My Experience at the Kiulap Stall - Lesson Learned Part 2

This is part 2 of my Kiulap stall experience at having a stall for three days.
It definitely felt like someone dumped some ice cubes on me to wake me up from the state of naive perception I was in.

I learned quite a bit from the people there as well. Business was slow on my side and I had time to observe the sucessful stalls making money. (These are the top three stores which got sales) 


I shall highlight the wisdoms that I learned from them :

• I was located next to a bookstore and the owner there (I assume he owned it) telling me that "business will always be an uphill battle = you have to have te drive to make it work " he offered me a job. Hahaha it was kinda flattering (and weird in a nice way) as he was saying to me that I had the sort of characteristics and drive that he was looking for in a person -I could list out talk about it but then it would make me sound arrogant-. He even asked me to look after the book stall for awhile and said I could read the books free of charge.
• I also learned from another stall. If I remember right, it ws KOFOM which sold various printed silk, cotton materials. *Note * The people worked with a quota in mind and good social skills are required if you want to sell -DO NOT i repeat DO NOT sit on your butt and stare at people, you will most likely scare potential customers away-. They earned quite a lot! I was impressed and seriously Women in Brunei really love buying the cloth printed with flowers and such. The items they sold were quite affordable.
• The other stall in front of me was selling second hand items and things were flying off the rack (lack for a better word) My sister knew the person who was in charge of the stall. The women was an artist in the art of selling as I saw a couple buying a baby crib (it was assembled already!) -Bring a huge variety of items according to the theme and once again social skills are important-So many people went there and left with purchasing items.

In summary here are the obstacles and the lessons I learned which are highlighted :

• They did not provide me a table let alone chair until I pestered them. So remember -Check the location out a day earlier to make sure the people in charge get everything prepared as they have stated-
• The location was not favorable as it was hidden behind Hua Ho Kiulap, a supermarket store and next to IGS college. They were both very big buildings and the stalls were set up in the space in between, it could not be seen properly, unless shoppers decided to leave using the back entrance -Location is everything and make sure check out the weather report! (it was during rainy season so people could not come over without getting completely drenched or wet) -
• The items I made were difficult to sell -I actually thought people would be excited as I was but nope that was not the case. Be prepared to faced criticism and negative feed back. I listened and took it as feedback on how to improve -
• Remember the cause -I joined for charity and the items I brought were way too flashy for the people there. The next time I decide to join and sell using a stall , I will bring items that would be reflective of the theme in terms of style and price-
• It was still a fun experience as I realize that having a business is tough and if you want to succeed you have to continually evolve. If you do not, you will not survive.

Overall I learned so much and the money spent was worth it. I have decided to stay as an online store as a result of that as there is more flexibility and having myself as a boss and the worker is a challenge itself.  0_0