As an Indie Retailer or Maker, where do your largest priorities stand? Right now, with the inventory or raw materials you already have on hand? Or in the future, with the new products and designs you’d like to offer to your customers as soon as you’re able to?
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Do you formulate a hypothesis and test it, especially before making large investments of your time and money? I'm the first to admit that I make choices based on gut feelings. I've been know to say "Yes!" to...
An unexpected surge in retail sales is a welcomed surprise, especially if you can fulfill your orders with confidence. But what happens when you're not positioned to scale your business quickly in order to sustain the newfound momentum?
We know that hindsight is 20/20. But when you need those insights now, it's no wonder that we look outside of our businesses and past experiences for teachers and new lessons.
During this fifth season of the Retail Charm School show, I've come to learn a lot about you:
When I was thinking about how to contextualize this season of interviews, I wanted to do two things:
When it comes to business "success", measuring, ranking, and benchmarking accomplishments are straightforward and also elusive. These practices are straightforward when the unit of measure is constant, which it no longer is.
In search for a point of reference, we often look for grounding by asking operational business questions like:
A compelling story makes us think and feel. It can speak to us in a way that webinar presentation slides and data can't. What makes storytelling powerful is its ability to connect people and help us make sense of our personal experiences in this world.
For businesses - including yours - a good story communicates your values and your beliefs to those to need to know them most.
So many businesses are pivoting left and right. They accepted the challenge to mobilize early and are thinking creatively, collaborating differently, and accumulating small successes. And yet...
There are so many businesses managing multiple survival strategies:
So what happens to those small business owners, makers, and creative entrepreneurs whose pivot is not happening as fast?
Raise your hand if you're working on your marketing strategy! Anyone that's ever developed and executed a marketing effort - of any size and any scope - will tell you it's risky business.
Whether you're a planner-at-heart like a Chief Marketing Officer or an entrepreneurial maverick who flys by the seat of her pants, if you need help with the mindset of putting yourself out there, you'll want to click play on this week's episode.
Did you know that the #1 thing you need to do before the economy bounces back is build deeper relationships? And that now is a great time to upgrade your marketing strategy?
Building a community of loyal customers plays a huge part in profitable selling.
Did you know that the best way to get what you want is to ask for what you want? And that the most effective way to do this for your business is with a call to action?
Asking customers to do what you want them to do plays a huge part in what you should and shouldn’t say on video.
Raise your hand if:
You and I have these challenges in common. In fact, every “non-essential” inventory-based business finds themselves in this boat.
The questions from merchants like you are coming in hot and fast so I hosted a live Q&A session created specifically for small retailers and makers.
There are as many work from home (WFH) styles as there are people. Our adult work styles are shaped over time, most commonly by:
Whether you WFM full-time or have been asked to WFH, the circumstances have changed and so should the way we craft our new WFH life.
Are you looking ahead and playing the long game? I think you are so it’s best to nurture your star players now, or you might not have the team to get you where you want to go and who you want to go with.
The business rules we typically play by are changing. Everything — EVERYTHING — is up for reinterpreting, reimagining, replanning, and refocusing, including business partnerships.
Are you ready to discover what to do and how to do it so that you can inspire customer loyalty and improve your customer retention rate?
The conversations about how to grow sales and increase profit are taking a turn for the better as small and creative business owners search to understand the financial and non-financial implications of attracting new buyers.
When it comes to improving your small business profit, there is an almost unlimited number of resources available for retailers, small-batch manufacturers, and makers. Type a question into your search box and answer-after-answer awaits.
But do you want to know all the information about running a profitable inventory-based business that exists online? Of course not! It’s humanly impossible.
My most downloaded resource for 2018 and 2019 has been a 14-point checklist on how to sell slow-moving inventory at full retail price. (If you don't have it, it's linked below.)
Inventory, styles, trends, and products come and go. Some faster than others.
During a time when every merchant and business owner I know is setting big goals for the new retail season, I'm doing something else.
I’m focusing on habits and think you should be too. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not knocking the value of goal setting. I do it myself. I even teach merchants how to do it more effectively. But I do think you’ll have an easier time reaching your goals if you focus on the mundane, repetitive, perhaps boring habits that make achieving your goals a foregone conclusion.
When I started working in a retail buying office, I found it to be an exciting time in my life. I adored being part of the decision-making that shaped what customers bought. Specifically, I enjoyed learning how to understand my customers so deeply that I could shop of them — thousands and thousands of them.
What you and I have in common is that we excel at translating visual or emotional inspiration into something a customer will pay for. We also have strong presentation skills — from visual communication to store merchandising to selling. Like you, I love this large portion of the job being a merchant! During this early part of my career, I could have left the rest of the merchant role behind. Believe me when I tell you, I tried and here’s how it went!
For small businesses, it’s not enough to know how to merchandise, manage, and optimize inventory because just knowing something doesn’t help if you can’t put that knowledge to work.
For many entrepreneurs and small brands, the benefits of strategic inventory management are unlocked only by doing the work, which begs the question: When, in your already busy schedule, should you implement merchandising and reporting practices that drive profit without sacrificing other operational practices? |
#1 THE FUTURE OF RETAIL
#2 HOW TO DESIGN A FOOLPROOF BRAND EXPERIENCE #3 5 STEPS TO SELL SLOW-MOVING STOCK #4 CREATING A COMMUNITY (AND LOYAL CUSTOMERS) #5 LEARN WHY SHOPLIFTING HAPPENS AND HOW YOU CAN PREVENT IT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR MORE? When you do, you'll get insightful how-to resources, retail inspiration, and time-sensitive deals.
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BUILD RETAIL PROFIT IN SIMPLE, ACHIEVABLE STEPS
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HI, I'M CHRIS GUILLOT!
I made my first sale when I was eight years old and started teaching retail business classes at 20. Now, 23 years after guiding my first clients, I'm here to help you build more profit.
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