Run a one-day local food, music or craft festival

Ticket buyers from the local area, stallholders paying for pitches, and local businesses paying for sponsorship or advertising.

Ticket sales, pitch fees from food and craft traders, sponsorship, and sometimes a share of bar or merchandise sales. Income comes in bursts around each event, so the monthly figure is an average across the year.

• Planning and organising
• Negotiating with venues, traders and performers
• Budgeting and cash flow control
• Marketing through social media and local press

• Check with your local council what permissions your event needs, such as a premises licence or Temporary Event Notice for alcohol or entertainment (rules differ across the UK)
• Public liability insurance, and consider event cancellation cover as bad weather can wreck a day
• Risk assessment, first aid, toilets, crowd management and emergency plans, and whether your council's safety advisory group needs to see them
• Music licensing for any live or recorded music, and food hygiene checks for traders
• Money is spent before tickets are sold, so only commit what you could afford to lose

Startup costs are typically around £8,000 to £30,000, depending on the site, performers, insurance, toilets and safety arrangements. Money is spent before tickets are sold, so only commit what you could afford to lose.

Estimated monthly revenue is typically around £1,000 to £5,000, depending on ticket sales, stall fees and sponsorship. Hours are typically at least 10 a week. Because costs come before ticket income, plan your cash flow carefully.

Check with your local council what your event needs, such as a premises licence or Temporary Event Notice for alcohol or entertainment, as rules differ across the UK. Also check public liability insurance, risk assessments, first aid, toilets, crowd management, music licensing and trader food hygiene.