Wow, I don't think I have had so many comments, thanks guys for leaving your thoughts, it seems like something people care about......am so glad some of you are going to do it along with me....
OK, here is a link the the spread sheet I made with the help of Mr Wool (Who trained as an accountant and he is super expert on this)
It has an example working in it.
There will inevitably be things which need to be changed to suit each person/business, if you have any questions pop them in the comments, and we'll see what we can do....save a copy and have a play.......I would urge you to also estimate costs of a show if you are thinking about doing one, and then figure out how much you would have to take to at least break even....then calculate how many units you would have to sell to make that happen, it might shock you!
Let me know how you get on if you try it...what will differ for everyone is the cost of their materials, for most shops it will be 50% of the takings, if you make the product you are selling it will be different.
Very interesting... I wonder how many people failt to take into accoutn car parking, evening meals, etc?
ReplyDeleteyup, no matter what show you do it always costs around that...and then beers and wine etc...all adds up!
ReplyDeleteThis is a great tool. I'm American, but I want to make sure I'm accounting for all these costs that I haven't thought of...
ReplyDeleteThe VAT is taxes, right? What is a congestions charge?
I make my items myself, so this is also making me consider my pricing structure.
Thank you so much.
In London you need to pay the Congestion Charge to drive into the city centre. Kind of like a toll for just taking your car in.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing that Jeni. we've been discussing whether or not it's worth doing shows a lot lately.
ReplyDeleteVery sensible and useful.
ReplyDeleteYou must think very seriously before excluding labour costs, even if at the minimum wage. And these costs include time for preparation, travel, set up and break down, as well as repacking and returning stock to the shelves, and then the accounting. If you sent a staff member, they would need paying, so why are you less valuable? Any profit comes after all these costs are taken into consideration.
The suggestion that building links with the customers is also worth checking. My experience is that 'normal trading' sales before and after the show drop off because customers prepare to go and meet you to save post costs and check out the goods. So, there is another cost which is often forgotten.
Now you know why people who do the sums concentrate their efforts on making their web site better known and more accessible, and stop paying £500 - £1,000 for a stall.
Including wages for ourselves is one of the hardest things to do - how much do we pay ourselves per hour? I manage to factor in most things that cost money (food, accommodation, travel etc) but the intangibles, i.e. time, is a whole other thing. I don't want to know how much I earn per hour, as it's not likely to be much ;)
ReplyDeleteCome to think of it, I'm going to start keeping a work journal to see just how many hours I really do...
Thanks for the spreadsheet - it's really helpful!