Our first trade show

This past month, we took a big step as a small business and attended our first trade show as exhibitors!

Being an online business, we’ve become used to being behind a screen, and so, attending a trade event, especially as first timers, was a big step out of our comfort zone.

Edition Dog Magazine:

 For anyone who hasn’t heard of them, Edition Dog is a holistic dog magazine that features educational articles around behaviours, nutrition, grooming, and much more…

As a brand that focuses on product transparency and holistic dog wellbeing, we felt that Edition Dog Live would be the perfect event to attend to showcase what we’re all about. Being surrounded by holistic dog owners and industry professionals gave us the opportunity to really push our brand focus and values.

Some things that our first trade show has taught us:

Reflecting on the event, we’ve put together a list of things that we learnt from our experience.

1.     Things will most likely go wrong:

I thought it would be best to start with the very realistic outcome of hosting a stand at a trade show - things are bound to go wrong. In the busyness of planning for an event, things get overlooked and you may find that you’re seriously improvising to make up for what you missed.

My advice : Go over every aspect of the event in your head, write lists, discuss with family and friends as many times as you possibly can - you can never be too prepared! Doing this will help you to consider all the things that you’ll need, and will likely minimise the risk of things going wrong.

2. Be creative with your space

Sometimes, less is more.

In a 3x2m box, there really isn’t much space to manoeuvre, so you’ve got to get creative with the space you have.

 At first, we thought the busier our stand looked, the more reputable and professional we would come across. That really wasn’t the case. As a small business, people understand that you probably won’t have the flashiest equipment or promotional material. Instead, they are more interested in what your brand has to offer, who you are as individuals and what value you can bring to them.

3.     Network with other exhibitors

Being new to the industry, it can feel overwhelming starting and growing a business. Talking to other exhibitors who are in, or have been in similar positions can be so reassuring.

We were able to meet some truly lovely people who were open to sharing useful business tips, inspiring stories on how they came to start their business and just genuinely insightful conversations.

4. Don’t be afraid to get yourself out there

This was probably the biggest thing for us. Being something neither of us had done before, we were anxious about what to expect, and how to get ourselves out there. We quite literally felt like small fish in a big pond and seriously doubted our right to be there.

I can honestly say though, meeting other dog owners who could relate to our love for dogs and their wellbeing, helped to get rid of all of those anxieties. It drove all of our values home and reminded us why we started Destination Dog, which was such a surreal feeling.

What’s next for us in the trade space?

Now that we’ve achieved our first big milestone as a business, we are keen to keep the momentum going! With Edition Live having been such a great experience, we have decided to attend Discover Dogs 2022 in London, so keep an eye out for us there! If you’d like to learn more about the event, or purchase tickets, click here

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Credits

We are very grateful to the team at Edition Dog magazine for allowing us to showcase our brand at their show.

A big thank you to Herostratus - the event wouldn’t have nearly as successful as it was without their support.