Discussions

Hello and hats off to everyone who works hard to create and sustain a home-based business in the Westman area. Would you like to create a group of some sort where we would offer the area a large event similar to the fall craft event, but perhaps twice a year in a similar format? Any and all ideas are welcome.

I myself am having trouble finding places/vendor shows to go to. This would be a great idea!

Would that not be what the Brandon Home show is for?

A venue for crafters and home based business people would be great for promoting your goods, and would not be on such a commercial level as the Brandon Home Show.  
 
Some cities have crafters malls that are open year around. However, IMO that may be too much but maybe the months of April-May and Sept-Oct would be good.  
The thing is too find a suitable sized empty building that the owner doesn't want an arm and a leg for rent. You would think that there would be owners of building out there that would want traffic thro their property with hopes of finding a permanent renter and at least having the taxes covered.

Fishin Guy said "Would that not be what the Brandon Home show is for? "

that is only once a year.

We already have the Brandon Big One. We are also attending the Winter Fair for the first time this year. I don’t think Brandon needs much more. Most spring sales we have done have been terrible for sales.  
 
What I would like to see here is what a lot of small towns have. An art store that takes things on consignment usually at 25%. We have a few that we also pay a monthly fee of $25 too on top of that although we do prefer places that don’t charge this membership fee. I do understand why they do though.

I know the sales manager at the Clarion and am a part of VoxxLife Business. I would love to have another home based trade type show, as long as the cost is reasonable!

There already is a Facebook group for home based businesses. It's called "homemade in Brandon. But its for Crafters only. There is a sale coming up this spring. Check it out

There needs to be a couple more, well advertised, "handmade only" shows in the Brandon area besides just The Big One in the Fall.  
There are many throughout the year in Winnipeg and they do quite well for both buyers and sellers alike.  
The combined craft/direct sales shows that Brandon puts on almost every other weekend are not worth going to as a home based business focused on making things from scratch versus just the vendors selling mass produced items with direct sales companies.  
You will get different crowds at each kind of show, but I find if you stick crafters in with direct sellers, the crowds are just out for the "cheapest, factory produced, ready to go" products from the direct sellers.  
When a show is strictly advertised as "handmade only", the crowds that come out know they want handmade and are willing to pay a decent price for one of a kind items and not haggle the business owner lower because they aren't walmart/avon prices.

Would completely support more "handmade only" and local artist shows here in Brandon. With spring/summer around the corner the Global Market is going to be open for crafters and this kind of crowd, too.  
 
I wish that MLMs were banned from craft shows entirely, tbh. More support for local creators!