Chasingmytail
Member
- Location
- Newport, SE Wales
I think the biggest problem with direct selling and it pops up time and time again is the marketing. Its financially impossible to put an advert in a glossy (£1000 I paid once for a local mag - not one call) then you also need the manpower and enthusiasm to keep a fresh and fun FB page, a touch of twitter, someone to enter taste competitions, all the bumf (fridges etc) you need to sell at local fayres, leaflets and flyers but not once you have to keep it continual (employ a good marketing company is essential). You also need to have the selling ability and be a good talker plus enjoy it. Unless you have this you will fail - relying on the public to pop by isnt good enough you really need to be quite forceful on some occasions. Also I think cooking your products is a great way to sell plus its the best margin. If you look at the concepts on the highstreet it works as its not always a great product that sells - its the marketing, the people and the location.
There are plenty of rural grants available and many are 90% funded. This can cover a website, logos, marketing etc. We had a grant many moons ago for a mobile fridge unit and labelling machine. A cutting room and associated items are also covered. I am also surprised by the lack of take ups on these grants in our area, the rural grant money always seems to go on what I can silly projects and community funding (which dies a death after a year or so). It s easy to get hold of this money and there are pots of it.
There are plenty of rural grants available and many are 90% funded. This can cover a website, logos, marketing etc. We had a grant many moons ago for a mobile fridge unit and labelling machine. A cutting room and associated items are also covered. I am also surprised by the lack of take ups on these grants in our area, the rural grant money always seems to go on what I can silly projects and community funding (which dies a death after a year or so). It s easy to get hold of this money and there are pots of it.