A new business adventure can be one of the most exciting and rewarding endeavors a person or family can delve into. As a family affair, it can teach children some very valuable lessons such as: counting money and its value, working with the public and being part of a group that depends on each member to do their part. You've planted your first crop to fill your fruit and vegetable stand. So, what else must you do and know before welcoming customers to purchase your produce?
1. Location: If part of your property borders a busy street, you are in luck. Of course, you will have to make sure there is plenty of area for parking and entering and exiting the location. Another option is to scout your town out for empty lots or large parking lots where a produce stand would have high visibility. Find out who the owner of the location is and get permission to use the property.
Tip: If you have a choice of locations, don't pick one with loose dirt. Every time a customer drives up it will raise the dust and it will settle on your produce. People want to purchase clean, fresh looking fruits and vegetables.
2. The Stand: If you are a carpenter or know someone who is handy with a hammer, a nice structure can be built out of wood. Just remember to have it constructed in a way that can be expanded. Another option that is, perhaps, more viable and simpler for your first year is to buy a fabric canopy. These come in various sizes and they are pretty easy to put up and take down with the help of another person. Plus expansion is just a matter of purchasing another canopy for next year. And they are easy to store during the off season months.
Tip: Make sure you anchor your canopy down. An easy way to do this is with cement bricks that have holes cut out. Place them at the bottom of each leg and attach. Now your canopy won't take off like a kite with the first gust of wind.
3. Display: Start with folding tables. Add clean wood boxes (you may have to build these) to give your produce in the back a higher level. You want all of your produce to be seen. It is unappealing to have all of your fruits and vegetables on one flat level. Next, consider purchasing "bushel baskets" for larger items. Don't leave spoiled or damaged items out as no one will purchase these anyway. Have prices readily displayed. No one likes to ask how much something costs. If they have to ask, many times they will just pass it up.
Tip: Keep additional produce under the table, where it is out of the sun, and replenish your displays often.
Tip: Display an array of colors. Appeal to your customers sense of sight. Don't display all green produce together, but mix colors. Put zucchini squash next to red tomatoes, not green beans.
4. Signs: First give your fruit and vegetable stand a name, something short, but memorable: Snappy Joe's Fresh Produce, Farmer Frieda's Finest or Just Picked. Make a sign and attach it to your stand.
Secondly, you will need signs that can be placed along the road so people will know your stand is coming up. This will give them a chance to slow down and turn into your location. Make sure the signs have a sturdy backing and are anchored down. You don't want them blowing over in the wind. If you make the backs out of plywood, you can purchase posterboard, print on it and staple it to the wood back. Use a wood brace to prop these up on the ground.
Tip: A plastic sign, for your business name, can be printed for a nominal fee at a sign shop. Plus, this sign can just be rolled up in storage, later on. Attach this sign over the top of your stand - make it colorful so it is noticed.
5. Produce: Get used to getting up very, very early and going to bed early. Pick your produce fresh every day in order to offer it fresh to your customers. That means getting up early enough to pick, clean and properly display your fruits and vegetables before your first customer arrives. The earlier you can get into your stand and be ready for business, the more sales you will have. Try growing a few unusual items as well as fruits and vegetables such as:
* flowers (fresh cut, dried and potted)
* mushrooms
* herbs (fresh cut, dried and potted)
* gourds (birdhouses made from gourds)
* unusual vegetables (blue corn, chocolate bell peppers, munchkin pumpkins)
Tip: Pick only the ripe fruits and vegetables. There is no need to offer green produce when you will be picking it everyday. However, make sure you pick enough to last the whole day. As the day progresses you may run out of an item, if you feel you can sell more of it, send a helper to retrieve some more from the garden. But, don't ever close your stand during business hours, you will loose too many sales.
6. Legalities: Don't forget to check on the need for permits and licenses in your area. It's better to take care of these matters beforehand than pay the price and bother of being cited by authorities later.
7. Extras: Make sure you have enough bags and change for the day. Make sure you have a money box that is secured to the table, so it doesn't come up missing. When a large amount of cash has been obtained, remove the larger bills and put them in a safe location. However, make sure you do this when there is a lull and it won't be noticed by anyone.
Tip: At the end of the day, put out a sign that says "Special Today Only - half off" to sell your last produce. However, if you only have a small amount of produce left, don't put out the sign. You don't want customers to think you do this every day and wait to buy their fruits and vegetables at that time.
Planning for Next Year
By the time you've finished your first year at this new business, you will be ready to expand. You will know several things you didn't know in the beginning.
* Customer Requests: After a summer of selling your produce you will have heard comments and requests from hundreds of customers. You will have a better idea of what they liked and didn't like, what they would like to purchase that you didn't offer and you will have thought of extras (non produce) items to sideline sell.
* Expansion: Did you sell all of your picked produce, the previous year, by the end of every day? If so, you are ready to think about expansion. Decide what extra fruits and vegetables you will offer the next year and how much extra room you will need. Make a list of additional needed items beside the building expansion - more tables, bushel baskets, maybe a bigger sign over the top of your stand.
* Produce and Sidelines: Did you provide enough produce to sell through the whole season? If not, you will want to plan to stagger your planting so that your produce ripens though out the season, not all at once. What else will you grow for next years sale? Think about recipes you might offer and grow all of the ingredients in the recipes. Offer nutritional facts to it as we are all health conscious these days. In this way you can market through the recipe by pointing out how good the dish is and help the customer find all of the items needed to make it.
Sidelines are an easy way to make some extra sales. Add an ice chest full of ice and bottled water, juice and soft drinks. Offer "green" fabric bags in addition to your paper or plastic bags. If a family member sews, have them make these in colorful fabrics. These fabric bags would fall under the "easy" category for a sewer. Do you have someone handy with building things? Offer birdhouses and bird feeders. Put birdseed in a plastic sandwich bag and tie a raffia bow around it and attach it to the feeder. This is unrelated to your produce, but most people who like the naturalness of fresh fruit are nature lovers in other ways.
* Employees or Helpers
It's wonderful when work is fun. But were you exhausted by the end of the day? Were customers standing in line, waiting to be helped? Perhaps next year you will have to hire an extra person or recruit friends or family members to help out. If you do, you will know what time of day is the busiest and have extra hands helping during those times