Over the weekend Phonic Farm set up shop for the second time, but rather than being outside in the freezing cold at St Nicks Market they were at the Mall, Cribbs Causeway.
It was a very early start once again for the company on Saturday, with a quarter of the team setting up from 8.30am. Why arrive an hour early you might say? This was decided upon to ensure they landed the best sales spot but could also make the stand the best it could be in terms of visual appearance.
Once the Mall doors opened, the team were raring to go with vast amounts of enthusiasm to make their first sale. The morning didn’t go as well as the company hoped, with limited sales being made. With this said however once 11am hit, the crowds started to pile in and the sales started to fly! The lunchtime shift, which Billy, Hannah and Tom manned (see photo) proved a massive success. Luckily this was also the time the judges used as their prime visiting opportunity!
The judging was made up of 4 categories; product quality, customer service, social media appearance and overall stand presentation. With several strong teams in the mix, we knew it was going to be hard to stand out. Unlike the trade fair at St Nicks, we are still awaiting the final scores from the judges – we will keep you posted. Without being bias, the team did extremely well, and I hope they continue to maintain their strong position within the team standings.
The praise I have for the company is not solely my own. Throughout the day the students received very positive feedback from customers about the unique qualities of their product, especially the creative stories and QR code extension. They also received feedback on the quality of their website (they are the only team that have created their own standalone website to promote their product!), the ‘learning through phonics’ element as it was so creative and quirky for children as well as their ‘time for tea’ trade stand presentation. They also kept very much on trend with the Unicorn craze as their ‘Unity the Unicorn’ story and matching cookie cutter were the best sellers!
At 4pm, after a full day and several shift changes later the company closed shop and tallied up their sales. They successfully sold £70 worth of products which was a fantastic achievement especially as this was the harder of the two trade fairs.
Our next company meeting is later this afternoon, so Clare and I will ask the students to reflect on the outcome of the trade fair and decide where to sell the remaining stock. Finalising their business plan ahead of the area final heats on the 15th March is also a top priority!