In the high-tech community, there’s a lot of talk about the importance of having “incubators” to support firms as they try to find their feet in the market. But the people who make a living growing, selling and adding value to food have had their own business incubator for years. It’s called the farmers market, and in its own way, it’s one of the purest forms of commerce we have today.
The hand of government is light, the relationship with customers is immediate and the feedback is visceral and unavoidable. At a farmers market, either you succeed or you don’t. In these pages, you’ll meet two entrepreneurs who have succeeded, using their local farmers markets to test their products, develop their sales approaches and, ultimately, grow their small businesses.
Two-Way Street
The commercial avenue that connects the farmers’ market and the traditional storefront doesn’t just go in one direction. Owen Petersen, the owner of Prairie Mill Bread Co., is one person who’s travelled the other way. When he opened his storefront bakery in Edmonton’s Terwillegar neighbourhood in December 2008, he immediately connected with Edmonton’s City Market Downtown the following summer. Petersen, 28, now spends his Saturdays at the downtown market (where he earns a third of his year’s revenue), Wednesday evenings at the Terwillegar Farmers’ Market and Thursday evenings at the Salisbury Farmers’ Market in Sherwood Park.
Not surprisingly, Petersen is a fan of farmers’ markets. “They increase your exposure so much,” he says. “The downtown market is the biggest one in Alberta. We get between 10,000 and 15,000 customers on a Saturday. It’s become a big part of the business.”
Petersen sells roughly 26 dozen loaves of bread on a Saturday, and turns a profit that would take his Terwillegar bakery two days to earn. He sells about 20 dozen loaves a week at the smaller markets.
Tips: From Stall to Storefront
Don’t Sell Yourself Short
Trying to compete solely on price at a farmers’ market can lead to an inaccurate picture of the demand for your product, says Linda Kearney of Queen of Tarts bakery. “You won’t know if people are buying from you because you’re cheap or because you’re good.” More importantly, if you price your products a little higher to start with, it means you won’t have to jack them up if you decide to transition from the farmers’ market to a storefront in order to cover all your new costs.
Time is Money
You know all that time you have at the farmers’ market to chat with customers? That will be one of the first things you’ll have to give up if you decide to move from market to main street. Instead, you’ll be busy with a slough of new administrative chores, from doing payroll and managing time sheets to filling out the various government forms you never had to deal with before. Get used to it.
Sleep? It’s Over
Savour those lazy Sunday mornings, because if you decide to follow in the footsteps of other people who have transitioned from the farmers’ market to a storefront, you won’t see another one for a while. “I went for six months with three hours of sleep a night,” says Linda Kearney of Queen of Tarts bakery. “It’s like having a child: you don’t really know until you go through it.”
Plastic Doesn’t Pay
Moving into a storefront means you’ll have to accept a wider range of payments, and that can be an unexpected drag on your bottom line. It’s certainly something that Linda Kearney wishes she had built into her budget at Queen of Tarts bakery. “I didn’t realize that I’d go from an almost completely cash-based business to one where 75 to 80 per cent of transactions are debit or credit cards,” she says. “It’s costing me a fortune, and it’s not built into my costs right now.”