Tough Times Call For New Measures

It matters not what type of vendor you are

·         a straight vendor

·         food vendor

·         fair vendor

·         festival vendor

·         street vendor

There are certain rules “set in stone” that apply to all.

By far, the majority of your customers are in the lower 80% income level, people like you and me.  Many still attend fairs because it’s tradition, a once-a-year event.  They DO reduce their spending.

Food is one of the top three reasons people go to any and every event. 

In tough times people are more selective in what they buy.  As vendors, this means we must be more selective in what we serve.  Old standards like funnel cakes, elephant ears, and chicken-on-a-stick will always sell, but with less money in the pot, and every other booth in the fair selling them, more of us will fall into the failing economy pile, go out of business, or become unemployed.

Fad foods, deep fried candy bars etc. suffer the most.  It’s time to look at what you’re offering.  Check the latest fad foods. People are more likely to try something new for their splurge.  Value items such as hot beef, French dips, or BBQ can also give you additional items with the same ingredients; greatly reducing your inventory requirements. 

Street vendors may want to increase value by offering more for the same price.  We are limited to our buying sources but we can upgrade their experience.  Most businesses cut back on service or product offered to save money in though times.  Many of these companies fail!  Big box stores and dollar stores thrive because people view what they offer as a value – more bang for their buck.

Here is a sample change: 

A BBQ plate with the normal size sandwich, 1 oz chip and 20 ounce drink

Try this: 

• bigger bun = 5¢
• an extra tablespoon of meat = ? depending on your product
• bigger bag of chips or more fries = 5¢
• 32 oz drink = 10¢
• extra spoonful of slaw or baked beans

have added what appears to be $2 or more in value to the customer at a cost of 25¢ (or so) to food vendors.  If you serve them more than they can eat, they will remember, they will tell their friends.  People look for value in today's world.  They will remember you.

Hopefully this will initiate thoughts on ways to boost your biz in this tight economy.