Starting my own business running markets

[charise1]

I would love to start my own business running markets specifically selling Christian things. I don't want to sell my own things or run the stalls but start a business where I run the whole event.
I was wondering if anyone had any advice. How do I register as a business? Are there certain things like insurance that I need to take out?
I have an idea of charging market stall holders £30 per table but I don't know if this is too cheap or too expensive.
I'd hopefully go to different churches and hold events every couple of months.
I'd love any advice about this. I have the idea but just not sure where to get started so please be kind :-)

It sounds too niche to me.

I wouldn't to be honest OP. Where we are the few markets we had like this have closed due to not enough interest. The ones that do run, are run by the churches because it keeps costs low and doesn't make a profit.

FWIW even the successful, established ones are less than £30.

** just to add, in theory people say they want it but often the actual attendance is low. The only successful Christian market stalls I've seen lately have been at festivals already (Big Church for example) and speaking to the traders there they only do festivals, Etsy and maybe the odd Christmas market.

All the info re registering business is on compabieshouse. I’m not sure how viable a business this is, my local church occasionally has a craft market, they just run it themselves, 30 when it’s not your venue seems like it might not go down well?

What kind of "Christian things"?

If you want to sell "Christian things" there's a big market for it in the U.S. Have you thought of selling online?

A church will want to keep all profits for itself - surely that would be the point of it, for them.

Why would a church pass up the chance to raise money by charging their stallholders themselves?

Plus £30 per stall is unlikely to cover the advertising costs unless each market is packed out, and it's far too niche for that.

I used to work for a council for a very busy and popular city center market. We charge £12-20 per day depending on day/position.

Also, why would the church let you profit from using them as a venue when you aren't doing anything except selling pitches? Would this money go towards advertising? Clean up? Public liability? Would you pay the church a percentage of the profits.

I can see it working in a very limited way. Christmas fairs in december but I'm confused why a church would want you to do it when they could just donut then selves. If you had a group of stalls that you could offer to bring then that's one thing but it sounds like you just expect people to turn up?

What would you sell? Crucifixes and bibles seems a bit niche.

This sounds pretty much like being an events organiser for craft fairs etc

https://www.ukcraftfairs.com/organising-and-running-arts-and-crafts-events

Try the above for starters then run a search for events management businesses etc, and look around for the websites / social media of assorted craft fairs, Comic-Con’s etc - have a good nose around for their trader application forms and see what questions & terms they have listed

Volunteer as a helper at one, or trade at one (as you’re not interested in trading yourself then try and find someone who does and offer to help them at one).
With this if you arrive early and leave late then you may pick up more of the behind the scenes actions of arrival/setup/pack/leave

You do need public liability insurance - and also an idea as to whether you will have ‘proper’ traders thus require them to have their own PLI as well or if you are encouraging ad hoc crafters who have not got that far and need to consider further insurance to cover them

You will be committing to the venue, so you pay the full cost hoping to cover that in income.
Measure the venue, work out how many tables you can fit (allowing space behind and between as well as public walking space in front). Divide cost by the number of tables and you have a starting price - if you fill the room

Remember to think of the tables.
Does venue hire include tables & chairs, or do you need to hire them ?
(Some traders will use their own tables, some will use the provided ones - decide whether you will charge less for an empty space and extra for tables)!

How long do you get access to the venue before and after your preferred event time?
You need to lay out the tables, check in people traders and pack away after (ask traders to stack them during pack down but not everyone will and you are still responsible for putting them away / giving them back to the external hire company if applicable

Set realistic trading times, and rules on
when traders can arrive, the time that they must be ready by and importantly that they cannot pack up during trading times nor can they move stock in/out during trading times

You are also responsible for advertising the event to both the public and for sourcing traders.
Consider extras - why would people bother coming? Have some entertainment and catering

Think of parking and loading access.
If there are multiple car parks then pick the customer parking and trader parking
Set rules that traders are to move vehicles before opening
Check for height restrictions and how to get the key to open a van height restrictor gate.
Some traders arrive by car (I know one who fits her whole stock & table set up in a mini), some in small vans / transit vans and some will have a high top van

The two sisters that I go to comicons with use a high top long wheel base transit van. There are two event organisers giving them very different experiences
One is often calling them asking them to book specific events, but when venue access & trader parking is brought up the organiser often shrugs as it’s ’not their problem’ - in which case a tight venue is the traders problem - and they won’t be paying to attend that event to be stuck unable to unload nearby or park - if the answer was “there’s only a couple of big spaces so we will reserve one” then
A different organiser investigates access, sets time slots if loading space is limited, finds parking and designates trader parking and / or flags up any need to park further away / parking fees etc
Guess which one is the traders preferred choice

If you’re overwhelmed with traders then your laughing, but it you need them to come then you need to make it worthwhile and attractive

How much do the church charge to hire the hall? I doubt you'll get enough people willing to pay £30 for a table to cover the hire fee.

how do you plan to profit? From just the £30, or what? What are you offering that stallholders will pay for?

How would you police what stalls are selling? What if they sell St Christophers' medals and crosses, but also general non-Christian things?
What if the sellers themselves aren't Christian?
I don't know enough about it, but it might be seen as discriminatory.

Some churches rent out their space for silent discoes or as overnight accommodation. Maybe that is another option, but clearly, the majority of profits would go to the church.

As you have some very basic questions you might want to think about how prepared you are for this venture

Think bigger and run pop up markets - e during you get a coherent group - food beer crafts music atmosphere- not your cheap Christmas tat. Even summer ones - get some entertainers - rounders, afternoon tea, etc party in the park

You could do some great marketing - look at the bingo bingo or even the over 50’s type afternoon discos - they are fun and vibrant.

I would love a great market that had these elements.

We have an international show here every spring and the stall holder pay 10K for the week plus lodgings etc - honestly there is money in it.

If you do go ahead with this, one thing to think about early on is setup stuff, like signage, tables, float, insurance... and bags. Sounds minor but people always forget the basics. When I was helping a mate with her first pop-up craft market, we used Carrier Bag Shop, they've got these business starter packs with paper bags, stickers, tissue, that kind of thing. Was actually super handy when we were scrambling to make everything look a bit more polished without spending a fortune.