Trust the Process: The Market Day That Cost Us More Than We Made (And Why It Was Still Worth It)

Running a small business is not for the faint-hearted. Add in early mornings, unpredictable weather, a toddler, dogs, and a boot full of cold-pressed dog food, and you’ve got the glamorous life of a market stallholder. Sounds idyllic, doesn’t it?

Let us take you back to one particular day that really tested our grit.

It was the middle of winter. One of those mornings where you question every life choice that’s led you to a 6am wake-up call. We wrangled a toddler into warm-ish clothing, walked the dogs, packed up the car with a gazebo that weighs roughly the same as a small rhino, stacked our cold-pressed dog food, lovingly labelled everything, and set off.

By 9am, we were set up. By 11am, we were frozen. By 3pm, we’d made a grand total of £14 in sales. Yes—fourteen pounds. Now, here’s the kicker: the pitch fee was £10. That’s before petrol, packaging, labels, and time. Financially speaking? We were literally out in the cold.

We drove home that day disheartened, clutching lukewarm tea and wondering if we were barking up the wrong tree (pun fully intended). We’d shown up, poured our energy into being there, and barely covered the cost of a takeaway coffee.

But here’s the thing…

That day, someone stopped by our stall. They were curious about our dog food and we gave them a live demo, showing the difference between our cold-pressed food and regular kibble. They watched it, asked thoughtful questions, nodded along, and thanked us. We thought nothing more of it—just another friendly chat, right?

A few weeks later, they reached out. That demo had really stuck with them. They had gone home, thought about it, looked us up—and became a regular customer. Not just a one-time buyer, but a loyal supporter of our little business.

That’s when it hit us: not every win looks like a sale on the day.

Showing up matters. That freezing cold, loss-making, emotionally-draining market day planted seeds. Seeds we didn’t see sprout until weeks later. But they did sprout—and they’ve been growing ever since.

Since then, that same market has become one of our best. People return looking for us, because they remember our chat, our dogs, our passion, and yes—our demo of how cold-pressed dog food behaves differently in water (spoiler: no mushy mess). We've gained a steady flow of regular customers, referrals, and recognition.

Imagine if we’d said, “That market was rubbish,” and never went back?

Running a start-up is often about doing the hard things that don’t pay off straight away. It’s early mornings, long days, and showing up even when it feels like no one notices. But people do notice. They remember. They come back.

So here’s to the stallholders. The makers, bakers, roasters, crafters, and cold-pressed dog food pushers. The ones lugging gazebos in the dark and smiling through sleet. Keep showing up. Trust the process. The quietest days can lead to the loudest wins—just not always when or how you expect them.

And if nothing else… at least we now have an incredible story about how we paid to sit in the cold and still came out better for it.