Hi everyone! ๐
I wanted to share a bit of my Square journey, because I'm at an exciting milestone and this community feels like the right place to celebrate it!
I'm Brittnee, founder of PURR Cat Grooming, Scotland's first cat-only salon, based in Glasgow. I started out as a mobile groomer, literally taking payments with a Square reader from my car between appointments. Square was the first business tool I ever used. As I grew, it grew with me: I went from that little card reader to a full salon running on Square Team and Appointments, and I lean on the reporting and metrics constantly; they're a big part of how we've grown month on month.
Now I'm taking on my biggest project yet: PURR Day Out, a five-hour cat-owner community event in Glasgow city centre this September. It's a celebration of cats, their owners, and the small independent businesses in our world, exactly the kind of community I found here.
A couple of things I'd love from this community:
1. Has anyone else used Square to run or take payments at a live event/pop-up? I'd love any tips on the on-the-day setup.
2. If anyone from the Square team sees this and there's a way Square could be part of a seller-led community event like this, I'd genuinely love to chat! Square's been part of my story from day one, so it would mean a lot.
Either way, thank you to this community, it's lovely to be among people who get it. Happy to answer any questions about the cat-only salon life too! ๐ฑ Brittnee @ PURR
Hi Britnee! First off, I love the energy and the story of @PURRCatGrooming!
So the first question I have is: what hardware are we working with? There are a couple of different things that I always recommend. If you are simply using the Square reader, then first and foremost, make sure it is charged. I use a Square terminal connected to my iPad and have an image on display for our customers to see when they come up. With that, make sure it is charged and that you have an internet connection. You can always run in offline mode, but that, to me, should always be a last resort. We utilize a hotspot off of our phone for connection, but given that you will be in a city centre, I would assume there may be some kind of Wifi you can connect to? Sometimes when turning on the device, it will have an update. I always recommend checking for updates the night before. Though I swear it is a curse of Square that it just knows every time I have an event and then updates that morning lol.
This leads to my next point in time. Give yourself time! This is not Square-related (though do make sure you're all set before start time), but business. Make sure to give yourself enough time to setup you tables, tent if you have one, signage, and at least 2 minutes for a mini pep talk (don't skip a pep talk and a self-five). If you think something can't happen, plan for it anyway because it will probably happen. Also, since it is an outside event, please make sure to have water or some kind of drink on hand. Doing an outdoor event can take it out of you pretty quickly if you are not careful. So have drinks and snacks ๐
Here are my cats below! Penn & Pepรฉ
@PURRCatGrooming Congratulations, We have been working state fairs since 1985. We are constantly setting up and tearing down and traveling the United States.
1. With your first outdoor event, you're going to forget something no matter how many lists you make. Don't dwell on it and let it ruin the day. We've been doing it for years and we still forget something.
2. Like @schaefferjosh stated you will need internet, we carry a business mobile internet router with us. I like it better than the small mobile hotspots, because it is bigger and ours have 4 antennas to keep the signal strong.
3. Signage, make sure you have your business name everywhere. Business cards, make sure you have all your social media listed maybe even with barcodes, so they can scan and like or follow you. Be sure to make post following up to the event.
4. Be prepared for weather, if you have a tent take it. It will keep you cool in the sun and keep you dry in the rain. We've been in blazing hot days and downpours of rain.
5. Most important, just have fun, people tend to be happier when they are outside.
If I can help with anything else I will be happy to try and answer them. You will find working outdoor events can be more profitable than a brick and mortar store. The reason being you are going to an event people have planned for and have disposable income to spend. Plus the amount of people that will walk by and see you. We work some stat fairs that have attendance of 1 million to 2 million people in 12 days, a brick and mortar store would not see that type of traffic.
