Thanks for the ideas, guys!
Whoopie pies are the only thing I make, but I have several different flavors. There are other vendors at the market who do tarts, cookies, cakes, etc. so it's nice that I have something unique and specialized. When I first started, I was taking seven types each week, but I've narrowed it down to five which has helped to lower costs. I freeze them after I make them, and then only take what I think I can sell for the week. As the year has gone on, I've gotten better at estimating how many samples to take, and how to factor in things like the weather and events going on that might affect how sales are for the day. Just this week I switched to having to hand out the samples -- I used to have them out for people to just grab, and entire families were coming up and having each member try a sample of each. Seriously, folks? (Some people are wonderfully sensitive about the small business thing, and others are completely oblivious.) So I've been making tweaks here and there that are helping. I also made some fake whoopie pies out of modeling dough, and put them on display, since a lot of people down here have no idea what a whoopie pie is. (My favorite compliments are from the Pennsylvanians who tell me mine are better than what they get back home, or better than their grandma's. Yeah!)
The problems with going mobile are several. One is that the organizers would charge me the same, because a vendor is a vendor whether you take up your alloted 10 feet or not. Also, because we are a weekly market, there are regulars who come every week, and being in the same spot is beneficial because they know where to find me. (There was one week that I got moved to an entirely different spot because the Oscar Meyer weinermobile was in town, and business was awful that day!) There is one guy who beelines toward me every week, plops down his $5, points at a box and then steps a few feet away to inhale all three in one go. lol. So I like being in the same spot for that. The biggest perk of the stall? SHADE. Standing out in the Florida sun for 5 hours would be lethal -- not only for me but for the whoopie pies, even in winter. For next season, I am planning to get a nice teal shelter, so my tent will stand out and be visible from a distance. I like the idea of a flat, and might try it in the future if I do any one time events.
I have a card swiper, I set my prices so that I only have to deal in quarters, and I do sing out that I have samples.
It's been an awesome learning experience, and I'm really looking forward to starting strong next fall.