by Molly Geigle

Created on: July 13, 2008   Last Updated: April 19, 2011

Tips for running a roadside fruit or vegetable stand

We have run a vegetable stand for the last four years. The first two years were our "learning years" and after that, we started making a profit. Here is what we have learned:

We ended up putting in A LOT more time than we had imagined. We had originally thought we would run the stand as a weekend project which we figured with take up most of our weekends. We assumed the rest of the week would remain the same. We were wrong!

Running a weekend roadside vegetable stand takes a lot more time than just the weekend! In fact, the weekend afternoons are only spent at the stand so really, you get a bit of relaxation there. During the week we had to care for the gardens as well as keep a running inventory. We had to make sure the vegetables were picked before they got too ripe and then stored properly.

On Thursday, we have to get all the boxes out to fill and make all the signs for the weekend. We use a reader board and then individual signs on all the boxes. We also have large signs that state what we have that are outside the covered areas. The signs have to be changed as new products are picked, we run out of something or if the price changes.

On Friday after work, we have to pick what we can and get it all boxed up and into the truck for the morning. We also pack up the signs we made, the=2 0scale and the honey. We drop by the bank on our way home to make sure we have enough money for the cash box and put that all by the door. We learned to do that after we left it on the table once!

Saturday morning we pick the flowers and corn for the day and add it to the vegetables we packed the night before. We add the cash box and our selling box which includes our bags, business card, suntan lotion, and hats etc. - everything we need for the day including our lunches. We leave the house at 4 am so we can get all set up and ready by 6 which oddly enough is when we always have our first customers!

The day goes pretty fast as we are always selling and replenishing the products. It is always after 6pm when we close but sometimes we are open until 9pm. The way we set the closing time is as soon as we have hour without a customer, we head home. At 5 pm though we put about - of the products away so we have less to do at the end. We stop by the bank on the way home and make a deposit.

On Sunday we add more vegetables to the still packed ones in the truck. We pick another set of flowers (they always sell out) and grab our lunch and money box. Sunday usually goes a lot like Saturday expect we get a big rush at 11 and 3 - when the nearby churches let out. If we have vegetables that won't make it until next week, we drop them off at the shelter on our way home a nd we usually save 2 ears of corn for dinner.

Tips;

• Offer samples of your produce. A slice here and there always gets customers to buy a bit more. Once we offered our cherries tomatoes and we were sold out in 2 hours!

• Make up recipe cards and place them out for the taking by the different vegetables. We doubled our sales of Swiss chard by doing this.

• When a customer buys a bag of this and that, take one out when weighing and add it in at the end saying "and one for luck" popping it in for free. You don't lose much giving a free carrot to someone that just bought a bag of tomatoes as well.

• Always remember there are other stands these people could stop at and treat them kindly for stopping at yours! Many will return!

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