shows for the first time only to have them flop hard. In some cases, we just didn't have the right line of product for the market, but in others, the customer base just wasn't there. And given that other vendors at this event were worried about making expenses, I'm pretty sure it's the latter at this one.
We're going to have to seriously rethink our strategy for expanding our business in this direction. We can't keep pouring good money after bad.