Entrepreneurial Reflections from Sedgefield Farmers Market
Written by Learning Development Manager, Mike Ashwell.
For many years I have been a volunteer Trustee and Director of Sedgefield Development Trust Limited (SDT). SDT is a registered charity, staffed entirely by volunteers, which currently has 13 live projects all aimed at helping and supporting the people of the town of Sedgefield and surrounding areas.
One of the major projects SDT has is the organisation and management of the monthly Sedgefield Farmers Market on the first Sunday in every month. I am part of the small sub-group of Trustees who organise the market, and on alternate months I act as the Market Manager – which is fun on warm summer days but quite an ordeal in the winter!
We usually have around 20 stalls – occupied by small local entrepreneurial businesses, most of whom attend a range of markets during the month, around the local area.
Traders have a wide variety of locally made or grown items to offer, including cakes and other baked goods, bread, meat, vegetables, cheeses, honey, beer, rape seed oil, sparkling wine, spices, hot sauces, ginger bread etc etc!
We try to have local musicians performing, if possible, and always reserve a space for a charity stall for a different local charity each month.
It’s interesting to reflect that the organisation and events of the market give a useful insight into some of the key aspects of entrepreneurial activity. Some examples are:-
Determination and self-motivation
The traders have to set up and staff their stalls in all weather conditions and always maintain a positive attitude towards their customers.
Collaboration
As entrepreneurs, they should always be aware of the possible advantages of collaboration with other businesses. In our market, we have numerous examples of this, for example the bakers use rape seed oil, honey and cheese, from other traders. It’s interesting to see the goods moving across the market from one stallholder to another, as well as to the customers.
Contingency planning
Both the market traders and the market organising team need to have clear plans to enable them to swiftly respond to issues that arise – for example gale force winds, snow and ice, vehicle breakdown, equipment problems, and even crop failure!
Succession planning
Traders often have younger helpers, usually from their family, who they encourage to participate as fully as possible. As an organising team we always attempt to engage further volunteers to learn and assist us with all the market roles, including the set up and taking down of stalls in all weather conditions!
Updating IT facilities and skills
All our traders can now take electronic payments via handheld devices and we need to swiftly move to collecting their rents using the same process. Traders all have a social media presence and we have found it invaluable to ensure the market’s presence on a variety of platforms. These need to be reviewed constantly – we found one site that somehow had picked up our presence and wrongly indicated that we were open 7 days a week!
I hope these reflections help any aspiring entrepreneurs considering selling at markets. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur or are currently reviewing your business plan, I also recommend exploring our startup ideas platform, Validate. Validate can help you think through your business model, identify and test your assumptions, and present a startup portfolio that can easily be shared.
If you’re interested in visiting the market too, it can be found on the green in the centre of Sedgefield, Co. Durham, UK, TS21 2AB, on the first Sunday of every month from 8.30 am to 12.15pm and we will give you a very warm welcome!
