Picture this… it’s Saturday morning and your market opens in a few hours. You got here early, but you still feel a sense of impending doom. You down a few energy drinks because you barely got a wink of sleep last night and you have nothing but your anxious thoughts to thank for that. By the time your vendors start arriving, the confusion begins. This is the moment where you begin to realize that having no set system isn’t just stressing you out, but it’s starting to ripple out to everyone around you.
Your vendors are having trouble finding the booth layout map email that you sent to them two weeks ago, so they start setting up at random booths… there goes your strategic setup. On top of that, you can’t remember which vendors have paid and how, so you keep a mental list in your head, or perhaps your notes app if you’re feeling organized. By the time the market ends, you have no real idea of how it went and you’re honestly too exhausted to keep a mental list of what worked and what needs improvement.
This is a vicious cycle for a lot of market managers, and it’s easy to blame yourself for the disorganization, but what it really comes down to is a lack of proper tools.
The Season You’re Used To
Market days get most of the attention, but you’re not off the hook for the other six days of the week. Everyone in your community can acknowledge the market itself, but no one (except maybe the people you vent to) truly understands the work you put into it throughout the week.
It’s common for vendors to cancel at the last second. This wouldn’t be a problem if everyone had the same communication medium, however, you get a text from Marley that she won’t be there, an email from Frank, and an Instagram DM from Hailey. Whether you received every vendors’ message depends on the week.
Setting up booth layouts has turned into a process you would only wish upon your worst enemy. Out of curiosity, you start keeping track of the time you spend per week assigning vendors to their booths and you realize that you never spend less than an hour per week. That tracks, considering the fact that you use Canva to manually create your map and have to start from scratch whenever you make a mistake.
The spreadsheets are what you hate the most, yet Excel is your most used website every week. What started as a simple way to keep track of vendor records is now an eye sore that can’t efficiently store the information needed to keep track of your vendors. Your spreadsheets do not have the capability to send out confirmations to vendors or manage your waitlists. All of this must be done manually, and all you can think about are the thousands of other ways you could be spending your time.
You’ve gotten to the point where you know a change is needed. You’re just not quite sure what the first step looks like.
What Changes With Farmers Market Management Software
The good news is that fixing a few key areas of focus can go a very long way. When you implement a farmers market manager software into your life, here’s what shifts:
- Recruiting and Approving Vendors: Applications can be approved in minutes because they will all be in the same place. Say goodbye to digging through your inbox to find a vendor and potentially missing a great opportunity because you’re unable to find their application.
- Booth Placement and Maps: Drag and drop tools can be used with ease to replace the sticky note situation that only you can understand.
- Payments and Fees: Collections happen automatically, so making awkward Venmo requests can become a thing of the past.
- Vendor Communication: Everyone gets updates in one central place, so you won’t need to be constantly checking text messages, emails, and DMs.
A Realistic Week in the Life
Here’s what a typical week during busy season can look like when busywork is no longer your main priority:
- Monday: Review new applications in one dashboard and send approvals instantly.
- Tuesday: Answer vendor questions through one messaging thread instead of obsessively checking three different platforms multiple times a day.
- Wednesday: Adjust your booth map in minutes if a vendor drops out.
- Thursday: Look and see who’s paid at a glance, because mental math and spreadsheet use are no longer relevant.
- Friday: Send one update to everyone with setup times, reminders, and any other information they may need regarding tomorrow’s market.
- Saturday: Get through the market day and have a good understanding of what worked and what needs to be changed by looking at insight features.
What Market Managers Get Back
Taking advantage of a software that targets these key issues will result in smoother market days and work weeks. You’ll find that the time you save will add up, making it easier to dedicate time to other aspects of the market such as specific vendor requests or getting to know new vendors.
When market day arrives, the stress you’d normally feel will decrease significantly. Since everything will be up to date, your vendors will have a better understanding of what needs to be done and so will you!
Is Farmers Market Management Software Worth It?
If you miss cancellation messages because they came through the one channel you forgot to check, spend hours a week rewriting your entire map, or have an unclear idea of who’s paid and how, then the answer is yes. If this applies to you, it’s less about working harder, and more about needing a system that works for you.
Curious about what a smoother market season looks like? This is exactly what we built Hivey for.
