Are pop-ups really worth it for startups?

By Janvie Soqueña Amido

Almost every weekend, there seems to be another pop-up happening somewhere in Iloilo. Malls, hotels, weekend markets, government trade fairs, and independently organized events are filled with tables carrying homegrown products. People come, photos are taken, purchases are made, and social media once again reminds us to “support local.” I actually like seeing this. It tells us that entrepreneurship is alive and that more people are willing to give local brands a chance. But with so many pop-ups happening, I think we also owe our startup entrepreneurs a more practical question: Is joining one really worth it?

I ask this from experience. In 2015, together with a few friends who believed our homegrown entrepreneurs deserved a platform, I founded Produkto Lokal. At the time, there were fewer spaces where small local brands could introduce themselves to the public. We knew there were good products being made in Iloilo; the problem was that not enough people knew they existed. So we created spaces where entrepreneurs could show what they had, tell their stories, meet customers, and hopefully make a sale. Looking back, I can proudly say that many entrepreneurs who became part of that growing pop-up culture went on to build brands that Ilonggos recognize today. Balay Tablea, Tinukib, BJ Chavez Creations, Limon, Loco, ED Taqueria, Sidro’s Donuts, Evina, among others, remind me why those early platforms mattered. But the success was never really the pop-up itself. The success was what happened after it.

Pop-ups can be incredibly useful for startups because they give an unknown business something that is difficult to buy: a chance to be discovered. Customers can taste your food, smell your coffee, touch your product, inspect your packaging, ask about your price, and talk directly to the person behind the brand. That interaction is difficult to replicate online. When you are starting with little money and practically no brand recognition, getting your product in front of real people is already valuable. But perhaps the bigger value is in the connections you make.

Someone who buys PHP 200 worth of products today may introduce you to a restaurant owner tomorrow. Another customer might work for a company looking for corporate giveaways. The entrepreneur beside you might know the supplier you have been searching for. A casual conversation can become a referral, and a referral can become an opportunity. Sometimes you leave a pop-up thinking sales were disappointing, only to receive a call weeks later from someone you met there. Not everything valuable from a pop-up goes into the cash box.

Pop-ups also have a wonderful way of confronting entrepreneurs with reality. Your friends will tell you your product is excellent. Your family will support you. People on Facebook will leave hearts and comments saying “Nami!” Then you put your product beside 20 other brands and allow strangers to decide. That is when you learn. People pick up your product but put it back when they see the price. The flavor you almost removed becomes your bestseller. The packaging you thought was beautiful gets ignored. The product you were certain would sell out barely moves. There is a big difference between someone saying “Nami!” and someone pulling out a wallet and saying, “I’ll take two.” For a startup, that difference is priceless because it is the market telling you whether your idea actually works.

But there is another question we do not ask often enough: Did you actually earn? A pop-up can look successful without being profitable. The venue is packed, your booth is busy, and you post photos of customers. At the end of the weekend, you proudly say you generated PHP 20,000 in sales. Great. Now subtract everything: booth fee, transportation, staff, meals, displays, packaging, payment charges, unsold inventory, and, most importantly, the actual cost of producing what you sold. What is left? That is the number a startup should care about. Sales are not profit. Foot traffic does not necessarily mean customers. And exposure is not automatically growth.

There is nothing wrong with paying for exposure when you are building a brand. But exposure should eventually produce something. Your first few pop-ups may help validate your product. The next ones may help people recognize your name. Eventually, however, those people should start buying from you even when there is no bazaar. This is where entrepreneurs need to become practical. If you are already on your 20th or 30th pop-up and your business still depends entirely on waiting for the next weekend market to generate sales, perhaps the question is no longer where the next pop-up will be. Perhaps the question is: What is preventing my business from moving forward?

There is no magic number of pop-ups a startup must join. Some businesses may continue participating because pop-ups remain profitable, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. What matters is progression. Your 10th pop-up should not look exactly like your first. Are customers coming back? Are people searching for your brand? Are orders arriving outside events? Are you getting referrals? Has production increased? Are your margins improving? Have you found resellers or institutional buyers? These questions tell us far more about the health of a startup than the number of bazaars it has joined.

And sometimes, the smartest entrepreneurial decision may be not to join the next pop-up. Maybe the money you would spend on another booth would be more useful for better equipment. Maybe your packaging needs improvement. Maybe you need permits or certification. Perhaps you need inventory, working capital, accounting systems, technology, or stronger digital marketing. Recognizing that does not mean pop-ups have failed you. It may simply mean your business has entered another stage. There comes a point when a startup does not need another table. It needs capability.

Before we tell our homegrown entrepreneurs to enter bigger markets, we should also make sure they are ready for them. A supermarket asking for 5,000 units sounds like a dream until you realize you have only ever produced 100. Can you maintain the same quality at that volume? Can you finance production? Can you survive 30- or 60-day payment terms? Is your packaging compliant? Does your pricing still make sense after retailers and distributors take their margins? Sometimes a big opportunity given to an unprepared business can become a very expensive problem. Market access means little if the enterprise does not yet have the capacity to serve the market.

More than a decade after helping start Produkto Lokal, I remain a believer in pop-ups. I have seen what they can do. They create visibility, relationships, referrals, customers, confidence, and opportunities. For many startups, they can be an important first step. But they should remain exactly that: a step. The entrepreneurs we saw grow did not become success stories simply because they occupied a table at a weekend market. What mattered was what they built from the opportunity that table gave them.

So join the pop-up. Sell. Meet people. Listen. Learn. Test your product. Tell your story. But when you pack up at the end of the weekend, do not only count your sales. Ask yourself: Is my business stronger today than it was before this pop-up? Did I gain customers who will come back? Did I learn something about my product? Did I build a useful relationship? Did I actually make money? Did the experience move my business somewhere?

If the answer is yes, then perhaps the pop-up was worth it. But if, after years of joining one event after another, all you have accumulated are booth fees, photographs, and “exposure,” perhaps it is time to rethink the strategy. Because the goal was never to build an entrepreneur who could keep joining pop-ups. The goal was to build a business that could eventually grow beyond them.

And at some point, the table has to lead somewhere.