Have you thought of starting your entrepreneur journey with a market stall?

The news in December focused on the report by Mary Portas the high street darling and shopping czar. One of her suggestions
for fixing the problem of our ‘outdated’ & disappearing  High Streets was to ease the restrictions on market traders so more people can sell their wares and turn High streets and town centres back into bustling destinations.

Nationally there are as many types of market stall as there are market towns. The last detailed survey of markets was taken by the National
Association of British Market Authorities in 2009 showed there were 1,125 traditional retail markets, 605 farmer’s markets & 350 country markets.

From Market to Mogul   by Kaya Burgess of The Times

The billionaire tycoon & owner of Chelsea FC, Roman Abramovich, started out selling rubber ducks and plastic toys from a Moscow market stall alongside his future wife.

The Superdry clothing brand, now worth £1.2 billion, began life as a market stall run by Julian Dunkerton, who sold clothes at a unit in Hereford that he had bought back from London in bin bags.

Lowell Harder ran a stall at Camden Market in the early 80’s selling her own ethical leather bags and suitcases. Her firm Radley and Co., famous for its Scottie dog logo, is now worth about £150 million.

Lord Sugar started out selling beetroot from a market stall. Then he sold electrical goods from the back of a van bought with his savings. He sold Amstrad for £125 million in 2007.

How to set-up a stall

Monday to Friday Martin Doherty, 46, is a body guard. At weekends he runs a stall at Camden Market in NW London selling corsets, skirts & jewellery. Here is his advice on setting up a stall.

• Start out small, for example by turning up at a car boot sale and paying a pitch fee.
• For bigger markets, approach the managers via their websites or in person. They will try to make sure that your product fits
  with the other stalls.
• Decide if you want to have a stall 7 days a week,
  just for one week or on specific days. You’ll be looking to pay about £125 for a stall at weekends (at Camden Market).
• Keep your prices sensible. If you make your own stuff, work out your base costs and the labour involved, and multiply it by one & half or two.
• Make sure your stall is eye-catching, bold & colourful.
• Engage with customers, build up rapport and get feedback. The most important advertising tool, even in this digital age, is word of mouth.
• The first six months will be a write-off. You need time to get your product & target audience right.
• The most important things are a hot flask, warm clothing and good manners!

Taken from the article ‘You can’t beat the market’   The Times 14^th Dec 2011