The Day after the expo is complete in Small Business Startup Journal - The Journey To Starting My Own Brand of Travel Clothing and Handbags

So, here I sit the day after the expo has wrapped up.

It did not go well.

Day #1

I knew a few hours into the first day it wasn’t going well.

And it did not take long for the other exhibitors including the long time exhibtors to talk too.

The first day was quiet, which is normally the busiest, by the end of the day an energy had swept the venue. I had also Jen with me who had experience working retail and wholesale and she started to walk around and talk to people too. I also started to talk to the other exhibitor stalls in our aisle.

By the end of the day I had spoken with multiple people who said that this was the quietest they had ever seen it, In the final hour of the day when I was walking back from the exhibition bar with a glass of champagne for Jen and I to comiserate a terrible day, I overhead one woman from a exhibition booth talking to another woman from a different exhibition booth and I overheard her say ‘I have never seen it like this’.

During the course of the first day we noticed a pattern of people walking past, but not really looking or observing, it was like they were on a mission and just had no interest in their surroundings. We then saw a pattern start of some people who wanted to buy off the stand - personal shoppers we called them.

I also had a lady stop buy who loved the pieces personally even though she had a crystal shop, she told me that many of her suppliers had called her and said they had rented a room at the Crowne Casino and told their buyers they were in town for the expo and to come see them while they were at the hotel. She said they were doing this as it saved them time and money rather than going and having a stall or a booth at the expo.

Day #2

Come the second day I was talking with my neighbours even more. Mel and Tony were on my right, Mel said that she had resigned herself to the fact that the only way she was going to make this profitable was to start booking appointments with her regulars in town on the drive back.

That’s when Mel told me about schlepping. She said Schlepping was a more tedious but reliable way of getting buyers. She said the best way was to map out stores you think may be suitable for your stock and who sell things in your price range, and then you call them up and ask the owner if they are available and let them know when you will be around or in town and that you want to come in and show them your product. She said that it can take time but that she had built up a really good succesful base and method of getting reliable business doing this.

The second was my other neighbours to the left, I had some ladies selling Jewellery who had made it all the way from Perth and next to them on the end some ladies from Honey and Stone Co named Amy and Mandy who gave me advice too. They told me I had a great idea and that I was being charged too much to create the pieces and that I should go to Indonesia.

They wound up giving me the name of a lady and a business in Indonesia who could help me and that would give me better prices.
They then gave me advice about the price range I should be selling at. They said that reducing the price point would also open up the the amount of people who would buy and be interested in my product.

I also then had another lady stop by, her name was Fatima and she said she recognised me and the video I had outside my stall from Instagram. She gave me great feedback about the colours and patterns she would like not just as a customer herself, but from her experience with her family doing luxury fashion and sewing clothes. She gave me a great tip about adding a border to the Kaftan to give it a more luxurious feel and that would elevate the product. She was so lovely and supportive and said that I had made it further than people who just dream and to keep going and to be proud of myself.

I also asked Jen about what she thought about the prices and she gave me great feedback and helped my lower the prices to make it more appealing, while this was great, it essentially did not matter. I could have had everything in the booth for $1 and it would not have mattered. There were not really the people to come up. I had a few leads but most were from personal shoppers still.

I then had to make the decision to only hire Erin who was supposed to be helping me for the third day and fourth day, and make the decision to get her to help me for just the third day, as I could not afford to hire her for an extra day.

I then spoke with my neighbours from Perth with the Jewellery and we got talking about how
much we were charged and the costs. I got the impression that David M my account manager from the expo was a bit of a salesman based on some of the convos I had and the looks they exchanged.

There was a dinner on at the end of the day for the second day, and low and behold I managed to get hold of David as we were walking to the drinks place. He asked me how everything was going, I played it cool and was super nice and bubbly, as I have found that this is helpful when trying to get extra information from people.

When I had told him that things were not going as expected I was curious to see what his response would be. He gave a response very much like that of a politician, he said that things were a bit tough, and that people really come to these places to look for a certain kind of product like something new or differnt or find new exhibitors (which of course I was) and completely avoided mentioning anything about the numbers in attendance. It was like listening to an answet that did not really have an answer, all fluff and no substance.

The other exhibitors were right, he was a good salesmen and good at spin.

Day #3

By day 3 I had to decide that I was not going to hire Erin who was helping me, I then had to let her know, she came on the third day and was super helpful though, it did allow me to continue to go for walks and talk to other exhibitors.

I spoke to one guy Ryan who said that they had done ok, but that they had learned early on in their exhibiting years to have a stall in the middle on the corner with no walls, as that was the best method.
I then spoke to another guy who told me that actually he normally exhibits at AGHA.
He said that they normally do better there as it is an expo for people looking more for newer brands and unique items. He said that not only do they do well and have less competitors, but that the cost is usually only a a couple of grand compared to what the Reed expo costs.

Then he told me something else, he said that Reed could not fill the space he had taken up
(which was quiet large and almost 4 times my booth space) and that they reached out to him and gave him something like 30 - 40% off to fill the space. He said that even with the large space (and he was also corner with open walls) he didn’t see anything that was impressive in terms of sales and would not make a booking again.

He highly recommended that I instead try AGHA.

I thought that was interesting.

I also spoke to one final exhibtor at the back of the expo stadium where all the jewellery was being sold. She told me a piece of advice after I told her my experience of the past few days, she said that she had been doing these booths for like 20 years and that she had seen some people set up and not hit their sales on the first day and promise to never exhibit again.
She said that they key she had found was to not set expectations for yourself, to be curious and open to what happens and then you elarn but are not let down. She said that this was better than having the outlook that I had failed (as I had said that this is how I felt).

When I returned to my booth I remember Erin who told me that she had been listening in on the socks guys who had a booth opposite us. His name was Jay and he had been having his regulars stop by, she had overhead him say to a buyer that things were so tough he didn’t care if he only made 5% commision from a sale that would be happy with that.

He had a million dollars worth of stock and so the stakes were high for him, he made a $2500 sale at one point, that would have been a big deal to me, but nothing to him.

Day #4

Day 4 came and went. It was slow, it was painful, it was what we all expected.
Mel did a little better, having had some long term customers stop by and also managed to grab just a few new customers. She said that she would be stopping off on the way home and making up for the loss by showing her regulars her collection.

She loved some of my belts so much that I told her she could take some, she let me take a set of earrings that were beautiful, gold and green.

I handed out some of my free gift with purchase travel straws to the exhibitors who I had chatted with and who had helped me over the space of the past few days. The other exhibitors who had helped me and suported me were lovely and it was sad to see them go.

I had the jewellery ladies from Perth next to me who I think packed up an hour early to leave, absolutely gutted with the lack of sales and attendees.

As I was packing up I had the ladies from the clothing label at the end come and give me some final tips and pass on their contact details. Honestly I was so grateful and the extra contact details they shared with me to ensure that I could reach out to them for any extra help meant the world to me.

I had Nadine and her husband with the paper jewellery business who told me about how they had many failed businesses and startups and it took years until they found their groove as well, it was said to see them go and pack up too.
They also gifted me with some lovely earrings. Bump out was exhausting but luckily I had my brother to help me. I was just so happy to get back to my hotel room and rest and reflect on the past week, but determined to keep moving forward.

Last updated August 15, 2024