A New Start

As I said in my previous posting, I have been very busy, but what I hear my long suffering reader asking. Well I have been setting up a new business.

In my dim and distant past, I had a whole food shop. My regular reader will know, that food issues are very important to me. Not just the environmental aspects, but the issues of fair trade as well as affordability and quality. One of the lessons I learnt from having the shop was that no matter how much people will say they want to support small businesses and that they want quality, many people will still go to the supermarket anyway. The silly thing is that often I was cheaper than the supermarkets and if not better, at least the same quality.

I did have my loyal customers, and while it did work, it was very hard work and there was no flexibility. Thus when rents started to rise then, it became unsustainable. However, there were aspect of what I did then that I reasoned could still work now.

Having suffered from the fall out of the banking collapse even though I had done my best to avoid doing the very things that I was predicting could happen before the credit crunch, I still had the fallout from others foolishness. Therefore, I have been seriously looking and thinking about ways that I could earn my living.

While I was making plans a couple of potential opportunities came up. The first was the discovery of a the makers market in the next village. As well as the possibility of taking a stall, there was also the need apparently for someone to carry out some catering. As I had just had my kitchen inspected and passed, I could offer to help and it could be a good opportunity to see if any of my ideas had real legs. Additionally, a shop unit became available in another near by village. This shop I had even written about here, as it was a greengrocers that seemed better than most. Also it had a small café area in the back that on the couple of occasions I had visited, I really felt was much under used.

However, even though I went to the shop just two days before it closed down, the people running it just said nothing about their plans to close. Therefore, I was concerned that if I took it over I would have had people chasing me for their debts. So the delay in checking out the legal position and getting the finance in place meant that the unit went. While other shops are empty in and around the area, it really does matter about the location when it comes to business, and I just could not justify the rent on other shop units.

Therefore, I would use the Makers market as a useful way of testing the market with some of the ideas. As my previous experience has taught me, there is a big difference between what people say they want and what they are prepared to actually do. Therefore, I made plans so that I could deliver fresh Fruit and Vegetables and bake fresh bread. As I could also bake cakes, I made lists and went to one of the markets with the bread. I had been up all night baking and even then I was only just ready in time to get down to the market.

The bread all but sold out, but while there was interest in folks getting their veg delivered, not one person was willing to make an order. It was not that they doubted the quality, it was simply that they were spoilt for choice. If I had just said this is what I am willing to sell you, rather than you can choose what you get, I think I would have had orders. Equally, I was offering to bake fresh bread and deliver it, but the majority wanted the pap that supermarkets sell us that they call bread.

However, I had also taken lists of various herbs and spices that I could obtain along with some fresh juicy fat vanilla pods. These generated quite a bit of interest. When I had previously had the shop the herbs and spices were a real point of interest and generated a good income stream. Not least because they were so fresh. As I still had the contacts with some of my previous suppliers, I knew I could trust the quality too.

I had planned to attend the following market, but as I have epilepsy and I can recognise the warning signs of a big attack, I had to postpone going to that one. Not least because I knew that if I were to stay up all night again to do the baking, I would make it more likely that I would trigger one.

So I rethought my ideas, and decided that as there just was not the level of interest in the Bread or the Fruit and Vegetables, I would concentrate upon the Herbs and Spices. Also as I knew they were items that it are ideal for mail order, I also set up to sell them on Ebay too.

That part I was not completely sure would work, as there are already folks selling similar. But, as I could see that people attending the market might not want to buy straight away, having a simple ordering system was essential as well. As anyone that has sold on Ebay will know, it is not a cheap way of selling, especially to start with. As you need a track record with them to use the cheaper options, and while I already had a private account there, I needed to keep the business activity separate from that. Not least so that I could see if it was really working and not just appearing to be from me selling off unwanted books and DVDs.

With the items listed and many kilos of different herbs and spices adding a wonderful aroma to my home, I then had the task of putting together some blends as well as packing them. This takes longer when I am dealing with small volumes as I have to ensure good hygiene and avoid cross contamination, but I made it to the next market with a very good range. Equally I was making a number of small steady sales via Ebay.

My assumptions were quite good and I made some significant sales at the market. Although, there was one of the fellow stallholders who complained about the smell of the spices and demanded to be moved. If it had not been so funny I would have felt offended, but every other seller thought that she was just being really silly. In fact, it was only after she realised I was white that she came and apologised. Well need I say more.

Since I was a child, or at least one old enough to understand, I have known that using herbs and spices can lift relatively bland ingredients, and have long used them in cooking. While I know that I will never become rich from what I am doing, if I can develop a living from selling these wonderful seasoning’s then I will be happy.

As will my better half, who loves that she gets cooked for.