When considering what trade tent you want to buy, the first and foremost thing that you need to work out is the size of tent you need. I would strongly recommend not trying to save money on this – it is going to house your products, potentially draw customers to you and house your staff at events. To decide on the size of tent you need, you should consider the pitch size you can afford at conventions – a small tent may only take one but if you have a larger footprint then you will likely have to pay more.
The next thing you need to consider is the stock that you are going to put in it. Is the tent large enough for any large items you have (this might sound silly but its not something you’d want to get wrong!) Also, however, you need to think about the stock you are putting inside it and how you are going to lay it out – do you need space for people to try the stock you sell out (or on!). Do you need storage space for stock inside? How many tables are you going to need and where are you going to put them. How many staff are going to be inside and how many customers?
Then you should think about the structure of your tent. If you are going to be outside then your tent needs to have sides. Sometimes detachable sides, but you certainly want something to keep the rain off. If you are inside then you may not want to have sides as you may want customers to be able to enter from all angles (although again this will affect the layout of your stand – we have found that having an entry and exit point is very helpful) If you are outside you will find that a good tent attracts more visitors as soon as it starts raining,so this can be a doubly good investment!
You then need to think about the flooring – do you want a raised floor (make sure you think about wheelchair access), or a carpeted floor, do you want or need the flexibility to choose?
The design of your tent is also an important factor – how are you going to brand it – what marketing can you put on the outside and how will customers know who the tent belongs to/be attracted to it from a distance. We use a projector on the inside which shines through and projects images onto it of our logo which looks fantastic in the evenings!
The next thing to think about is the more mundane requirements: How are you going to transport it? Where are you going to store it and how are you going to dry it if it gets wet?
Finally, you want to make sure that it is easy enough for your staff to put up. The easier the better and the same for a takedown when everyone is tired at the end of an event – a tent that has a good storage system and is easy to erect and dismantle is worth its weight in gold!
