After every market, I breathe a big sigh of relief and then I have this desire to lay on the couch for one day straight. Please refrain from judging me! Craft Savvy Market #3 was no different. I was still exhausted, but I did not need as much time to recuperate. Here are three things I learned from our third market:
- Ditch It If It Doesn’t Work – For this market, I love that we were not afraid to ditch some practices that did not work for us during the first two markets. For example, we decided to change the time of the market. For the first two markets, our hours were 11-4. For this market, we looked at our data and we decided to alter the time and I’m glad we did. Sometimes we are afraid to make changes because we often times don’t have a guarantee of success. But one thing is for sure: If you never try, you’ll never know. If it isn’t working, ditch it and try a new strategy. The worse that could happen is that you learn from your experience. The best that could happen is that you see the success you dreamed about.
- Develop A Process – One of the things we tried to do for our third market was to streamline our processes. This inspired me because developing a process is the first step to becoming more efficient at a task. A process saves us from starting from scratch every time. We worked hard this time around to analyze the feedback we received from our previous markets and make applicable changes and create processes where needed. We also were careful to document processes and refine the steps needed for various tasks. This is applicable to any task we choose to undertake in our own lives. Develop a process and give it a try. If you find that the process needs tweaking, make adjustments and keep going. It’s always easier to start with a baseline.
- Build A Team – For this market, I learned the value of building a team. As a crafter, we sometimes get in the habit of working solo – my idea, my execution, my work, etc. For our third market, we were more intentional about building a team of supporters and volunteers. This made the day of the market much smoother. Instead of being pulled in multiple directions, we were able to focus on fewer tasks and make more of an impact on those tasks.
by Jandi Harris
vendors were excited to be a part of our event because of the connections they were able to make and the exposure they were able gain. It definitely feels great to be aligned with such an inspiring event.
by Mina Mantor