Opening Day

Today was opening day for the Farmer's Market where we sell the gourmet dog treats I blogged about a while ago. Remember Louise and our business? We haven't gotten into boutiques or high schools yet (long story) but we do have a tent at this farmer's market.

Although I did not need to be there, I went to the tent today. Louise is there every week with a student to represent the team. Normally, due to Archdiocesan policies, I'll need to be at the booth with Louise, but today another volunteer staffed it -- because the 8th graders were graduating this afternoon. However, I wouldn't miss the first day of something like this event. Besides, Louise and a Farmer's Market can be very intimidating, and I wanted to be there for Jaydin. He just joined our team and is the youngest; we need a future, after all.

My favorite part of the morning was watching Jaydin get a feel for the selling. He was obviously out of his element behind a sales table, targeting upper-middle class women. Despite this fact, he didn't miss a beat. My boss had trained the entire team on salesmanship on Friday, so he had some idea of what he should be doing. Louise and I prompted him every now and then -- when a potential patron walked up to the table, we'd give him a lead-in. Louise would turn to the customer and say, "Jaydin will tell you about the dog bones." I would focus on him : a slight tap forward on the shoulder, or "go ahead."

He held himself with the awkwardness of a confident person who knows he is in above his head. The awkwardness evolved as he got positive responses from customers and made a few sales, for which Louise and I congratulated him profusely. Jaydin's a natural marketer. He played up our fun shapes (squirrels and rabbits) because he had been around Louise enough to hear her tout their importance. He did not hesitate (as I would have) to go greet people walking dogs as they entered the Farmer's Market.

My favorite sale of the day didn't actually happen. A cute little girl, a thin energetic girl with a sprained wrist, who was about Jaydin's age, came up and obviously loved the dog treats. She went running off for her mother, who unfortunately said no.

In future weeks, older students will staff our booth and I'll stay there longer. Supposedly the market will get more crowded and we'll sell even more. While I hope to make lots of money, I saw today how valuable a learning experience it could be for the students working the booth. I can't wait for my 8th graders to take on the challenge!