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    Sunday, November 04, 2007

    And Another Comes Along

    There was another face painter trying to horn in on my territory today, only she had about a $1000+ setup. EZ-up tent, roley cart with drawers, several tables, 8x10 shots of her work for a sample book, 3-4 full color banners, balloons, and her business cards were glossy, full-color, and two sided.

    Compared to my little setup; 2 old folding metal chairs, a couple of poster board signs, a tablecloth, some brushes and a tackle box filled with paints, she had the flaming Taj Mahal.

    Customers will judge a booth by how "good" it looks, and she had a steady stream of customers, while I sat there and waited most of the day for people who wanted something quick, colorful, and fun.

    She was talented, and working freehand, I'll give her that, but she only had full-face fantasy designs, was slow, each customer taking about 5-7 minutes, and her prices were outrageous, ranging from $4-10 for each design.

    I honestly would like to think that the only reason she got more customers than me was that she wasn't charging for her work, but was rather 'accepting donations' instead. Something about the word "free" really draws in the crowds.

    But in my heart of hearts, I know it is now time to ramp up the show a bit. I had hoped to save several thousand dollars in the coming year towards buying a new home, but now it looks like I must spend that on the business or completely lose my market to others.

    I am still the highest quality, fastest, and smallest setup face painter in the four-state area, and I still have the largest selection of designs to pick from, with over 800+ at any one time, but it's only the presentation that counts sometimes I guess.

    This is the first time I have ever felt I had any sort of competition.

    It's always something.

    I am a participant in NaBloPoMo.

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    3 comments:

    Todd said...

    Well, I'm sure you'll someone rise to the occasion. Wish I had some more profound to say, but I don't. *sigh* You'll get 'em next time!

    WDolphin81 said...

    If you need help or ideas just send me an email i am a business graduate after all. wdolphin81@gmail.com

    Dieing to be thin said...

    Hey its ok, just think if you upgrade your looks (though I feel that should matter) it will draw attion and you will probly get more money to save think of it as an investment insted of a loss. Put $500 bucks in and you will probly end up making $1,000 more that year (if not more). Good luck I love face paint but I dont have the mad skills to do it.