When I started this business I really had to stop myself from spending money I sorely needed elsewhere on taking out an expensive lease on a shop.

There were all sorts of plusses for getting one; visability, a human being to talk through pet issues with for my customers, a permanent base, a way of making the website less 'faceless' etc.  But the cons outweighed the pros, not least the insane cost of a lease.  Around here in Worthing a small shop in a good location would cost me £15K per year in busines rates alone!  It just wasn't feasible.

So I opted for a tent and spent last summer (mostly soaked to the skin) touting my wares around country shows throughout England.  It was expensive but worthwhile and proved to be yet another valuable learning curve, you'll have lots of those!

However when summer ends you're at home, waiting for Christmas shows to start so my bright idea was to get a market stall somewhere to earn some cash and meet new customers.  I had lived near Greenwich in London for years, and had a hankering for a stall of my own in Greenwich market. 

So I approached the market office and they were very enthusiastic about the product.  Barney and Ben, the market managers just said ‘turn up, take a stall, see what you think and we’ll go from there.’  So I did and stayed on for two months up until Christmas eve as what’s known as a casual trader. 

I queued up in the morning with the others and got a pitch.  More permanent traders don’t have to queue and get a pitch within a designated area (which makes for green eyes when you’re running late and you can see everyone else setting up while you’re still queuing).

Barney and Ben were very helpful, giving me tips and ideas for presenting my stock to make it look as enticing as possible, and more importantly, renting a stall is relatively cheap!  I can do a weekend at Greenwich for £100, far cheaper than having my own shop.

The real advantage of having a presence in a tourist spot is, well tourists!  Selling natural pet care is a talking business.  It’s a new product for customers who can’t wait to talk about their pets’ problems and they come from all over the country.  When they get home, they have literature to read courtesy of yours truly and a sample or two plus whatever they’ve bought on the stall. 

So my little web of pet healthcare is ever expanding across the UK, all thanks to a six by two foot plank of wood and some rather fetching hessian (if there can be such a thing).  I went back two weeks ago as a permanent stall holder which means I know which stall to head for every week and can turn up half an hour later (more sleep) plus no queuing up.

If you’ve got a repeat business or want to sell something that you could take commissions for (jewellery or paintings etc) that can be spread by word of mouth (and what can’t these days) or you want to push people towards a website for further purchasing then I can’t recommend setting yourself up a little pitch highly enough. 

Go for it.