Cargo Trailer Workspace

[EquusCustomLeathers]

I was reading the thread about temporary workspaces, and it lead me to thinking about a slightly different topic. I have a 5 X 12' cargo trailer, that I would like to set up as a temporary shop to take to weekend rodeos and horse shows. I know it isn't much space, but I have to work with what I have. i would like some ideas about how to set it up.

I'm thinking about a small work table/surface that is on hinges so it can be folded against the wall when not in use, and I would like to have something to hold tools up off the floor, but be anchored so things aren't flying around when I'm towing it. In a perfect world, I would like to set up a sales area outside, and be able to do repairs, tooling, handsewing etc. inside the trailer while at the shows.

Everyone here always have great ideas for this sort of thing, so any help would be greatly appreciated!

[mikesmith648]

If I can get everyone to quit borrowing my 6 x 12 cargo trailer I am planning on doing the same thing......I will post a schematic if I can find it from all the moving.....but it will work.

I was even going to mount a small generator on the tongue and power the trailer and put a sewing machine in there

[EquusCustomLeathers]

That would be great Mike! Do you think the tongue would need some kind of reinforcement to hold the weight of a generator?

[rickybobby]

You would not need to reinforce the tongue of the trailer, it should be strong enough for a small generator. Work out several floor plans and wall plans before settling on one. I have been using this trailer for 2 years and every 6 months I change something. I have one more 8 ft counter/shelve unit I am going to change and I think it will be done!

This is a larger trailer then what you have but I have been using it for a few years and it has worked great. I have it mostly set up for Team Roping events. The Products I buy wholesale and sell retail are the "bread & butter", (Ropes, Roping Gloves, Splint boots, Over Reach Boots) they pay the bills and make a profit. The leather items I sell here are simple non custom pieces, Headstalls, Reins, Tie Downs, Breast Collars. I also sell some holsters and some wallets, and a few cell phone cases I make. I don't take much that is tooled. Most items are plain with only a edge boarder tool w/ a beaded edge line.

When you do to much custom it seems customers are always looking for something else. But you have lots of time involved in a great floral pattern or even full basket and it sits until the right person shows up. The plainer items appeal to a larger audience and seem to sell quickly. I will do custom for someone but I get a deposit (50%) and make sure I have the time.

Edited March 17, 2013 by rickybobby

[EquusCustomLeathers]

That's a nice rig Ricky! I might get one that size when I grow up I think maybe going the selling route would be a better option for me to start with, as opposed to making things on site. I bought a "lot" of tack, and miscellaneous items to sell, and I planned on selling them as well as quite a bit of custom stuff. However, I don't have quite enough inventory made, so maybe I'll stock quite a bit more tack, if that seems to sell better.

I would prefer to just sell at rodeos, but our circuit in Ontario isn't really that big. So, I will be selling at English horse shows as well, which means a completely different inventory than what I would normally sell. I will have to keep that in mind, when I set up the trailer. I like Mike's idea of having a sewing machine on board, but I'm not sure there is enough room for it. It would come in handy for small emergency repairs at shows, and make enough money to justify it.

Thanks for the tip on "plain" items..I didn't think of that!

[rickybobby]

That's a nice rig Ricky! I might get one that size when I grow up I think maybe going the selling route would be a better option for me to start with, as opposed to making things on site. I bought a "lot" of tack, and miscellaneous items to sell, and I planned on selling them as well as quite a bit of custom stuff. However, I don't have quite enough inventory made, so maybe I'll stock quite a bit more tack, if that seems to sell better.

I would prefer to just sell at rodeos, but our circuit in Ontario isn't really that big. So, I will be selling at English horse shows as well, which means a completely different inventory than what I would normally sell. I will have to keep that in mind, when I set up the trailer. I like Mike's idea of having a sewing machine on board, but I'm not sure there is enough room for it. It would come in handy for small emergency repairs at shows, and make enough money to justify it.

Thanks for the tip on "plain" items..I didn't think of that!

I just came back from a 2 day Team Roping event. 250 teams on Sat. and 700 teams on Sun. I took in a little over $7000.00. It was all retail sales of ropes, gloves, leg boots, ect. (I only sold a few pair of reins I made) The largest sale was a "Calf Roping Dummy" that was $2200.00 it was presold over the phone the week before and delivered at the roping, I only sell 4 or 5 of those a year. Point is, I had a captive audience with the right equipment on board. When I started I tried to "Do it all" stock items that please Barrel Racers, Ropers, ect. You spend to much on stock and confuse the customer when they are shopping. Barrel Racers do not want plain color leg protection, they want Zebra Stripes in NEON colors, Ropers want black, maybe blue. Barrel Racers want the proper amount of "BLING" I think that amount is "to totaly cover any signs of leather" in crystals, silver studs, ect. I think next will be LED lights! lol!!

The 2 event types you mentioned could not be further apart Rodeo's and English Horse Shows. For you to have a presentable sales area (inside and/or outside the trailer) that is double inventory for you to stock. I would pick an audience and go in that direction.

• Speak to organizers and see which has more events to attend
  
• Most events want a vendor fee or a donation of a piece of tack. check up front to know your costs
  
• Find out if you are the only person sell those items at their events
  
• Sell items that are appropriate for that events use, people/horses use
  
• Don't knock yourself out making a lot of items, have some available to see but don't rely on only selling those
  

Hope this helps

[EquusCustomLeathers]

Wow! That's a lot of ropers in one place! Up here, we may get 20-30 teams at one event. I would much rather sell to the rodeo type people, so I may skip the English shows. They tend to "trend" quite a bit, just like the barrel racers, and it's difficult to keep up with it all. This week it's the in thing, next week it's old news LOL

I sponsored an individual roper last year, just to get my foot in the door, but I think this year I may sponsor a couple of local rodeos to get my banner up on a chute. It's actually a little cheaper than individual sponsorship, and reaches a larger audience. I can probably get a slight vendor's discount if I sponsor as well.

The organizers for Rawhide Rodeo Company, and Ram Rodeo are acquaintances of mine, so I will talk to them and see what they think. The rodeos around here don't seem to be as focused on PR as the rodeos in the States, so getting their attention on "selling product" is a little tough sometimes. It seems to be "same old, same old" year after year, which is a real shame, because we have some great talent coming out of Ontario

I will definitely take your advice, and thank you so much for helping me out! Greatly appreciated.

[rickybobby]

Wow! That's a lot of ropers in one place! Up here, we may get 20-30 teams at one event. I would much rather sell to the rodeo type people, so I may skip the English shows. They tend to "trend" quite a bit, just like the barrel racers, and it's difficult to keep up with it all. This week it's the in thing, next week it's old news LOL

I sponsored an individual roper last year, just to get my foot in the door, but I think this year I may sponsor a couple of local rodeos to get my banner up on a chute. It's actually a little cheaper than individual sponsorship, and reaches a larger audience. I can probably get a slight vendor's discount if I sponsor as well.

The organizers for Rawhide Rodeo Company, and Ram Rodeo are acquaintances of mine, so I will talk to them and see what they think. The rodeos around here don't seem to be as focused on PR as the rodeos in the States, so getting their attention on "selling product" is a little tough sometimes. It seems to be "same old, same old" year after year, which is a real shame, because we have some great talent coming out of Ontario

I will definitely take your advice, and thank you so much for helping me out! Greatly appreciated.

You are already ahead of the game! Knowing some people in the organizations is a a huge help. As far as getting attention to just sell, try a different tactic, do them a favor by giving them a place to have some repairs done. Make your banners slanted toward repairs. Once they come to you and have some faith in your abilities they will start asking about custom work and products (always have some around for viewing).

I have turned several repair customers in to custom orders like that.

And YES, there is some great talent in Canada, I meet several here in AZ. during the winter ropings!

[Dink]

I did'nt use a generator because of the noise around crowds. I actually had my trailer setup with three options. First I set it up so it could be plugged into local 110 volt best option and this would run all the lights and sewing machine, I then set up a variable charge rate battery charger off of the 110 and hooked it to a battery (I used one of the big solar batteries but it could be done cheaper).

Then once I got somewhere and 110 was not available I had a set of 12 volt lights down the center of the trailer that I could run off battery. Not the best lighting but effective. Make sure the battery is charged before you leave. I then also had a small inverter, I think it was 70 watts that would also aloow me to run 110 off the batteries so that I could use the machine if needed. You just need to consider the length of time you would run off battery and get enough batteries to operate for that tine.

Hope that made some sense. I housed my batteries in a vented compartment, and above the batteries was a compartment that was built to hold a cooler. The top of the cooler compartment door was hinged and I had stall mat rubber on top of it that I would use to cut on. This was in the corner of the trailer then I had a four foot work bench, and the machine was next to the bench setting at a 90 angle to the bench.

I went through many configurations before I came up with this one. In all it was on one wall of the trailer and was just under 10 feet for everything. But with this I did alot of repair work as well as regular project work when time allowed.

Dink