Starting A Market Stall Business

Running a market stall can be a highly rewarding way of making a living. You can be your own boss, work in the fresh air and sell the products you have a passion for.

If you’re thinking of setting up a market stall, there are a number of key decisions to make. The first is perhaps the most obvious: what are you going to sell? You answer might depend on various factors. For example, there might be a product you can make or customise yourself. Or there might be something you have a special interest in. Perhaps you have access to items you can buy at a very low price.

Whatever you want to sell, there needs to be a sufficient demand for it in your location of choice if you are going to make a profit. This will depend on whether people actually want what you’ll be selling and, if so, how many other market traders are already selling it. Visit all the markets in your area and take note of what’s on offer. You can also carry out some consumer research by talking to customers and asking them if they’d be interested in the products you’re intending to sell. You could even give out some free samples to see how much interest they can generate.

When you’re deciding on what to sell, think in terms of the whole year. Is there a particular seasonal demand for your product? If so, what do you intend to do for the rest of year when demand isn’t so high?

Then there’s sourcing your items for sale. Even if you’re intending to make them yourself, you’ll still need materials, ingredients, etc. You’ll have to be prepared to shop around for the best deals. Look at wholesalers, trading magazines and, of course, the internet.

You need to get a place at the market of your choice. It’s probably a good idea to start on a casual basis rather than trying to secure a regular pitch right from the off. That way you’ll be able to gauge the demand for your offerings and it will be easy enough to move on if you need to. If everything goes well, though, you can try to get a regular spot. The procedure for doing this will vary between markets – some are run by councils while others are privately owned.

Wherever you’re doing your selling, though, there are various rules and regulations you’ll be required to follow and you’ll need to get a trading licence from your local authority. You’ll either need a permanent licence or a temporary or casual licence. In many cases, you won’t be able to get a permanent licence if you haven’t already been trading with a casual licence. Whichever type of licence you have, it will need to be renewed periodically. You could face a fine if you don’t have one or if it’s not up to date, and your goods could be confiscated.

You need to decide on how you set up your business. The easiest way to start would be to register for self-assessment with HM Revenue & Customers as a sole trader, meaning you’ll need to keep records of your sales and costs for the completion of a tax return every year.