From Farmer’s Market To Online Brand: Steps To Expand Your Business

In today’s society, farmer’s markets are an easy and popular way to launch a handmade business. While it is a great way to validate your product and get your business started, they can be an even better springboard towards expanding your business into a larger brand. We’ve seen a large number of our customers go from small hometown brand to nationwide retailer. We would love to share with you some steps to take you from farmer’s market stand to large online brand.

Product Development

If you’re already operating out of your local farmer's market, then congratulations on getting your feet off the ground and getting started! The start is what stops most people, and by taking this small step to commit yourself to a product and some local activity, you’ve taken the first leap. Since you already have developed your product on a small scale, it’s important to perfect your recipe, and make it as easily replicable as possible. If you’re looking to expand the business, it’s important to eliminate potential errors that could happen from one batch to the next. You’ll need to decide whether that means streamlining your process, or outsource your manufacturing and proceed from there.

Design a Logo

When expanding past your local market where you yourself have a very large play in your brand, designing a logo that customers will love is a key aspect of building a recognizable brand built for expansion. There are a large number of online resources that will help design a strong logo for you, or if you’re looking to stay local you can always source the work from a graphic designer in your town.

Streamline Your Packaging

Aside from production of your product, one of the things that many budding manufacturers struggle with when attempting to expand is streamlining their packaging. While handmade labels can be ok for a temporary start, you don’t want to be spending all of your time hand crafting labels when you expand. If you’re still looking for that crafty, natural, handmade look, we have a large selection of labels which could help you achieve that style, while eliminating the tedious and unprofessional aspects of handmade labels.

Product Photography

At the farmer’s market, people connect with you and your products in person, but in the online world, it’s the photos of your products that do all the talking. If your photos are bland, low quality, or even blurry, that will significantly impact the way people perceive your products when they encounter your brand online. You can brush up on product photography yourself, or hire a professional to do it for you, but make sure the end result is of the absolute highest quality.

Modern Website

While you can build your website at any stage of the game, the earlier you build up a solid website that is optimized for simple sales conversions, the quicker you can continue expansion. If your site is laggy or looks unprofessional, you will immediately lose potential customers. You’ll need to display product information in a fun and informative way, showcasing the lovely photos that you’ve already developed. Make sure that your website is optimized for mobile use as well, as mobile digital media time has overtaken desktop with 51% of time used on mobile.

Social Media Presence

Last but not least, you should start building up a strong social media presence. With your bold logo and great product photography, you’ll be able to send loads of potential customers to your website, and save money that would have been spent on online advertising.