I’m Matt Crawford, winner of the Make Your Mark in the Markets Award 2009. I’m going to post a regular blog detailing what it took to get my business to where it is today. In this first blog I will be giving you an insight into what had to be done before I could get the business up and running.
I returned to my job in January this year with some BIG decisions to make. In December I had been told that I wouldn’t be receiving a Christmas bonus and unless I could hit a pretty much unachievable target, I would have no job to go back to in February! I had already been playing with the idea of setting up a Caribbean restaurant but knew that I couldn’t come up with the funds needed, especially in the middle of the credit crunch. So I decided that the next best thing would be a market stall. I had seen a number of different stalls serving hot food on Lower Marsh St market in Waterloo, London, and began asking people if they thought they would buy Caribbean meals to take away for their lunch and evening meals. I had a fantastic response and came up against very few objections – so the idea of setting up Easy ‘Nuh Caribbean food was born.
I had very little time on my hands and had to come home from a 12 hour day, spend some time with my family and then get straight on the internet searching for items I had brainstormed earlier in the day. I would carefully search the internet for the items I’d need, hoping I could scrape a few more pounds out of my budget - you can find some fantastic deals across the web! One of the key lessons I’ve learnt is to research local cash& carry suppliers really thoroughly – had I done this I would have saved myself a lot of money. I bought my first lot of stock from 13 different suppliers and now only use three or four, radically cutting costs.
After sourcing the supplies to get started, I set about researching what else I would need to become a fully fledged caterer. I knew I’d need a formal qualification so signed myself up to do a Level 2 Food Safety & Hygiene course – it’s doable online in three hours and only cost around £30. Next I needed to find a pitch and pay the pitch fees. I searched the internet for particular council websites and made contact with the market manager for that area. They are normally lovely people to deal with and are more than happy to guide you into the daily ins and outs of a busy market! Finally, my insurance is with NMTF (National Market Traders Federation) who give you free public liability insurance when you become a member of the federation, and at only £70 it was a bargain.
So, that is how I began to sow the seeds of my new business. In my next blog I’ll tell you a bit more about the earliest days and the build up to our first day trading as Easy ‘Nuh Caribbean!
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading.
Matt