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ENROLLMENT CLOSED
The Merchant Map Planning Toolkit
The Merchant Map Learning Journey

HAS THE UNCERTAINTY AND UNFORSEEN EVENTS Of JANUARY ALREADY IMPACTED YOUR BUSINESS PLANS?

We're days into a new year and 2021 is already serving up the uncertainty, instability, insecurity, and ambiguity of 2020. It's testing our ablities to recover, pivot, reposition, and respond in the moment.

And without a resilient and fleixble framework to guide you, you'll continue to...
 
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Worry about your base-level needs of secruity, safety, and well-being
 
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Conflate pausing to learn and act with avoiding your necessary work
  
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Grapple with what's in your control and where you can take action
 
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Struggle to pay yourself consistently during business ups and downs

you can have a flexible and resilient retail business that remains aligned with your needs and values.

 
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What if you could still make meaningful progress in a world with continued uncertainty?
 
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How much more secure and stable would your business (and life) be if you could work through life's ups & downs?
  
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What if you stopped worrying about a perfect plan but created one you can refine and replan when you needed?
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Meet these Merchants before they learned The Merchant Map
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Merchant Method Client Mia Allen, Ravel & UnRavel and The Circle Savannah
"When it comes to planning and sticking to my calendar I struggle with being consistent. I start strong then fizzle out. I've tried using different generic planners over the years, but nothing has fit my business needs.

I’m a creative person and not naturally organized, and when I’ve tried to organize my goals, projects, and tasks on my own, I get bogged down and feel overwhelmed.

In hindsight, I can see that none of the tools I had tried before actually helped me clarify my priorities and organize my resources. I couldn’t achieve my goals because I hadn’t defined them clearly or laid out the steps I would need to follow."
"We began [the year] feeling that this is our year of change, that this is the year it will happen. But for that to happen, we recognized the need to adjust how we’re doing things. Our daily life is definitely more 'trees' than 'forest.'
 
Fulfilling customer orders and inventory production typically take priority in our day-to-day operations, so bigger projects that would take us to the next level usually get short-sheeted. We feel good about keeping our customers happy, but our growth goals for performance, sales, and market presence are not being fully met.​"
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Merchant Method Clients Bill Waiste and Rachel Flores, p.o.p. candy co.
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Merchant Method Client Sydney C' de Baca, Chavah's Garden
​"I was floundering in the classic my-business-was-running-me way. I couldn't ever seem to get my head above water and just ran from one project to the next merely to keep afloat with the day-to-day tasks.  

Before The Merchant Map, the tool that had helped me at least keep track of the main to-dos was the Bullet Journal.  However, it never helped me get a sense of the bigger picture, or which of the multiple big-picture projects I needed to focus on. 

I was in classic big-picture analysis paralysis and, like an ostrich, put my head in the sand and just focused on the easier, daily to-dos."
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The Merchant Map is a retail framework that teaches you how to have a resilient and responsive business that can sustain the unexpected interuptions that are inevitable.

While you refine your business plans, you'll also learn the transformational prioritization skill set  that will help you manage your commitments and time so that you can:
  1. Get better at responding to the unexpected
  2. Know how you'll take action in ambiguity
  3. Make real progress despite the uncertainty
You'll get the exact set of tools you need to develop your ability to pivot, adjust, and reposition again... and again.
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Using a step-by-step proven process, you'll learn how to:
... Maintains focus on what matters most to you
... Breakdown your overwhelm into doable action
... Balance putting out "fires" with long-term goals 
... Use your values to reprioritize your work
... In a way that offers enough flexibility to accomodate the needs of your business while responding to ever-changing circumstances.
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IS THE MERCHANT MAP planning framework RIGHT FOR YOU?

Here's how to know if enrolling in this program is right for you: Take this simple YES or NO quiz.
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Do you run an inventory-based business or sell physical inventory?
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Do you want to be empowered to make decision in the an ambiguous and uncertain environment?
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Do you want a fleixble schedule that balances deadlines and business projects with enough time to refocus on your priorities when things get off track?
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Do you want to have more control over your business instead of have your business control you?

​If you answered YES to two or more of these questions, The Merchant Map is right for YOU.
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#1 Secure your future by understanding the framework of a resilient retail business.
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#2 Maintain your focus by learning how to plan (and
​replan) your 90-day calendar.
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#3 Get personalized feedback and community support to navigate through uncertainty.

what you can expect from this experience:

Start by improving your strategic prioritization skills...
There are two ways to join The Merchant Map training program:
  1. Learn the entire blueprint by taking the complete training program.
  2. Audit your planning skills and take them to the next level by using the lessons like a resource library to supplement your knowledge.
Do you want to see the detailed program syllabus and Merchant Map resources? Click here.
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... Then get personalize support creating your flexible 90-day plan.
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Plan or replan your business when it works best for you, using The Merchant Map planning toolkit as your guide. Or you can join me during any coaching/co-planning session I have scheduled throughout January.

While you reshape your plans using a dynamic framework, you'll step away from daily demands and overwhelming distracitons to:
  • Focus on your business and personal priorities for 2021.
  • Think clearly about the big picture: operations, products, marketing, customer service, and personal leadership.
  • Make time to follow-through on projects... from start to finish.
Follow your plan to reach your business (and personal) goals.
Share you 90-day plan with me to get personal and direct feedback on how to create a flexible calendar that you can commit so you can:
  • Achieve your goals through a blend of project management and product management activities.
  • Schedule task start and due dates that will help you reach a higher ROI, improve profit, and have a better cash flow.
  • Use task management systems to manage your business responsibilities and ensure your personal time off work.
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Follow one of the training schedules and join the live coaching sessions, or learn the priotization framework at your own pace.
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When you enroll in The Merchant Map retail program, you'll get:
 
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16 lessons available as videos and podcasts
 
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16 worksheets to help you take action immediately
  
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4 self-assessments that highlight your ROI
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Planning toolkit and instructions designed for Retailers & Makers
 
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Intention setting activity and stationery set designed in collaboration with Merchant Method client Queen Fayzel
 
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3  co-planning  sessions for live coaching and accountability
 
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Individual feedback on your goals and 90-day calendar
Let's here more from these Merchants after the Merchant Map
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Merchant Method Client Mia Allen, Ravel & UnRavel and The Circle Savannah
"The Merchant Map has opened my eyes and given me my confidence back!

I’m learning how to prioritize my time and money, become more organized, and work smarter not harder. I’m asking the hard questions that I had always glossed over because my business had been profitable. Most of all, I now know how I want to lead my business. I have a system in place to identify and make real progress against my goals.

I know myself and I will fall 'off the wagon' at some point - but now I have real skills to reign it in and get back on a profitable path. This business know-how and creative control is something I’ve never had before. Thank you!"
"Chris’ system teaches you an approach to business planning that systematically focuses on the mission of your business. The prioritization tool clears the clutter and helps reveal those projects that are actually best aligned with your business, brand, customer, and values. Really smart stuff.
 

The Merchant Map was an exciting, energizing experience. You’ll gain clarity about how to process new priorities, and learn how to prioritize projects that arise as you’re running your business.

If you work with Chris to learn and adopt
The Merchant Map, you will be better prepared to build the business and brand you envision."​
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Merchant Method Clients Bill Waiste and Rachel Flores, p.o.p. candy co.
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Merchant Method Client Sydney C' de Baca, Chavah's Garden
"With The Merchant Map, things really started to change. Chris has a system for putting all this plus the big picture projects into a process for discerning what the next most important project is. This was mind bending and revolutionary to me. Before this, I would dash to whatever felt the most urgent.

Now I have an infinitely more objective way of calculating which project was most crucial for any given time in my business. Not only was this a revelation, the answers were somewhat surprising, a fact that showed me how my panic and worry had obscured my big-picture vision."