fellow central floridian! I've seen you at a market before, and I wanted to ask you something.
I've been wanting to start selling prints of my digital art, as well as custom items that I decorate with drawn on flowers.
How do you get into fairs and markets? How do you start a small art business?
I live near Lake and Sumter county, Lake County being where I saw you at a market. Is there any resources you can point me too? Bare bones, what would I need for a stall? How much does it cost on average? Do you need a business license or anything? Help.
Here are some things I found in my experiences with markets!
One way you can get into fairs and markets is by joining groups on Facebook that put out regular calls for vendors. The one I'm in is "Central Florida Markets & Craft Shows Vendor Group". You would just let them know what you make when you apply to the calls that are put out there. If you can, try to apply to markets related to what you are producing, but if nothing is a great fit, just apply to everything and see which ones you like best.
Markets are tough! You will be in the hole before you start, just be aware of that. Focus on tables, signage, simple decor, and display/holders for your wares first. Try to source your booth from borrowing stuff at first and decorate it with paint/paper/tablecloths/fabric etc to make it look cohesive. Hunt out deals on folding tables and a canopy at places like Ollie's or other surplus stores. Thrift as much as you can to save your initial costs until you know how well you're gonna do. You don't **need** a canopy except I'm sure you know the capriciousness of Florida weather. If you aren't in a good spot to get a canopy, try to aim for indoor spots or design your booth to be quick to get to cover if it rains.
Also when designing your booth, make sure people can see everything! Height is good, and if you saw my booth in Howey, you know I hung things everywhere to make the most of my vertical space. Most of the time, you will get a 10x10 area but confirm that when you apply. Draw mockups early on so you can keep an eye out for things that will work for you while thrifting. Also you can do some window shopping online to create a budget for these things if you were to buy them new, and you'll know when you find a deal on a used thing that way.
Entry fees are anywhere between $30-$80 per booth in my experience. They charge more for the ones with higher traffic, but they are thinking you'll make more because of that, to offset the cost. Definitely check out The Goblin Market in Oviedo (not the restaurant in Mount Dora lol) because they are big on the handmade and indie artist scene. I don't know what they charge per booth, though :(
If at all possible, find a friend or another trustworthy creator who wouldn't mind splitting the booth with you! This helps with the load of watching the booth and draws more people in with more variety. I teamed up with a local ceramicist and it was a game changer!
Definitely be prepared to accept cash or card payments, including making change. Square is probably the easiest one to get started with, but spend some time researching the options for what works best for you. I've heard ok things about Shopify, and there may be other services that let you use tap with your phone.
And finally! The big one. A business license.
I would look up the Florida IRS information on Hobbies and making money from them. There is a cutoff for how much you can make before you have to pay taxes on it. Imo, try out a few markets, see how it goes. If it catches on and you are hugely successful, then my advice would be to consult a CPA for next steps. It is worth it to invest in a professional in that case! If you want to be absolutely sure before you go in, do the CPA bit first.
That's a lot of information, I kept thinking of other things to add!!! Please let me know if you'd like more information or clarification on any of this. I wish you the absolute best of luck on this venture and I hope you have some fun with it!!!
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