The Traders Till Blog
Practical, tested advice for home food producers, pricing, permits, and selling more at the stand. Written by people running one too.
Money Accounting
Hobby or Business? What the IRS Cares About
The IRS decides hobby versus business by how you run it, not what you call it. The factors, the 3 of 5 years rule, and why business usually wins.
Selling Channels
Why Shoppers Walk Past Your Booth (and How to Fix It)
Why do shoppers walk past your market booth? The most common reasons, from a vendor on their phone to missing prices and a booth that feels like a trap, and the cheap fixes for each.
Pricing Profit
Handling Rising Ingredient Costs Without Losing Customers
When butter, flour or jars spike, recost first, work the cheaper levers, and raise prices only when the math says so. A plain plan for home food sellers.
Money Accounting
Do You Need a Business Bank Account to Sell Homemade Food?
The short answer Not always by law. If you sell as a sole proprietor under your own name, you can usually start…
Seasonal
Seasonal Pricing, Sales & Promotions That Work
Note: The numbers here are worked examples that carry over from our main pricing guide, not a price list. Your real promo…
Pricing Profit
Good-Better-Best: Tiered Product Pricing That Sells More
Good-better-best pricing gives buyers three choices instead of a yes-or-no. Here is how to build small, standard, and gift tiers that each clear a healthy margin.
The newsletter
Get the good ones in your inbox.
Pricing, permits and selling more at the stand, a couple times a month. No spam.
You're in. Check your email to confirm, and the next one lands in your inbox.
Money Accounting
Cash vs Accrual Accounting for a Small Food Business
Disclaimer: This is general information, not tax or accounting advice. Accounting-method rules, especially the ones about inventory, get technical fast and depend…
Money Accounting
Bookkeeping Basics for a Tiny Food Business
Disclaimer: This is general information, not tax, legal, or accounting advice. Rules and thresholds vary by state and change over time, and…
Pricing Profit
Charm Pricing vs Round Numbers at the Market
Note: This is about how a price is written, not what the price should be. Every example below assumes you have already…
Compliance Tax
Can You Sell Drinks at Your Farm Stand in Florida?
Can you sell drinks at a farm stand in Florida? The plain-English rules for bottled drinks, free coffee, fresh lemonade, juice, and cottage-food stands.
Pricing Profit
7 Pricing Mistakes That Keep Home Food Sellers Broke
Most home food sellers are not broke because they sell too little. They priced on ingredients instead of true cost. The seven mistakes, and the fix for each.
Getting Started
How to Start a Cut Flower Business
What it really costs to start a cut flower business, which flowers to grow first, how to price bouquets, and where to sell them before you have regular customers.
Farm Stand
Your First $1,000 Month: A Simple Farm Stand Revenue Plan
How much can a farm stand make? A simple plan for your first $1,000 month, broken into a daily goal you can actually hit, plus a free printable revenue tracker.
Farm Stand
10 ChatGPT Prompts to Run Your Farm Stand (Free, Copy-Paste)
Ten copy-paste ChatGPT prompts that do real work at a farm stand: sign copy, social posts, price-change wording, customer replies, and the jobs you should never hand to AI.
Marketing
How to Make Ads and Signs with AI When You’re Short on Time
A twenty-minute workflow for making farm stand signs, flyers, and ad copy with AI, plus the one job you should never hand to it.
Marketing
AI or Canva for Your Marketing? Use Either. Use Both. It’s Your Call.
Should you use AI for your small business marketing, or build everything by hand in Canva? Both are legitimate. Here's how to do each one well.
Marketing
How to Make Ads and Signs in Canva With No AI at All
Build farm stand signs, flyers, and social posts by hand in Canva's free plan, with no AI anywhere in the process. A twenty-minute workflow for makers who'd rather do it themselves.
Getting Started
Do You Need an LLC to Sell Homemade Food?
No, you don't need an LLC to sell homemade food. You can sell legally as a sole proprietor in every state. Here's when forming one is worth it.
Selling Channels
Offering Local Delivery for Home Food Orders (and What to Charge)
Local delivery is often the easiest legal channel for a home food business. What to charge, how to set a delivery zone, and the delivery-vs-shipping rule.
Farm Stand
Farm Stand Sign Ideas That Get Cars to Stop (+ 10 Free Printable Templates)
Farm stand sign ideas that actually get passing cars to stop, plus what to put on the sign, how big the letters must be, and 10 free printable 18x24 yard-sign templates.
Farm Stand
How Did Customers Find Your Farm Stand? 5 Ways to Find Out (+ Free Printables)
Your honor-system farm stand sales are anonymous, so how do you know what's working? Five easy ways to learn how customers found you, plus free printable feedback notepads.
Getting Started
Do You Need Insurance to Sell Homemade Food?
Cottage food law rarely requires insurance, but markets usually do. What coverage a home food seller needs, what it costs, and when you can skip it.
Farm Stand
How to Stop Farm Stand Theft (+ Free Printable Signs)
Worried about theft at your honor-system farm stand? Cut losses with the right signs, cameras, and cash handling, plus grab 10 free printable security signs.
Compliance Tax
What Is a TCS Food? Time/Temperature Control Foods Explained
TCS foods explained in plain English: what time/temperature control means, the water activity and pH rules, and why cottage food law only allows non-TCS foods.
No posts match that yet, .