So this week it is very topical to write a few words about getting ready for a tractor show, as that is exactly what we are doing. We are getting ready for holding a stand at the Newark Vintage Tractor & Heritage Show, which is being held at Newark Showground on the 4th and 5th November 2022.
Getting Ready For A Tractor Show
So this week, we have decided to write a few words about getting ready for a tractor show, as that is exactly what we are doing. We are getting ready to hold a stand at the Newark Vintage Tractor & Heritage Show, which is being held at Newark Showground on the 4th and 5th November 2022.
Dread and Delight In Equal Measure
We look forward to holding the stand, and dread attending these shows in equal measure.
The Good
We love getting out of the office and the change of scenery that the weekend brings. We love meeting customers, new and old, and putting a face to a voice that we hear so often only down the telephone. We love having a break from the kids and leaving them with grandparents for the weekend, knowing that we can choose wherever we like to eat over the weekend without having to worry about the kids.We love going out for dinner with our work colleagues and friends who come to help on the stand. We don’t normally get to sit and relax, and talk about stuff and life in general while at work, so this is a welcome moment with colleagues.
The Bad
Equally, there is such a lot of work that goes into the preparation for a show, as well as the general admin afterwards.
The mental pressure of 'have we remembered everything that we need?' Can be very testing as well as exciting. It is not just putting a few items in a box and away we go. We have to ensure stock control is managed so that we do not sell items twice – once at the show and once on the website. We have to make the stock and prepare weeks or months in advance. We always seem to run out of grilles and Nuffield bonnet catches just before the Newark Show, so it is a rush to get them back in stock before we go. Have we remembered drawing pins, tablecloths and our banner? The list goes on until we finally decide it is time to leave.
We have to organise people to look after the animals, oh and the children. No doubt they will want to come with us in a few years time – a far cry from attending in 2013 with a 6 week old baby in tow!
This year this side of it seems even worse, as Andy, myself and kids have just had a week in sunny Spain for half-term and with the show being a week earlier than normal, it has come up rather quickly and before we have had a chance to sort out post-holiday.
But I don’t want to dwell on the negatives, because it is a great time. Once we are packed and we leave the yard about lunchtime on the Friday, we know exactly what is needed of each of us, and there is a lot of time to hang around and enjoy ourselves and most importantly to meet and chat to our customers, make new customers, and hopefully sell enough stuff to pay for the weekend at the show.
We don’t go to the shows with an aim of making money out of them, but of course we want it to be a profitable venture, as we are a business after all. I end up giving lots ofcalendars away for free, but we see a lot of value in meeting customers and hope that we can build up a rapport so that we will get repeat business for the years ahead, which stemmed from the show.
So we will be there at Newark Show, we will have a representative sample of our stock with us. We will have cakes and drinks available for anybody who needs them.
We will be relaxed by then and it will all be good. But until 12 noon on Friday, we will be running around trying to remember everything.
See you at the show!!
