I've read the long topic relating to a possible economic downturn and falling sales and in my 11th month of trading have found that things have gone very quiet.
So one simple question;
What other products are selling well?
Art sales are very personal so I'd like to introduce other lines, not necessarily artwork and am looking for inspiration.
Cheers
Framing and ?????
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Roboframer
What else do you do now bar framing and art?
Depends on your location and competition in lines you may wish to try.
Not saying that if there is no takeaway you should start selling Chinese food!
Your words "Framing and???????" (Art?)
Fill in the gap here - Arts and ............ ?????
People that make things appreciate a job well done. But you'd need staff that know how to do it, not just sell it.
Works for me - so does greetings (cards, giftwrap, ribbon, etc) and gifts - unusual giftware - do the gift halls at the Spring Fair and don't try and do them in a day either.
I'd avoid artist materials - unless you want to get into them big time.
Depends on your location and competition in lines you may wish to try.
Not saying that if there is no takeaway you should start selling Chinese food!
Your words "Framing and???????" (Art?)
Fill in the gap here - Arts and ............ ?????
People that make things appreciate a job well done. But you'd need staff that know how to do it, not just sell it.
Works for me - so does greetings (cards, giftwrap, ribbon, etc) and gifts - unusual giftware - do the gift halls at the Spring Fair and don't try and do them in a day either.
I'd avoid artist materials - unless you want to get into them big time.
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RobinC
- Posts: 186
- Joined: Sat 23 Jul, 2005 3:50 pm
Don't panic. We have been trading for 19 years and have found May and June usually to be the quietest months - people go on holiday, garden, barbeque, decorate the outside of their houses etc. We are almost at the Graduation certificate and photo time and also people will soon be back from their holidays with their pictures and souveniers bought from all over the world (but mainly painted and made in China!) - in fact I have had a customer today with a print he bought on a cruise ship. We have found that if August is hot and dry we have a quiet month , but it comes back in September.
We have tried all types of promotion from discounts, advertising, artist visits, bogof etc and the simple problem is that there are not enough people out shopping for the inside of their homes until the autumn. We have found that it has been more effective to save our promotion spend until the Autumn when we tend to get more sales per £ spent. We are based inside a shopping centre in a large Northern town close to both Blackpool and Southport and an hour away from the lake district so if the sun is out it is hard to get our customers in, understandably.
I also usually find as soon as I start to worry about lack of business then it starts to pile in again!
Robin
We have tried all types of promotion from discounts, advertising, artist visits, bogof etc and the simple problem is that there are not enough people out shopping for the inside of their homes until the autumn. We have found that it has been more effective to save our promotion spend until the Autumn when we tend to get more sales per £ spent. We are based inside a shopping centre in a large Northern town close to both Blackpool and Southport and an hour away from the lake district so if the sun is out it is hard to get our customers in, understandably.
I also usually find as soon as I start to worry about lack of business then it starts to pile in again!
Robin
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Not your average framer
- Posts: 11008
- Joined: Sat 25 Mar, 2006 8:40 pm
- Location: Devon, U.K.
- Organisation: The Dartmoor Gallery
- Interests: Lost causes, saving and restoring old things, learning something every day
- Location: Glorious Devon
Hi Liz,
11 months is not very far into the long build-up curve as people start to discover that you are there. In the early stages this can be stressful, as you wonder should I do this or that? Am I doing it right?
Everyone who has just started their business has had doubts during the quieter times - that's normal. Keep good control of your cash-flow and try not to worry or buy more sales items as a knee-jerk reaction to the quieter times.
We sell very little in addition to framing and this suits us well. However we do offer a more specialist service than probably all our local competition, which includes: cleaning, repairs and restoration, plus repairing or modifying the size of old or antique frames and making hand finished frames too.
How did I get into all the rest? It just happened bit by bit, at first people asked me to just touch-in this or that, so I did. As time went on more people wanted me to do things and soon needed to get equipped and trained. The business grew as a slow steady process, I never planned it like this, it just happened.
Hang-on in there while your customer base grows and things will gradually get there. If you've got time on your hands practice some new skills and make some demo items for you shop windows. Look around your local charity shops for things to frame - Babies booties, golf ball and tee and things like that. Be different and let people see that you are offering something different to the competition.
I hope this helps.
11 months is not very far into the long build-up curve as people start to discover that you are there. In the early stages this can be stressful, as you wonder should I do this or that? Am I doing it right?
Everyone who has just started their business has had doubts during the quieter times - that's normal. Keep good control of your cash-flow and try not to worry or buy more sales items as a knee-jerk reaction to the quieter times.
We sell very little in addition to framing and this suits us well. However we do offer a more specialist service than probably all our local competition, which includes: cleaning, repairs and restoration, plus repairing or modifying the size of old or antique frames and making hand finished frames too.
How did I get into all the rest? It just happened bit by bit, at first people asked me to just touch-in this or that, so I did. As time went on more people wanted me to do things and soon needed to get equipped and trained. The business grew as a slow steady process, I never planned it like this, it just happened.
Hang-on in there while your customer base grows and things will gradually get there. If you've got time on your hands practice some new skills and make some demo items for you shop windows. Look around your local charity shops for things to frame - Babies booties, golf ball and tee and things like that. Be different and let people see that you are offering something different to the competition.
I hope this helps.