I had one of those ‘light bulb’ type moments this morning. Isn’t it funny how you just cruise along doing something the way you always have with the occasional “there’s probably a better way of doing this” thought, then suddenly, when it’s not even on your mind you have a brainwave about exactly how you can make your life easier!!
My light bulb moment centred on how I pack my wares to take to markets.
Generally – it goes like this – 2 tables, 1 gazebo, 2 foldup chairs, 1 japanese screen, 3 plastic storage containers of product and packaging items, one big box containing necklace busts, one box containing other display stands, mirror, table cloths etc, one box containing an earring stand, one box with float, sales notebook, cap, sunblock, handcream and other sundries.
Now that probably doesn’t sound too bad, but when you’re making about many trips to the car to get everything out and the same at the end of the day … it’s a little tedious!
At recent markets I’ve noticed that three of my creative buddies have very good, streamlined systems that seems to involve one storage box – ONE! I recently attended a market with Katherine of Sleep and Her Sisters and she had one box…. I kid you not – one box with ALL her wares in it. Same deal yesterday when sharing a stall with fellow New Zealand Handmade team members– Joy from Kazzalblue and Kya from Clutch Creations – both streamlined, easy to assemble, easy to pack away.
So it must have been whirring away in my subconscious and this morning somewhere between brushing my teeth and herding my children into the car for school, I had my Eureka moment…A rolling suitcase.
We had to purchase one of these on our recent trip to Sydney and it will be just ideal – not only will my 7 necklace busts, display stands etc fit in there, I’m pretty sure I can slot my sundry box in there too! That’s at least 6 round trips to the car I will have done away with AND I wont risk a back injury from lifting it as it has wheels and a handle.
I can’t wait to get everything out and have a trial!
Have you got any tips you’d like to share about the way you pack for markets?
What a fantastic idea! I have 5 of those all taking up space under the stairs, but somehow never thought to use them to carry my stuff to markets! I'm going to have a size test in a minute and see if it will work for me too, thank you!
ReplyDeleteI saw someone at at a recent market that had a hand trolley, piled all their boxes up on the base and off they went carrying everything from car to stall in one go, that would be handy too!
What a good idea, I will try and stream line my packing, thanks Mel. cheers Marie
ReplyDeleteYou've got it well sorted Mel! When I first started markets I was selling little magnets as well, and spent ages fluffing around with them. When I decided to stop making them, my set up and pack up time shrinked by about 75%!! I pack it all into my travel MacPac, and wear it on my back like a snail. ;D
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