Scotlands Trade Fair
Collingwood-Norris Attended our First Trade Fair!
This month I exhibited at my first ever trade show in Glasgow. As a one woman company (for now anyway!) that creates handmade products I was a bit worried that maybe I was taking on too much. It’s a lot of competition, and a risk that buyers will be expecting to place quite large orders (for me anyway), which just wouldn’t be possible at this stage. Not to mention being unsure of what’s expected in terms of information to give out, order forms etc.
Small Independent Shops
One thing that was lovely about the show was meeting some of my existing stockists in person. I’m really pleased to be stocked in small independent shops- they are businesses that seem as personal as mine- so being able to put faces to names and have a good chat about my knitwear was great. I think I may need to plan a Scottish tour later in the year to go and visit them all!
Planning to for Growth
I am well aware that Collingwood-Norris needs to grow over the next few years. The question is how? Do I start to have my designs manufactured somewhere in the Borders and grow that way? Or I could stick to manufacturing everything here, and really focus on the things I can do as a small company that would be harder if my designs were manufactured elsewhere, like making one offs, or very limited runs.
Building a Brand with Values
Growing the business in a way that sits comfortably with me and my values is important, so I’ll keep thinking about what is best… One thing I am keen to do, is to create a company with real values, that puts passion into everything we do.