The Resilient Retail Game Plan

It may not be a workshop at the North Pole, but your small business is likely to be just as busy come Christmas time. By the same token, you may not have quite as many ‘customers’ as Santa Claus but you certainly might need a band of elves to ensure your orders are fulfilled, your products are produced and your deliveries are sent out on time. Taking on team members can feel like a big step for small business owners, but building a workforce, whether it’s seasonal or not, doesn’t have to be as scary as it might seem. In today’s episode, I speak to the director of Modern HR, Mandy Hamerla. With two decades of HR experience, as well as working as Global HR Director at Pearson and as Head of HR at Argos, Mandy helps entrepreneurs, tech companies and charities build teams, create contracts and realise their full potential through recruitment. In this podcast, we discuss the difference between an employee, a worker and a self-employed contractor and which might be most suitable for your needs, how to go about creating the right working culture and the importance of factoring in training time. We also talk about the positive aspects of the often criticised zero-hour contracts, hiring for potential and the value of getting your SOP’s in place before you onboard new team members. Get in touch with Mandy about working together at https://www.modernhr.co.uk/ and you can follow and connect with her at: https://www.instagram.com/modernhruk/ https://www.facebook.com/ModernHRUK/ https://twitter.com/modernhruk https://www.linkedin.com/in/mandyhamerla/ https://www.pinterest.co.uk/modernhruk/_created/ Further Resources: https://www.modernhr.co.uk/blogs/news/employees-vs-contractors https://www.modernhr.co.uk/blogs/news Want to try out the Resilient Retail Club? Use the code 10PODCAST for £10 off your first month https://futureretailacademy.newzenler.com/courses/theresilientretailclub?coupon=10PODCAST

If the previous few episodes hadn’t made it abundantly clear, prepping and optimising your product business for Christmas is absolute vital if you want to make the most of the year’s peak purchasing season. Building genuinely engaged audiences and deploying successful marketing campaigns doesn’t happen overnight, you have to get a strategy in place and when it comes to the festive period, the earlier the better. In today’s episode we speak to Narada McKoy, founder and director of Bravada, who specialise in digital strategy, performance marketing and app marketing. Having learnt a thing or two at Amazon as a Marketing Manager and after heading up growth and customer engagement at Adidas, Narada is my go-to expert for implementing best practice when it comes to digital marketing. In this podcast we discuss how to start with the customer and work backwards, the seasonal shifts you might see in purchasing behaviours and how there’s no shortcuts to building loyalty. We also delve into the long-term opportunities afforded by ‘prospecting’, utilising ‘Dark Social’ and how your friends and family could help you better understand your customer base. Get in touch with Narada McKoy about working together at https://www.bravada-uk.com/ and you can follow and connect with him at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/narada-mckoy https://www.instagram.com/bravada.marketing/ Further Resources: https://analytics.google.com/ https://developers.google.com/web/tools/lighthouse

You may remember that the power of PR played a large part in the results of my recent product business survey, and with Christmas, technically, on the way, getting into gift guides and being found in features could make a big difference to your sales come the festive season. Approaching press outlets, however, can be a bit intimidating, so, as part of this series of episodes focusing on getting set for Christmas, I spoke to PR Dispatch founder, Rosie Davies-Smith to discuss how to plan out pitching your products. Founded in 2017, PR Dispatch puts the power in the hands of brands and gives product-based businesses everything they need to pitch their products to the UK press. In today’s episode we talk about gift-focused features, creating trust and credibility with your customers, why PR isn’t strictly about sales and why as long as you’re organised - you’ll be fine! Get in touch with Rosie about working together at https://prdispatch.com/ and you can follow and connect with her at: https://twitter.com/PRdispatch https://www.instagram.com/prdispatch/ https://www.facebook.com/PRdispatch/ Further Resources: https://prdispatch.com/christmas-waitlist-2022

From the sounds of Slade and Band-Aid permeating the airwaves to the snowflake fringed points of sale at seemingly every checkout, for better or worse, Christmas seems to start earlier every year. On average, the buying public might resent the idea of turning their thoughts to the festive season as soon as the Hallowe’en decorations are down, but with one-third of all retail sales taken in the six-week run-up to Xmas, the reality for retailers is that their Chrimbo considerations have to start a whole lot earlier...and I'd suggest that's as early as July! So for today’s episode, I’ve enlisted retail mentor (and my fellow ‘Get Set for Christmas’ workshop host) Joanne Griffin, who kindly shares her top Christmas planning and product tips. With 13 years of experience, from working at Not On The High Street to helping home, gift and lifestyle brands to spot new retail opportunities, Joanne has a great deal of commercial knowledge as well as an eye for design and truly knows what it takes to foster a fruitful festive season. In this episode, we talk about creating a stress-free Christmas by seizing upon a slow summer and getting a plan in place, the importance of looking outside your own niche for both product and marketing inspiration and how ever-evolving consumer attitudes and behaviours mean that you need to try to meet your customer where they’re at. Get in touch with Joanne about working together at https://www.creativeflowcollective.com/ and you can follow and connect with her at: https://www.facebook.com/creativeflowcollective https://www.instagram.com/creativeflowcollective/ https://www.pinterest.co.uk/creativeflowcollective/_saved/ Further Resources: Use the code Podcast10 to get 10% off lifetime access to the Get Set for Christmas course. https://futureretailacademy.newzenler.com/courses/get-set-for-christmas-2021

This episode marks the one year anniversary of the launch of The Resilient Retail Game Plan podcast, and to all my guests and those that have tuned in over the last 47 episodes, I can’t thank you enough! I hope the podcast continues to entertain and educate you, and I look forward to sharing more of my product business knowledge with you in the episodes to come! In today's episode, I speak to Komal Pandya-Rao of The Design Palette, a self-taught designer making bright and bold luxury stationery. Komal’s colourful paper goods have been featured in the likes of The Stylist and 91 Magazine, so I wanted to get in touch to see what kind of tips Komal had for making inroads when it comes to getting your products into the press. In this podcast, we discuss building press pitching into your routine as a business owner, the vital importance of understanding publication timelines and the value of building social proof, as well as how to leverage creative angles and why you’ll definitely need ‘cut-outs’ and ‘line sheets' if you want to get your products featured in your ideal publication. Get in touch with Komal about working together at https://www.thedesignpalette.co.uk/ and you can follow and connect with her at: https://www.facebook.com/thedesignpalette https://www.instagram.com/thedsignpalette/ https://www.pinterest.co.uk/thedesignpalette/_shop/ Further Resources: https://prdispatch.com/https://www.stylist.co.uk/ https://91magazine.co.uk/https://www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/ https://www.papercraftermagazine.co.uk/

With ever-improving engagement platforms and tools giving business owners so many different ways to reach potential customers, it’s important to diversify your marketing channels in order to get your products in front of the right people. Due to their cultural ubiquity, Facebook and Instagram might be some of the first platforms that come to mind when you’re thinking of where to advertise and even sell your products - but social media platforms users aren’t primarily scrolling for products, meaning you might not see the best return on your time and money. Built to drive traffic and proven to reach buyers early in their purchasing journey, Pinterest is different! I spend today’s episode speaking to paid advertising and Pinterest specialist Vanessa Rinaldi (aka Mrs Social) on why the fast-growing visual search engine is such a game-changer for small business owners. We discuss how Pinterest’s primary function of helping users ‘curate their future’ aligns with purchase-planning behaviours and produces invaluable pre-trend data, as well as the huge advantage of the evergreen, egalitarian display of content afforded by the platform. Get in touch with Vanessa about working together at https://www.mrssocial.co.uk/ and you can follow and connect with her at: https://www.instagram.com/mrssocial/ Further Resources: https://help.pinterest.com/en-gb/business/article/rich-pins https://www.tailwindapp.com/

Between securing product placements and getting featured in gift guides, guest blogging isn’t perhaps the first thing you’d think of when it comes to possible PR opportunities, but it can be a powerful way to connect with your ideal clients and gain exposure. In today’s episode, I speak to PR specialist Colette Machado. From previously working as an online journalist for BBC News to helping entrepreneurs get in front of their target audience, Colette has 20 years of experience and a wealth of tips on how to approach blogs, how to provide value as a writer and the importance of recognising yourself as an expert. We discuss how to find guest blogging opportunities through hashtags and search engines, the best ways to pitch, having an ‘angle’ that is timely and relevant and being engaged in your outreach. Get in touch with Colette about working together at https://colettemachado.co.uk/ and you can follow and connect with her at: https://www.facebook.com/colettemachadoUK https://www.linkedin.com/in/colette-machado/ https://twitter.com/colettemachado Further Resources: https://tweakyourbiz.com/title-generator

Search Engine Optimisation or SEO, in simple terms, is the process of improving the quality and quantity of traffic to your website, and with more small businesses adopting a digital-first business model than ever, creating the optimal conditions for being found organically through search results is incredibly important. Compared to the simple transactional nature of paid advertising, SEO can seem highly technical and when I speak to small business owners they often report finding it overwhelming asking “Where do I start?” and “What should my priorities be?” So, for episode 45 of The Resilient Retail Game Plan, I’ve enlisted the help of Khaleelah Jones, the founder and CEO of Careful Feet Digital Agency. Having worked in the marketing industry for over a decade, Khaleelah is a digital marketing, content strategy and SEO guru and the perfect person to help de-mystify some of the terms and processes at play when delving behind the scenes of your online store. In today’s episode, we discuss digital marketing as an ecosystem and look at the interdependency between different online elements and platforms. We also talk about the need for clear goals and the value of leveraging analytics, as well as touching on the use, and limitations, of plugins and clearing up what terms like ‘bounce rate’ actually mean for you and your business. Get in touch with Khaleelah about working together at https://carefulfeet.me/ and you can follow and connect with her at https://www.instagram.com/khaleelahejones/ Further Resources: https://moz.com/blog https://neilpatel.com/blog/

From marketplace apps like Depop to capitalist behemoths like Amazon, E-commerce comes in many shapes and forms but none often so critical as your own website. In this day and age, and especially in the aftermath of the Coronavirus pandemic, consumers expect your business, small or large, to have some form of online presence - fortunately, it’s easier than ever to set up a website. But how do you make sure that it’s working effectively, that it’s accurately conveying your range of products, and most importantly that it’s converting? In today’s episode, I speak to Anna Henneback, an E-commerce Consultant and Shopify Specialist, to discuss some of the common problems to watch out for when building out your online shops, and what sort of elements you can implement to create a frictionless purchase journey for your customers. With 15 years of industry experience from working with major global omnichannel retailers including like Net-a-Porter and H&M, Anna touches on the importance of having a mobile-first mindset, the value of social proof in the form of user-generated content and reviews (good and bad!) and shares some vital tips that will help you give your customers the confidence and security to want to spend with you. Get in touch with Anna about working together at https://www.heneback.co.uk/ and you can follow and connect with Anna at: https://www.instagram.com/heneback_ecommerce/

Email has become as ubiquitous a form of communicating with customers as any of the traditional marketing mediums, and in an increasingly digital world, emails couldn’t be more valuable in helping customers to make a decision on what and what not to buy. It’s a powerful tool and really makes money when it works, but despite many small business reporting having an email list, email marketing is still hugely under-utilised. For this episode of The Resilient Retail Game Plan, I’ve enlisted email strategist and copywriter Eman Ismail. She never gets bored of talking about the power of email and uses her talent for creating online correspondence to help fire up conversion rates, evergreen sales, and turn fans into super-fans. We spend this podcast discussing the importance of establishing connections and honouring the access that an email gives business owners to their customer base, as well as tips for where to start with developing sales sequences and the importance of celebrating the unsubscribers. Get in touch with Eman about working together at Inkhouse.org.uk and you can follow and connect with Eman at: https://www.instagram.com/inkhousewriting/ https://www.facebook.com/inkhousewriting/ https://twitter.com/inkhousewriting

From my long career in the retail sector to working one-to-one with large clients and hosting numerous courses I know first-hand how confusing and overwhelming running a business can be and decided last May that I wanted to create, and make available, helpful content around running creative product businesses. I quickly decided to start a membership program and the rest, as they say, is history! And now, celebrations are in order! It’s not only my birthday this week, but the Resilient Retail Club turns one, and I thought it was the perfect opportunity to reflect on the last 12 months of running my membership and to share what I’ve learnt with you. In this bonus episode of The Resilient Retail Game Plan, I’ll be looking at the five things I’ve learnt from a year of running The Resilient Retail Club. I take a look at the value of community and how important it is to ask for and share support. I identify some common themes that form the basis of a lifestyle shift, with people rediscovering their creativity and leaving more traditional job roles. I also take a look at the tension between creativity and commerce, and with so much to juggle and understand, how mindset means everything when it comes moving forward with your business. Don’t forget to take advantage of my Resilient Retail Club Birthday Week Offer at: https://www.resilientretailclub.com/birthday

Loyalty is absolutely key when it comes to selling creative products, but it’s something business owners often don’t prioritise. It’s easy to get distracted chasing new customers and with the prevalence of complicated legacy loyalty programs like Nectar and Tesco’s Clubcard, where consumers haven’t always seen the best return, it can be hard to know how best to entice, reward and retain your existing customer base. Loyalty, in traditional business terms, is ultimately about repeat purchases, but as today's guest Fiona Stevens explains, it’s also about engaging with customers between purchases. Fiona is Head of Marketing for LoyaltyLion - a data-driven loyalty and engagement platform trusted by thousands of fast-growth e-commerce merchants worldwide - and in today’s episode, we discuss how changes in consumer attitudes are creating a shift in the way businesses build relationships and communities with their customers. We take a look at how shared values and emotional connections are becoming increasingly critical to purchasers, how a loyalty mindset can help support your wider business goals and the importance of balancing customer acquisition and retention. Check out LoyaltyLion at: https://loyaltylion.com/ And connect with them on social media: https://www.facebook.com/LoyaltyLionHQ/ https://twitter.com/loyaltylionhq https://www.linkedin.com/company/loyaltylion https://www.instagram.com/loyaltylion/

Way back in episode 28 of The Resilient Retail Game Plan I spoke about where to sell your creative products. Each of the better-known e-commerce platforms tend to have their own kind of community and fulfil a certain niche - but in today’s episode, I want to focus on the marketplace offering unique crafts, personalised products and DIY designs: Etsy. To help me better understand what makes Etsy so special I’ve enlisted the font of e-commerce knowledge that is Silvina De Vita - designer, paper artist and founder of My Papercut Forest. Etsy was the first place Silvina ever sold her stunning paper miniatures online and has seen her success and sales grow exponentially since setting up her account in 2012. She’s such an Etsy pro that’s even a regional Team Captain for Brighton, helping local sellers and makers to also succeed on the platform. In this podcast, we discuss the value of Etsy’s global reach and how perceptions of the platform have shifted from it being viewed as a hobbyist shopfront to a driver of style and fashion. We also touch on the bonuses of unexpected PR and how the platform, if used to full effect, can be the main revenue driver for your business. Check out Silvina’s beautiful paper-cut miniatures at https://mypapercutforest.co.uk/ and you can follow and connect with Silvina at: https://www.instagram.com/mypapercutforest/ https://twitter.com/silvina_dv https://www.facebook.com/silvinadevita

The product business survey I conducted this march turned up a lot of interesting information as well as a few surprises, and in episode 36 of The Resilient Retail Game Plan I did a countdown of one of the collections of results that I found most fascinating - the things that contributors said made the most difference to their businesses. Answers ranged from establishing a stronger brand identity to cultivating consumer communities, but in this episode with the help of today’s guest, business mentor Therese Ørtenblad of Small Business Collaborative, I want to focus on the third most mentioned tactic: wholesaling. Having worked with Therese on many different projects including talks, podcast and courses, I can’t think of anyone more passionate and better suited to help creative product businesses enter the world of Wholesaling. In today's podcast, we discuss the wholesale benefits of increased visibility and sales and how getting your products into stores can help create a positive shift in mindset and solidify a sense of credibility. We also delve into the long-term gains on offer when considering the interplay of sales margins and product volume, and how now is the moment for small businesses when it comes to working with stockists. Get in touch with Therese’s about working together at https://www.smallbusinesscollaborative.co.uk/ and you can follow and connect with Therese at: https://www.instagram.com/small_business_collaborative/ https://www.facebook.com/smallbusinesscollaborative/ https://twitter.com/sbusinesscollab

There's been a massive sea change in recent years when it comes to consumers and the relationships that they have, and maintain, with the people, companies and even industries that they buy from. We've seen this in the advent of conscious consumerism and through the more recent drive to support small businesses in the wake of COVID-19. Part of this shift in consumer mindset can be attributed to the access and visibility created by social media - never before have we, as customers, had such unbridled access to and power over our favourite brands. Showing people behind the scenes, sharing the processes that get your products to market and letting your customers voices be heard has never been more important when attempting to develop long-lasting, personal relationships with the buying public. But cultivating an earnest brand that speaks to its audience in an organic way is no mean feat. That's where today's Resilient Retail guest, Manmeet Sokhi, comes in. Since starting White Rain Designs around 6 years ago, Manmeet has steadily grown her personalised ceramics business. From originally working at a ‘Paint-Your-Own’ studio, through working weekends to getting her own kiln, the last year and a half has seen her small product business really take off! In today’s episode, we discuss her foray into the world of Instagram, the value of organic engagement and how taking the opportunity to co-create with your community of customers can open up possibilities you might never have considered; as well as the importance of taking the time to create impactful content and setting social media boundaries. Check out Manmeet’s beautiful ceramics at https://whiteraindesigns.com/ and you can follow and connect with Manmeet at: https://www.facebook.com/WhiteRainDesigns/ https://www.instagram.com/whiteraindesigns/

From our favourite classic adverts to the advent of celebrity Youtubers, can you think of a more powerful, versatile, or memorable way to promote a brand, business or product than through video? With the incredible reach afforded by social media and the digital wonders that are smartphones, video has become an indispensable tool for any business. So, for my second-ever interview on The Resilient Retail Game Plan, I thought I’d dig a little deeper into the subject and get in touch with video creator, consultant and collaborator Jessica Wreford. Back in 2019, inspired by her travels around New Zealand, Jess launched her own part-time creative product business with the ‘throwbie’ - a quick-dry and compact private changing robe. Combined with her love of YouTube and Instagram, she used and enhanced, her video skills to get her amazing product in front of people online. Building in success and growing in confidence Jess has since gone freelance full-time and now helps others to level up their content with original video ideas, and social media content that goes beyond your typical ‘reel’. In today's episode we discuss the importance of story-telling and fostering human connections in a digital space; the challenges and rewards of being vulnerable and sharing your journey (however bumpy it is) and how the medium of video can help you adapt and work more efficiently in these unprecedented times. Check out Jess’ work at https://jessicadoes.co/ and you can follow and connect with Jess at https://www.instagram.com/jessicadoeslife/ And don't forget to join my free 5-day challenge, with guided goal-setting and strategy planning to grow your sales in 2021 at: http://www.resilientretailclub.com/challenge

After what seems like an eternity, lockdown has finally been lifted! Non-essential retail can now re-open, and I couldn’t be happier for all you creative product business owners out there - here’s to some healthy sales numbers and growing profits. I’m also very happy and excited to introduce my first ever guest on The Resilient Retail Game Plan, Katie Glickman! Katie is the owner and creator of the award-winning waterproof ‘Bibbily Boo’ bib, which launched in 2019. Inspired by her own dribbly baby, she launched her business whilst on maternity leave. Wanting to avoid bib rash, make her little one more comfortable and tired of the endless cycle of drying drool-soaked clothes, Katie taught herself to sew, developed an innovative product and made her first sale a mere 27 minutes after launching her own website. In today’s episode, we discuss how researching and entering awards has helped transform Katie’s business, and how industry recognition and recommendations from respected institutions can go a long way in proving to your customers why your products are worth the investment. Katie also shares how the impact of each award she’s received has been different and highlights the importance of budgeting when you’re considering making an application to multiple awards bodies. Check out Katie’s amazing bibs and her further range of products at https://www.bibbilyboo.co.uk/ and you can follow and connect with Katie at: https://www.facebook.com/bibbilyboo/ https://www.instagram.com/bibbilyboobibs And don't forget to join my free 5-day challenge, with guided goal-setting and strategy planning to grow your sales in 2021 at: http://www.resilientretailclub.com/challenge

Welcome back to the final episode of my three-part analysis of the 2021 Resilient Retail Product Business Survey. In the previous two episodes, we’ve had a look at the numbers that the 300 plus respondents submitted, in an effort to find some realistic benchmarks to work against, and we also reviewed how those business owners used marketing to help build their brands and increase their sales. In episode 36 of The Resilient Retail Game Plan I’ll be counting down the top 11 results for each of the two questions I asked at the very end of the survey. The first was: “What was the one thing that made the difference?” And the second was: “What was your biggest learning?” We’ll discuss the value of strong product photography and branding, the synergy between sales channels and your customers, and cultivating a community around your brand through recommendations and social media. We’ll also look at the importance of being persistent, consistent and flexible across all aspects of your business, how relationships with PR and influencers can sometimes be a bit of a double-edged sword, and how one of the biggest barriers to your success could be you! Get your copy of the report at https://www.resilientretailclub.com/survey

Welcome back to my analysis of the 2021 Resilient Retail Product Business Survey. Last weeks episode was all about the numbers, and hopefully, you were able to draw inspiration from some of my key takeaways and use the statistics I shared to help you benchmark whereabouts your business currently stands and what you can do to help it grow. In today’s episode, we take a look at one of the most important elements of running a small product business - marketing! Marketing is a subject that I’ve discovered can cause a lot of stress to small business owners - many founders report being concerned over how to best approach showcasing and sharing their goods with potential customers, and with so many different avenues of outreach and audience engagement it can be tough working out where to begin. So in Episode 35 of the Resilient Retail Game Plan, I’ll be looking at where people are selling their products, how much they’re spending on getting them in front of people and how this all affects turnover. We’ll look at the power of social media and discuss which platforms see the most success; the correlation between time invested and sales made; and whether businesses are effectively leveraging email marketing and paid advertising. Get your copy of the report at www.resilientretailclub.com/survey

I’m excited to announce that this episode marks the start of my deep-dive into the long-awaited results of my recent product business survey. There’s a number of reasons I wanted to run a survey, partly to see whether certain patterns had changed since my 2019 study, but namely, it’s because there aren’t many benchmarks out there that convey the true reality of running a product business. It’s easy to get disheartened, or misled, by a lot of the messaging aimed at small businesses, so it’s with the information kindly provided to me by over 300 respondents that I hope to give you some useful statistics and a clearer picture of the world in which you work. We’ll look at everything from conversion rates to what selling channels are most popular, as well as the mix of roles and products that make up people's businesses. I also review the importance of taking into account the age of a business in relation to things like turnover and how paying yourself is possible if you just commit to it! Get your copy of the report at www.resilientretailclub.com/survey

Today’s episode was requested by one of our listeners, and the challenges it speaks to are something we’ve touched on in previous episodes - it’s a question that I’ve heard many times from Small Business Owners - to paraphrase - “How do you make life easier for yourself when you’re wearing so many different hats?” I’ve had many conversations with creatives, makers and retailers, just like you, that are actually scared of promoting their businesses because of the impact a flurry of sales, and their subsequent fulfilment, has on the demands of the rest of their business, such as marketing and social media. This is actually a good indicator that you’re at a stage where you can grow the business, so it’s in episode 33 of The Resilient Retail Game Plan that I want to give you my tips for staying sane and on top of everything during those sales peaks and periods of growth. We’ll discuss the importance of focusing on consistency rather than quantity when it comes to marketing and sales platforms, and we’ll get realistic about our time constraints and the value of reviewing and prioritising our tasks as well as elongating time-scales where necessary. We’ll also cover the disruption caused by ‘context switching’ and distractions as well as identifying the biggest time-sucks that might need external support. Just a little reminder to grab a brew and take 5 mins to complete my small business questionnaire of 2021! ⠀⠀⠀ https://www.resilientretailclub.com/survey⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ It's so important that our voices get counted, and that we have accurate data on what it's like to be a small product business owner. When the results are in, we’ll have some accurate benchmarks that no other data provides, and you can fact check those against wildly unrealistic claims you see out there and see how you're REALLY doing.

Finally, the roadmap for lifting the current (and hopefully final) lockdown in England has been laid out and there’s plenty to review, analyse and dissect. With non-essential businesses being given the green light to reopen on April 12th there’s a lot of things to consider - whether that’s pivoting from online sales to shifting your focus back to your physical store or trying to get your head around the new post-Brexit EU shipping regulations. It’s been a tough start to the year in general for retail, but projections suggest there’s cause for some optimism moving forward into 2021. In episode 32 of The Resilient Retail Game plan, I run through what we do know about the conditions set out by the government relating to retail, the questions that remain and the themes and forces that are shaping the industry in 2021. We’ll discuss how the £125 billion pounds currently held in savings could translate to strong consumer spending once things return to normality; I’ll cover the relief packages, grants and assistance available to help you with reopening and covering your rates; and I’ll also detail how the growing desire for consumers to support small, independent and local businesses should see retailers like you secure a bigger piece of the consumer spending pie.

A Break-Even Analysis is an indispensable tool for businesses of every shape and size, and reaping its benefits only requires inputting a few simple figures, pulled from your outgoings and income, to help you better understand where your business is and what you need to do to take it forward. I know going over the numbers may not be the most exhilarating part of running your business, but it’s imperative that you know what it takes to keep everything running and what your levels of profitability are if you want to be able to cover your costs and pay yourself. In episode 31 of The Resilient Retail Game Plan, I break down Break-Even Analysis. We'll cover the simple and effective equations required to help you get a handle on your profits margins as well as identifying the vital difference between product costs and overheads, and how growing your average profitability doesn't always have to mean generating more orders. By the end of this episode, you should have a better idea of what's coming in and going out of your business and will be able to use that all-important information to set yourself the sort of targets that will help you and your business thrive.

Firstly, a quick PSA - The Resilient Retail Game Plan has hit 10,000 downloads! Thank you so much to all of you that have, and continue to tune in - your listenership is hugely appreciated! Now, as I discussed back in episode 12, I’m a passionate advocate when it comes to the subject of paying yourself from your creative product business. Whether it’s a monthly allowance, an annual bonus or something as simple as buying yourself a delicious cup of coffee, I believe you should be committing yourself to setting a specific salary goal that’s achievable and non-negotiable. The last year has been rough for retail, but that doesn’t mean you can’t reward yourself for all your hard work. In episode 30 of The Resilient Retail Game Plan, I detail the key points you need to grasp to help make your salary aspirations a reality. We’ll cover the importance of understanding your business’s profitability and how setting a sales plan will help you set realistic wage targets - and we’ll also look at controlling and reviewing your expenses so you can be as prepared and profitable as possible.

The Trading Mentality is an approach that is prevalent within the inner workings of some of the worlds biggest retailers. It’s an ideology that harks back to the days of market stall trading, with the message at its core being to “always be dissatisfied”. This mantra has been used as a tool to motivate businesses to pursue relentless sales growth and to endlessly maximise their profits, which is why the concept has become somewhat synonymous with some of the more ruthless and cutthroat business practices of retailers like Philip Green of the currently struggling Arcadia Group. It might then seem that assuming a trading mentality would be antithetical to the goals and direction of a small purpose-led business - but that’s not the case! Companies like Patagonia and Lush are two great examples of businesses with strongly held beliefs as well as having a strong trading mentality -for them, the two approaches work and support each other in tandem. So, in episode 29 of The Resilient Retail Game Plan, I want to discuss why the trading mentality is relevant to you, how it can help you think about your business differently and help you grow. We’ll break down what actually constitutes having a trading mentality and what it means for the ways we plan, review and react to changes in the marketplace; and I’ll cover how if we want to push for positive change in the retail industry that we should be focussing on establishing a strong ‘triple bottom line’ of people, planet and profits. To reserve your place on the free online Stock Management course mentioned in this episode, please head to http://www.resilientretailclub.com/stock

From eBay to Etsy and Stripe to Paypal, there are a hundred different options when it comes to selling your creative products online and getting paid, and it seems a new sales platform or marketplace pops up every week - so where do you start and how do you know which platform is right for you and your business? In episode 28 of The Resilient Retail Game Plan, I cover the benefits and pitfalls of some of the most popular third party selling services, the importance of having your own web presence and how to get your priorities in order when it comes to getting your products in front of people. We’ll look at the power of leveraging social media to help kicks things off for those just starting out and how to make sure that you’re putting your time and money to the best possible use when It comes to generating traffic and sales - and I’ll give you my recommendations for what I believe are the most robust e-commerce platforms that will give you the analytics and scalability that you need to help grow your business.

Postage and packaging is one of those funny issues that you don’t really have to grapple with until you have to do it yourself - but as a creative product business, receiving an item is probably the first experience a customer will have with you and your products, so ensuring that the delivery experience is good, and that you make a good first impression, is almost as important as the product itself. In episode 27 of The Resilient Retail Game Plan, I want to break down the nuts and bolts of P&P so that you can streamline the process of getting your items out to your customers and avoid the pitfalls of material costs and abandoned online shopping carts. We’ll start by looking at packaging and the importance of the unboxing experience, as well as how to test the safety and security of your packaging options and how to ensure those materials aren’t undercutting your profits - and we’ll look at how to underpromise and overdeliver on postage, where we can use statistics like average order values to help set smart postage limits to encourage people to move all the way through the checkout experience and make that all-important purchase.

With a lot of people struggling to juggle life, work, homeschooling, side-hustles, relatives and self-care right now, I want to spend episode 26 of The Resilient Retail Game Plan on my six steps to being more productive. I’m a self-professed productivity nerd and am always looking at ways I can tweak and better manage the needs of my business as well as my own. The best place to start is to be realistic - being productive is as much about how you feel as it is about your business processes and you can’t focus when you’re overwhelmed and anxious. So, we’ll start by freeing up some mental space by getting your tasks down on paper (or an app) and out of your head, so you can start prioritising tasks by urgency and importance and blocking them out into achievable time slots. We’ll also discuss identifying how you work best and how to work better so you’re firing on all cylinders for those high-focus tasks without the inference of all of today's modern distractions. And we’ll look at the importance of creating clarity in the following days, weeks and months by planning ahead, being kind to yourself and remaining flexible as things so often change.

Facilitated by improvements in technology, we’re seeing a big rise in people starting creative product businesses. With digital services and the ever-increasing reach of the Internet making personal enterprises easier than ever to launch, and in creating an environment in which customers are more confident buying from small and local businesses online, how can you stand out in an increasingly crowded marketplace and find success in 2021? In episode 25 of The Resilient Retail Game Plan, I want to revisit some of my most useful tips and re-share some of my most enduring small business mantras to help you and your businesses grow this year. We’ll review ‘Knowing Your Niche’ and set about defining what it is that you offer that is uniquely ‘you’ and distinguishable from your competitors. We’ll discuss how to get clear about who your customers are, where your products fit into their lifestyles, their expectations and how we’re not really selling products but solving customers problems. And we’ll cover the growing importance of sharing your story and connecting with your customer base in order to create long-lasting relationships between them and you and your products.

With rolling lockdowns and forever changing pressures being placed on our time and availability, such as home-schooling and store closures, putting any sort of business plan in place right now might feel a bit hopeless. But, as one of my favourite sayings goes “Plans are useless, planning is priceless”. No matter what the outcome and how things may change, reviewing your goals and ambitions is imperative for you, at the very least, to get an idea of what you actually want for you and your business going forward. In episode 24 of The Resilient Retail Game Plan, I want to take you through my personal Planning Process and help you use SWOT Analysis and SMART objectives to build a robust set of goals that will help you map out your sales and stock plans for the year ahead and beyond. We’ll look at using a SWOT Analysis to give yourself and your business the equivalent of an annual review, to figure out where things currently stand. I’ll ask you where you want you and your business to be in the future and what success looks and feels like to you. And we’ll use SMART objectives to take your newly-formed hopes and goals and make sure they’re specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound. A goal without a plan is just a wish. By following my planning process and implementing these developmental tools we can get closer to making those plans, and the growth of you and your business, a reality.

Welcome to 2021! The festive period may have come and gone, but we’re not quite done with it yet. As Small Business Owners the Christmas sales season can be the busiest and most profitable time of the year for us, so it’s important to take a look at how things panned out throughout November and December, to review what went well, what added value, and what didn’t, and adapt and implement changes accordingly. In episode 23 of The Resilient Retail Game Plan, we’ll use SWOT Analysis to identify your business's strengths, weaknesses, and possible opportunities and threats. From looking at your sales figures and celebrating bestsellers to reviewing supplier and courier relationships and your audience's engagement with your marketing, we’ll cover everything you need to consider when strategizing for the new year so that you can continue to grow your sales and to surprise and delight your customers throughout 2021 into next Christmas.

2020…what a mind-boggling year for retail! With a lot of this year’s news and headlines having focused on depressed sales, supply chain challenges, and the collapse of Goliaths such as Debenhams and the Arcadia Group, you’d be forgiven for thinking that this year has been an end-to-end disaster for creative product businesses. However, research shows that a huge number of small and independent businesses have had a good, if not great 2020, thanks to changing trends, evolving technology, and consumer attitudes that in part have been accelerated by the pandemic. In episode 22 of The Resilient Retail Game Plan, I’ll review the ups and downs of 2020 and how they each inform my predictions for 2021. We’ll look at how large scale supply chains struggled under shifts in spending whilst small businesses were able to pivot and adapt, and how continued growth in online purchasing hasn’t negated the increases we’ve seen in people shopping locally. I’ll also discuss how the improvements in tech are continually lowering the barrier for entry for small businesses to get up and running and how connecting to your customers through personalization and conscious consumer choices should be at the heart of your creative product offerings.

You may have only just recovered from the Christmas rush but after some well-deserved rest and relaxation, we need to click ‘reset’ on our seasonal sales strategies and ‘snap-back’ to business as normal so that we hit the ground running in January and make sure that our creative products align with the changing needs and desires of our customers as we enter a new year. In this episode of The Resilient Retail Game Plan, I want to give you 5 areas of your business that you can review so that you’re sitting pretty for a (fingers crossed) better and brighter year as a business owner in 2021. I’ll discuss the importance of shifting or storing seasonal stock to make way for a refreshed range of “New Year, New You” products; we’ll cover switching your Christmas-focused messaging and website information back to a standard setup, and we’ll also look at the value to your mental health of decluttering your workspace and going over your finances.

The Christmas sales period, and the likely increase you’ve experienced both in traffic and purchases, might have offered you a brief taster of what it might be like to operate your business at a higher capacity - perhaps you’re now wondering how to take things to the next level? Whether you’ve been in business for a while, with dreams of multi-million-pound success, or are just getting started as an entrepreneurial hobbyist, it’s important to have an idea of how to manage greater demands on you and your business without getting overwhelmed and losing sight of what’s important. So, it’s in episode 20 of the Resilient Retail Game Plan that we’re going to look at breaking down the components that contribute to the growth stage of your business, the many challenges you may encounter, and how best to adapt to the changing demands of your business and it’s customers. We’ll start by taking a look at the motivations behind your decision to start a business and what you want its future to look like as well as reviewing the importance of how your business is structured and how to identify where pinch points and bottlenecks may be choking off your progress. Delegating responsibility, understanding your numbers, and having a product strategy in place also all inform the shape of your growing business, so I’ll also be asking you how well you know you and your business - the more you understand and improve the processes, workflows and structuring at work within your business, the more streamlined and easily it can grow.

As a creative product business, the first step to making a sale is driving traffic to your website - but it’s important to recognize that not all traffic is created equal - just like in a physical store, you’ll have people who have arrived at your business with the intention to buy but there’ll also be plenty of people just browsing. So how do you ensure that your website doesn’t become a leaky bucket of looky-loos that aren’t converting to customers? In Episode 19 of The Resilient Retail Game Plan, I want to give you what I like to call my ‘Basic Hygiene’ regime for creative product businesses. Covering Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and the power of Email Marketing, we’ll take a look at the importance of implementing searchable keywords and discuss how your previous customers are your most likely source of future purchases. From content marketing in the form of blogs and podcasts to building brand awareness through collaborations and well-strategized PR, we’ll also look at how diversifying your use of audience engagement tools is essential to attracting the right customers and showcasing your products.

2020 has been a year like no other for retail. With the pandemic ongoing and the uncertainty surrounding what a post-lockdown December looks like, consumers are in a bit of a holding pattern, and as small business owners, we have to expect the unexpected. We will see a Black Friday boom or will there be more in-person purchasing once lockdown is lifted? With everything so up in the air I want to spend episode 18 of The Resilient Retail Game Plan looking at what current research indicates about the festive selling period and how you can use my five key takeaways to be as prepared as possible when it comes to securing your customers Christmas spending this year. We’ll look at the increase in online traffic for both purchases and gift research and the importance of putting your best foot forward when it comes to building your business’s digital presence; we’ll look at trends in spending across demographics and how, positively, the piece of the purchasing pie being given to small businesses is actually growing; and we’ll also cover the key purchase drivers of protecting, connecting and distracting and how you can leverage those themes to best market and share your products with your customers.

In my many years of experience working for and dealing with creative product businesses, and of the many tactics and strategies people use to shift their products, I’ve found that stock clearance is one of the most misunderstood and misused. Stale stock traps money in your business, takes up valuable space, and can be a drain on you mentally - so how do you deal with stock that’s not performing? In episode 17 of The Resilient Retail Game Plan, I want to give you my five top tips on how to have a sale. We’ll analyze your stock and look at how to plan a few short and sharp clearance events across key periods in the retail calendar; we’ll take a look at your messaging and how changing things up and being bold will get your customers ‘adding to basket’; and we’ll also discuss plotting out a promotional plan and the importance of meeting the legal requirements when it comes to offering discounts.

As a creative product business owner, the run-up to Christmas can be stressful. There’s so much to do, plan, consider, and manage and it’s all too easy to become overwhelmed and lose focus during this important selling period. In episode 16 of The Resilient Retail Game Plan, I want to focus on mindset and give you my best advice on how to come out on the other side of the holidays with a successful sales season and your sanity. We’ll look at how everything ultimately comes down to prioritizing and time management - from asking for help and getting adequate rest to creating a ‘To Don’t’ list and putting RGAs (Revenue-Generating Activities) and 'Brown Bananas' at the forefront of your Xmas selling strategy. With the Coronavirus pandemic and state of the economy casting so much uncertainty over this key part of the year for retail businesses, I also go over the importance of looking after ourselves through acts of self-care and how we can support each other by looking to our communities both inside and out of the business world.

It’s easy to get overwhelmed in the hectic run-up to Christmas. As the winter months run away with us, it can sometimes feel like you’re constantly on the back foot trying to put an ad-hoc Xmas strategy together, and that was before you had a global pandemic and a national lockdown to contend with. So, in episode 15 of The Resilient Retail Game Plan, I want to go through a couple of points that will help you set some plans into action. We’ll look at how you can keep your customer base engaged through a cycling variety of messaging that best showcases your products; how you can identify and leverage buying habits to your promotional advantage; and we’ll discuss the importance of timing and targeting discounts to help shift sales and seasonal stock.

Though you might be feeling deflated and frustrated upon hearing the news that we’re in for a new month-long lockdown, we have the advantage of having gone through this once already and can use the benefit of that experience to get prepared for the challenges ahead. Christmas isn’t canceled, I believe it’s all to play for - so, in this special bonus episode of The Resilient Retail Game Plan, I’ll share some practical tips to help keep you and your creative product business moving forward. By not panicking, staying positive, and going to your community for support, you’ll be able to put yourself in a strong position where you can review your sales forecast, brainstorm new sales strategies and plan out your promotions and product practicalities to help ensure you have a successful sales season this Christmas.

As a creative product business, there are many ways that you can get products in front of potential customers, and it’s thanks to the ever-growing reach and growth of technology that digital marketplaces have become a major component of the shopping process. From ‘Amazon’ to ‘Not On The High Street’ and from ‘Etsy’ to ‘eBay’, third-party marketplaces appear to offer a lot of advantages in the form of increased traffic and exposure to new audiences, often with enticingly reasonable commissions and fees, but it’s important to remember that you’re not really in the business of selling, you’re in the business of acquiring customers, and that building relationships and creating repeat business and super-fans is the path to building a resilient retail business. So, in episode 14 of The Resilient Retail Game Plan, I run through the pros and cons of using these marketplaces; the considerations for you to make before committing yourself and your stock to multiple digital outlets; and the expectations on you as a business owner once you start working with a third-party platform.

Todays episode is a little bit different - a little bit of a rant, if you like! Starting a business is often a minefield in terms of your self belief and it’s very easy to get seduced by a lot of the quick-fix messaging that we’re exposed to on social media. We’ve all seen them - the Facebook ads promising you a roadmap to a six-figure business, promoted content that claims to guarantee you eye-watering profits in just a few weeks or months. I’m certainly not immune to these tactics, and it’s not to say that every one of these offerings is nefarious or that they don’t offer something valuable, but on the whole these schemes or courses won’t actually deliver on what they promise. Every business is different - they each grow and evolve at a different rate and much of that is down to you, your tenacity and the quality of of your products, so in episode 13 of The Resilient Retail Game Plan, I’m going to run through the reasons why these buy-in blueprints and masterclasses are fundamentally flawed and how, with a little support and personal persistence, you can get to where you want to be without searching for silver bullet.

Last year I conducted a survey where I asked about 50 small creative product businesses a wide variety of questions, ranging from how they managed their costs to what sort of turnover they were producing. One quite startling figure that arose from this research was that a whopping 75% of the business owners I surveyed did not pay themselves from their creative product business! Paying yourself is something I’m really passionate about. Yes, it makes sense to keep money in the business to help it grow but if you’re not paying yourself from your business then how much freedom and flexibility, as a business owner, do you really have? You shouldn’t be working for your business, your business should be working for you. In episode 12 of The Resilient Retail Game Plan, we’ll look at a number of key points that will help you start paying yourself as quickly as possible. We’ll look at reviewing profit margins and the importance of understanding the fundamentals of your business costs, as well as developing a cash-flow forecast from your sales plan and taking the fear out of taking money out of the business. We’ll also discuss the importance of controlling the biggest cost in your business - your stock; and how even if it’s just buying yourself a coffee every morning that paying yourself is essential to stop your business from devouring every bit of cash available as it grows.

In mid-September, I ran the Resilient Retail online summit, which was all about getting ready for one of the most important sales touchstones of the year - Christmas. The summit featured 10 sessions across 2 days presented by an amazing range of industry experts with backgrounds and experience as diverse as email marketing, PR, wholesaling, and social media. So, with the festive season not far off, it is in Episode 11 of The Resilient Retail Game Plan that I want to run through and expand on what I consider to be 9 key takeaways and common themes from these sessions, to help get your creative product business ready for Christmas 2020. We’ll take a look at the importance of how you show up for your business, online and off, by sharing the ever-growing story about you and your products with your customers. We’ll discuss how to get prepared, for not only the festive period but pre and post-Xmas, and we’ll also talk about strategizing, doubling-down on your business plans and further identifying your ideal clients to help build loyalty at a time when your business is at it’s most visible - and that’s just for starters! 2020 has been a rough year but people are determined, more than ever, to have a good Christmas, so tune in for some great advice, from the best professionals in their fields, that you can use to help increase your sales this season.

In episode 10 of The Resilient Retail Game Plan, I want to get you moving from being a reactive to a proactive creative business owner, and that all starts with setting targets and goals as part of a robust sales plan. A sales plan is the first building block needed for many of the elements that are required to run your business effectively. Even making a simple outline with a few select targets can allow you to clearly see your goals and give you the information needed to correctly forecast and manage your stock and cashflow. We’re not looking at exactly how much money you’re going or are intending to take each week, month or year, but will discuss the importance of creating both realistic and aspirational benchmarks to help drive your business forward; not falling prey to ‘comparisonitis’, and recognizing and celebrating your target-driven sales successes to keep you motivated and your business growing.

Social Media is an inescapable and vitally important channel through which to reach and connect with your customers. With the right mixture of content and posts, you might see great results in a short space of time but it’s important to remember that Social Media is not a sales strategy, but just one device in your selling toolkit. In episode 9 of The Resilient Retail Game Plan, I go over the approaches, challenges, and benefits of using social media to sell your creative products. We’ll look at how to take the feeling of sleaze out of selling by changing our mindset around sales; we’ll further identify our ideal customers by working out where and who they spend their time with online, and I’ll give you a breakdown of how fostering deeper connections with and providing value to your customer base through a balance of different content and posts will help promote your brand and sell your products.

There’s so much to do once you start your own creative product business! When you’re in charge of doing everything and find yourself juggling so many responsibilities it can be hard to see the big picture, especially when it comes to sales. That’s why in episode 8 of The Resilient Retail Game Plan, I’m diving into the ONLY four ways to grow your sales. From ‘Sales Funnels’ to ‘Super-fans’, we’ll start at looking at how to get more people aware of your business through tools like SEO and social media; improving your conversion rate by streamlining the shopping experience; persuading increased spending through great customer service and by leveraging transaction analysis; and how to grow loyalty and create repeat customers by building relationships through acts of co-creation and personalised perks.

Whether you find yourself bursting with business ideas, think that you've spotted a gap in the market or are simply just tired of the 9 to 5 and are ready for a change, starting a creative product business can seem like the perfect option - but it’s not without its challenges and a steep learning curve. So, in episode 7 of The Resilient Retail Game Plan, I want to give you 5 things you need to know before starting your product business that will help you take your ideas, passion, and excitement and turn them into a reality. We will take a look at how key demographics and ideal customers profiles can help you to get clear on who your customers are; the importance of connecting with the ‘why?’ of your business by questioning your motivations and direction; the manufacturing channels that will help get your products to market including where and how to best display and sell them; and the realistic expectations and commitment it takes to build a resilient retail business that is both rewarding and profitable.

Profit is the engine that drives everything you do, so if you don’t price your creative products correctly you can’t hope to last very long or to build a resilient retail business. Underpricing is a common trend I see afflict budding entrepreneurs and small businesses alike, where various elements, often including a lack of confidence or belief in you and your business, means you start charging less than the market value for your products. In episode 6 of the Resilient Retail Game Plan, I'll walk you through how you can identify whether you are, indeed, underpricing and then how to use the ‘Value Triangle’ to set a price that’s justified, not only through customer research and feedback but by conveying quality to your customer base and creating desirability in the marketplace.

Stock management can make or break product businesses. It’s all too easy to fall victim to ‘shiny new stock syndrome’ and bulk buying discounts, where you end up overstocking your business and creating a “stock monster’ that reduces your cash flow to a trickle. In episode 5 of the Resilient Retail Game Plan I cover the four key rules for stock management - having a plan, ordering the right amounts, trialing and repeating, and clearing as you go. These tools will help you feel strategic, in control, and give you more time to focus on the important things within your business - creating and curating a line of products you and your customers love.