Exhibiting at a trade show had been on my mind for a long time, but in August 2024, I finally took the plunge and booked a stand at Top Drawer, one of the UK’s leading design-led trade shows, for their Spring / Summer show at Olympia in January 2025.
I am a watercolour illustrator and the majority of my work is bespoke illustration for private clients and businesses. I run workshops, have an online watercolour community via Patreon and work on live illustration projects.
I saw it as an opportunity to launch my wholesale greetings card range, connect with retailers, showcase my bespoke work and put myself in front of a new audience.
Spoiler alert: It was A LOT — exciting, terrifying, exhausting, and a huge learning curve! If you’re thinking about exhibiting at a trade show, I am sharing everything I learned along the way in the hope you might find something useful.
Why I Decided to Exhibit at Top Drawer
As a watercolour illustrator, my business has different income streams — bespoke illustration, live events, workshops, online painting and now wholesale greetings cards. I love what I do, but I realised that so much of my work relies on me being present. If I take time off, get ill or anything happens, my income stops - which is a problem.
Launching wholesale cards (and later in January my online watercolour community) felt like a way to bring in a scalable element of the business, while also giving people an accessible way to own a piece of my artwork. Trade shows seemed like a brilliant way to get started—especially Top Drawer, which I’d heard great things about from other small business friends and seen a lot of buzz around on social media.
I also thought it would be a great place to showcase my bespoke illustration for a new audience of potential customers.
I went with low expectations and tried to view it as an expensive marketing exercise with anything beyond being a bonus. I saw greetings cards and wholesale as something that would build slowly and not suddenly make me a lot of money so wanted to start sooner rather than later to start that process.
I booked my stand in August with six months to prepare… and then did (almost) nothing…
Preparing for a Trade Show (What I Should Have Done Sooner!)
It was the run up to Christmas, I was juggling bespoke illustration client work, watercolour workshops, and life with a young family, so Top Drawer prep kept getting pushed to the bottom of my to-do list.
Here’s what I did eventually—and what I’d do differently next time:
Visited Top Drawer in September – Top Drawer runs twice a year (January is a bit bigger) and going along was a great way to get a feel for the event. I spoke to exhibitors, made notes and asked questions and it was incredibly helpful. People are on the whole very supportive and generous with advice. I was always honest and said I’m not a buyer but I’m scoping out ahead of exhibiting and to stop talking to me immediately if someone else came onto their stand!
Spoke to industry friends – I spoke to people I knew and reached out to people I didn’t too. Of course, always be kind and appreciative of peoples time, but often people are very generous with their advice.
A shoutout here to my friend Melissa from Western Sketch who is also a greetings card publisher (who knew that’s what we could call ourselves!) and has done Top Drawer twice. She’s written quite a few different blog posts about her experiences and wholesale greetings cards in general which I highly recommend checking out here.
Sought out free advice – I soaked up as much advice as I could (and then abruptly stopped and buried my head in the sand because I was terrified and not doing the prep). The Start Scale Succeed podcast by Nicole Higgins The Buyer and Retail Coach and Therese Ørtenblad at Small Business Collaborative who has her Lets Talk Shop podcast and some brilliant free resources are good places to start.
Designed & printed my greetings card range – This involved lots of painting and my lovely husband kindly helped me digitise them to free up my time for other preparations (thank goodness he can use InDesign!).
It would be great to look at your range and make a cohesive collection but I pulled watercolour illustrations from my archives and work I had created for different things together. It meant I spotted gaps and have lots of ideas of what I can still do, but it was a great starting point. Done is better than perfect and you can always add or change things.
Researched printers – One thing I had done nice and early was research printers and again had a recommendation from Melissa. My printer is The Imaging Centre who are a greetings card specialist and are fairly local to me (which was incredibly helpful with Top Drawer printing so I could go and collect things twice in that final week!). They arrange InPress seminar days to talk about how they work and the greetings card industry as a whole, which I went to in the Autumn and learned a lot.
I have also come across Loxleys who is another greetings card specialist printer, though I have never used them. The point is there are lots out there so do your research and find what works for you. Be aware this can be time consuming!
Designed my stand – This is so useful to think ahead and plan as much as you can. I tried to keep it really simple but on brand and was pleased with the end result. Try and think about storage. The stands have no storage so I needed somewhere for my coat, rucksack, lunch, spare postcards and business cards and a couple of useful items like tape, scissors and a screwdriver, just incase!
Visiting in September was really helpful for this and gave me lots of ideas. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel, but think about how you can put your own spin on it perhaps.
Created a wholesale catalogue & line sheet – This is essential for buyers to browse and place orders. It does not have to be printed a link to these and a digital version to email is plenty. Some people have printed copies for people to look through but it seems rare that people have printed copies to hand out unless they are much larger companies.
These need to include important information such as who you are, what you do, what you sell, product descriptions and codes, how to buy from you, pricing, payment details, your terms and conditions. Nicole Higgins, The Buyer and Retail Coach, did a great post about it on her instagram here.
Worked out my pricing – Understanding margins and production costs is really important and Therese and Nicole (yes it’s them again, they are very good) have lots of advice on this, and Therese has a blog post here that’s really useful. Talk to industry friends too, pricing is often kept quiet I’m not quite sure why but it’s healthy to talk about and helps everyone make sure they’re getting a fair price!
Even things like knowing your minimum orders, pricing but also how many items does it equate to. I had a lady help me with this as I’d lost where I had written down my calculations, which was hugely embarrassing but she was so kind and patient and placed an order. I emailed to thank her later and by the end of the show I knew all of this by heart!
Important point, do not lose the notebook you’ve made all of your notes in….!!!! (I have since found it but had to re-ask a lot of questions and spend a day working out my pricing again - thank you to everyone who helped me!)
Melissa of Western Sketch and I at my stand on the final day of Top Drawer
What I should have done:
Started preparing earlier (leaving things last minute was stressful and I had months of stress and anxiety feeling guilty about not doing the things!).
Reached out to stockists before the show to let them know I’d be exhibiting. A great way to build brand awareness or invite existing / potential stockists to your stand.
Spent more time refining my catalogue to ensure I had a broad but cohesive range and everything I needed was included.
Upload my products and details to the Top Drawer website. There was an option to do this but I just didn’t have things ready. I had my profile there but you never know who is looking so use the spaces you’re given!
The Top Drawer Trade Show Experience:
Before The Show
When you sign up you will have chosen a space which is priced according to the dimensions. I had a 1m x 3m stand which is one of the smallest you can get and perfect for what I needed.
A few months before the show Top Drawer give you access to their exhibitor manual and there is a lot of information in there. It is worth reading as much as you can and extracting what is relevant for you (Nicole suggested putting this into AI and asking it to help you extract what you needed). There are contact details if you have questions too.
There is a checklist and on their online platform which was a little confusing, but it does help you meet the deadlines you need to know, such as ordering and paying for contractor items like lighting or electrics.
Booking slots to unload / load before and after the show was something Melissa had told me gets booked up quickly, so I made sure I did that. Hilariously though, a fellow exhibitor told me he just books a few slots then decides which he needs nearer the time!! Another one told me he photoshopped the timings on his confirmation sheet to suit what he needed - I do not recommend doing that and would be way too scared I’d get told off - but fascinating how different brains work!!
I also booked parking for the setup day. Lots of people used street parking but I decided stumping up the £36 for the Olympia car park would be one less thing to worry about on my first time!
Setting Up
Setting up at Top Drawer was exhausting. I had a fairly simple setup and it took us (my husband and I) about 7 hours from arrival to when we left.
Think practically through the steps to help you plan ahead, things like if you paint the walls they need to dry before you put things on them and what tools and equipment you need to take for it all. It was also FREEZING which thankfully someone had told me so we were prepared, but I still got very cold. It was a cold January day anyway, but all the doors are open with people unloading, so wrap up or at least be prepared!
Getting set up felt like a huge milestone and those few weeks had used up all my energy. So feeling utterly exhausted it was time to grab my snacks and set off for Day 1!
All set up at Top Drawer (the carpets in the aisles come later on)
During the Show - What I Did & What Worked
Live Painting – This was a great way to attract people to my stand and start conversations. I always feel less awkward when I’ve got something to do and it was a great way to showcase my work.
Watercolour postcards – People could pick these up if they didn’t have time to chat or wanted a reminder of my work. They had a QR code to my wholesale website and had my illustration on the other side, in the same paper as my cards. I had business cards too which some people prefer, but I think having something visually memorable is useful.
Engaging on social media – I shared behind-the-scenes updates, before during and after the show and it was great to create a bit of a buzz and remind people where I was. Top tip from Nicole Higgins, the week of the show you can put your stand number in your instagram bio.
All set up for day 1 of Top Drawer S/S 25
After the Show
Once the doors close on the final day, everyone had said it was a mad panic to get packed up and out. I felt a bit panicked because everyone else was, but it was actually really straightforward.
My stand was pretty simple to disassemble, cards down, shelves down, putting everything into boxes. I was fortunate to have my lovely husband drive up with the car and be ready to bring it in along with boxes I needed to unpack into. Some people went to get their vehicle first then take down their stands, others took down then collected their car. It just got a bit busy with cars waiting to come in. A fellow exhibitor said in the past they have packed everything down, then gone to get some food, then got their cars which is quite a nice way to make it more relaxed, but to be honest everyone is exhausted and just wanted to get out by that point!
The Unexpected Challenges
How physically exhausting it was – The stress and anxiety and mental load of the months before, the physiial tasks in the run up and set up, communing in then standing all day and talking to people (which I love but you have to be on it all the time!) and then taking it all down again! I couldn’t believe how much it took out of me!
Finding time to eat properly – Taking snacks and fueling throughout the day worked well but eating the lunch I took was so difficult!
The admin after the show – It took me three full days to get orders placed and the critical emails sent. I really wish I’d set up spreadsheets beforehand to track enquiries, so I had all of that to add too. I think I had 65 emails plus 10 orders which all had to be written based on conversations I’d had.
The Cost of Exhibiting at Top Drawer
Trade shows are a big investment. Here’s a rough breakdown of my costs:
Top Drawer S/S 2025
💰 Total spent: £2870
📈 Revenue so far: £900 at point of writing this, but once all the orders are paid it should be about £5000
💡 Profit: Around £2,000 once all payments are received
This is from the show and the week after alone. I will try my best to track this throughout the year and see who else found me from Top Drawer, however it’s not always easy to track. I will be very interested to see if any bespoke work leads develop and what else comes from it.
I think it is important to try and see this as a wider exercise of brand awareness and marketing and look at it as part of the bigger picture. I can imagine it would be really tricky to go in with a goal and not meet that, and I spoke to a lot of people who said it varies a lot from year to year.
For me, I always saw this as a marketing investment rather than a guaranteed sales opportunity, and was so pleased to have such great feedback and so surprised to have actual orders too.
View of Olympia at Top Drawer S/S 25 from the back of the hall looking forward to the entrance
What I’d Do Differently Next Time
If I exhibit again, here’s what I’d change:
Prepare earlier – Spreading tasks over six months rather than cramming into two weeks! (Would I really though? A key learning would be knowing myself and that I will get it done even if it is a last minute push, so try not to stress in the months before!)
Contact potential stockists beforehand – A simple email to introduce myself and let them know where to find me could make a difference. I have had someone email after seeing my instagram posts who missed me at Top Drawer, so it’s worth directing people to you if you can.
Refine my catalogue & product selection – Make sure I am happy with these elements prior to the show, but tweaking it afterwards was ok too! I also would like to fill some of the gaps I felt I had and have the right mix of designs
Is Top Drawer Worth It?
The short answer: It depends!
For me, Top Drawer was a great experience because:
I connected with new stockists and buyers.
I showcased my bespoke illustration work and hope some of these will turn into projects
I built brand awareness and confidence in my wholesale offering.
It forced me to get my collection together and launch properly.
However, trade shows aren’t the only way to grow a wholesale business. It’s easy to get caught up in the buzz and feel like you should be doing it too, but you don’t have to do them, and they’re not the right fit for everyone.
If you’re considering exhibiting at a trade show, ask yourself:
What are your goals? Sales, exposure, networking?
Do you have the budget? It’s a big investment and you need to make sure you are comfortable with it.
Does it fit your business model? There are other ways to grow wholesale too
A note here to say the Top Drawer sales team came across incredibly pushy*. I appreciate they are doing their job but it felt dishonest and unnecessary. Try not to be put off by this and stick to what is right for you. If you need time to think about it, take time. Probably the worst thing that will happen is you will need to review a layout again and find a new space. Make sure it is your decision, not something you have been pressured into.
*This is just my experience (and the experience of most people I have spoken to about it), but I will also add that the Top Drawer team I met at the show were so lovely and supportive.
Final day at Top Drawer S/S 25
My Biggest Takeaways
I am not an expert, I have just done one trade show so far, but if you’re thinking about doing a trade show, here’s my advice:
Prepare well in advance – Don’t leave things to the last minute like I did!
Tell people you’ll be there – Reach out to potential buyers ahead of time.
Drink, eat & take breaks – Trade shows are physically demanding, fuel yourself!
Set up a follow-up system – Keep track of leads and orders.
Keep an open mind – Success isn’t just about immediate sales; long-term relationships and future sales are important too.
Be friendly - This sounds obvious but I built lots of relationships with other exhibitors and it made it such a great experience. They can be such valuable connections for the future but it also makes it a really supportive environment for the duration of the show.
Would I exhibit at Top Drawer again?
Yes! I would be intrigued to see how it went a second time and although it would be hard work, there would be a lot I have learned which would make it easier (surely). I would also be fascinated to try a different show sometime too for comparison.
For now though, I’m excited to follow up with stockists and build the wholesale side of my business, so if you know any lovely shops or stockists you think my work would be a good fit for, please do get in touch and let me know!
P.S. I recorded a podcast with Nicole Higgins, The Buyer and Retail Coach, all about my first trade show experience—once it’s live, I’ll add the link here so you can listen!
