Archive for the ‘Change’ Category

Forward motion….

Sunday, February 13th, 2011

Going forward

Going forward

So we’re sliding into February, but most of us are still gingerly feeling our way into the New Year, apprehensive about what it’s going to bring. The good news is scant, there’s job cuts, price rises on just about everything, and the weather is miserable and damp, nothing exciting to really put a spring in your step.

If your New Year’s resolutions have already taken a bit of a beating, how about looking forward into 2011 and putting some forward motion into it.
What’s forward motion? Well, It’s basically movement towards something – the something is up to you. Towards a goal, or an opportunity or a decision, the movement is the important part. This year looks like the big toughie for retail, so faced with a choice of staying where we are and doing what we’ve always done, we just have to keep moving forward. Choose forward motion !

Of course, forward motion might not always be the best choice, obviously you’re going to make a few duff decisions along the way, but at least you’ll be making them. In our frantically paced world with so much information readily available, it’s still hard to get all the information we need to make a secure decision, so we agonise over the details. In reality our gut decisions are usually the right ones, but they’re hard to justify.

The more choices we have the harder it is to make a decision. So I’m advocating that it’s better to make the best possible decision you can with the information you have available, comfortable in the knowledge that if you’ve stuffed it up this time, you can choose something else next time.

When in doubt… choose forward motion !

There’s so much information available, that ultimately it just becomes a personal choice of what to focus on. Why focus on the negatives, which are often exaggerated, instead of the positives?
There are two main reasons. Firstly, we tend to focus on the sensational and the dangerous. One sensational anecdote about a store robbery or completely outrageous customer, outweighs a year’s worth of “I went to work and it was pretty much the same as usual.”

Secondly, choosing to focus on the negatives gives everyone else an excuse not to pursue big dreams and goals either.
There are plenty of people who’ll feed your fears and worries, but really, often they’re talking more about themselves and their lives than what’s good for you…. Psychologists call this a process of projecting, ie they project their fears onto you, but the double whammy is that this keeps you in your place and ultimately reaffirms their view again because you didn’t move on either !

If you’re looking for an excuse not to do something, you really don’t have to look far. Playing it safe is not usually a mockable choice - Everyone understands it.
But all things considered, good things can come from bad experiences too, in fact that’s often where we learn the most.

So, if you’re still prevaricating and pontificating on why you can’t change anything in 2011, just consider the following success stories

• Leo Tolstoy wrote War and Peace while living in a small house with his wife and thirteen children. Yes, that’s thirteen children !

• Walt Disney was a failed, bankrupt, small-time advertisement man before he came up with Mickey and friends.

• J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter whilst on the dole. Her first book was rejected by twelve publishers.

• e.e. cumming’s first book of poetry was rejected by fifteen publishers. He self-published it, and well, you know the rest…

• Abraham Lincoln lost multiple jobs, went bankrupt, and failed in numerous bids for public office before being sworn in as the 16th President of the United States.

• Mary Anne Evans living in truly sexist times, had to change her pen name to George Eliot, whereupon she became one of the most beloved English novelists of all time.

Dissatisfaction with something, such as your shop or your accountant for example isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Dissatisfaction can be a force for change.

Dissatisfaction results “from contemplating what falls short of our wishes or expectations” The funny thing here is that we’ve all got these wishes or expectations but we don’t usually acknowledge them, maybe we’re not even aware of them.

So, my next question, to keep the forward motion, well, in motion really, is :

What are you working on?

Hopefully, you’re working on something that’s big, that’s going to take you to the next level, that gets you excited, so excited that you can’t wait to tell everyone about it.

No matter what your work is, no matter what you do, there’s a way to create a project that has you buzzing with excitement about it, where something big, fun and new that might make a difference is just around the corner….

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Posted in Challenge, Change, Knowledge, Positive mental attitude, Strategy, Uncategorized, game, goals, learning, negativity, recession, retailers, screw it up | No Comments »

What kind of story is your shop…?

Monday, April 27th, 2009

What kind of story is your shop?

What kind of story is your shop?

Recently, we’ve been going through a few changes in our business, some pleasant, some, shall we say not so pleasant. As a small business and talking to other retailers i realise that we are not alone in some of the dramas that befall us.

One of the biggest hurdles to get over is staff leaving (or being asked to leave) In a small business where everyone knows everything about everyone, and emotions can run high, its easy to get caught up in all the emotion.

But what if its all a story? The story of your business ! What kind of story would it be? Is it an epic drama, with lots of adventure, or a fireside ramble through familiar territory. A cookbook or a thriller? Is there espionage and a plucky heroine?

When staff leave us, its easy to be upset about it, but what if we chose to see it as the close of a chapter, or a space for some new narrators to come in. After all no-one is irreplaceable, people will come and people will go and that’s the long and short of it… But if you were to choose what kind of story would you choose.

Sometimes its not whats happening to us thats important, its what we make it mean, and standing back and seeing it as all a chapter in the story might make it a bit less personal…?

So, Chapter one, the beginning, high hopes, new shopfittings and excitement.

Chapter two, settling in, slight change in direction, taking on staff

Chapter three, the website adventure

Chapter four, getting down and dirty with social media…

I leave the rest up to you… I’d like to think of my shops as an adventure story, complete with choppy waters to overcome (rise in rent and rates, and some shoplifters for good measure) a villain or two (I’m undecided on them as yet) a quest and a community to welcome us back….

As John Lennon said, “you may say I’m a dreamer….” but it beats the heck out of sitting back and feeling sorry for yourself, and if life really is what we make it, then we might as well make it a fun adventure….

Now I only need to convince my staff …….

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Posted in Challenge, Change, Stories | 2 Comments »

Who is the one in ten ?

Friday, April 17th, 2009

Who's your one in ten !

Who's your one in ten !

UB 40 sang about it, scientific studies use it as a way of grounding their theories, but what relevance does it have for retail?

Well, it’s the secret of a new style of marketing – the power of ten !

It works like this, you find ten people. These are ten specific people. People who trust you, need you, like you, respect you, admire you…..

These ten people want or need what you have to sell, and if they love what you’re doing and how you’re doing it, you win – big time ! Because if they love it, they’ll tell ten more people (or many many more !)

If they don’t love it, it won’t work and you need a new product, concept, idea or need to fulfil.

If they love it, your idea spreads, your business gets talked about – and grows ! Fast, much faster than you’d think, because people are talking about you…..not only are you news, you’re also being personally recommended ! Advertising can’t buy that kind of promotion – It just can’t !

This idea can change the way you do everything – instead of investing in blanket advertising to an anonymous “market” You find the raving fans of your business and market to them, get them on board with your vision, your plans, your ideas, let them contribute. Then they’re not anonymous, they’re willing participants, they’re invested in your business (emotionally not financially) You can only really market to people who are willing participants, like your group of ten people.

So when you want to launch a new spring collection for example, you wouldn’t need to spend a lot on advertising, you could plan a gradual build up of interest that turns into a tidal wave. You could plan your budget accordingly too. Which is the opposite to how it’s done now, where most of the money for advertising is spent up front, then it tails off, which is backwards to what you need.

Ten evangelists can make a huge difference to your business. Ten people who love your shop and tell all their friends where they got X from, who pop in all the time, sometimes just to say Hi, ten people who think you’re great and want to support you…..

Years from now, this advice will be so common that no-one will be able to comprehend that we didn’t do it.

But for today, I’m willing to bet that it’s almost certainly the opposite of what you’re doing?

So, who will you pick to be your top ten?

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Posted in Adding value, Change, Customers, loyalty | No Comments »

Standing out versus fitting in…!

Monday, March 23rd, 2009

unlock your potential

unlock your potential

You won’t have any trouble at all finding someone who can tell you how to fit in.

Almost anyone can tell you what to wear to that restaurant or this show or that event. Smart, dressy, smart casual, all black, cocktail dress, black tie optional, you get the picture…

It’s not that difficult to figure out how to fit in – If of course, fitting in is your goal. You should be able to get great advice on how to do that.

Standing out, of course, is trickier. Stand out too much and you’re an idiot, or a troublemaker, or a fool. Putting yourself above the parapet is dangerous – Lets face it you’re going to get shot at ! There’s always someone who loves to question your intentions, or tell you how you’re doing it wrong…!

Clothing is not the issue. But choice is. You have this choice to make in everything you do, from your career, your business, your window displays, to the wording of a sales letter.

I understand this concern. I realise that I can come across as flippant, or a know it all, when in fact the reverse is true, I started this project when I realised that there just wasn’t a resource for independent retailers out there… I started it because I like to learn, I wanted to expand who I was, and meet some new people, learn some new stuff and move out of my comfort zone, in short I wanted a challenge.

Of course, as soon as I’d started it (and publicised it, so I couldn’t back out of it) that by the way is the best way to ensure that you’ll carry something through – tell everyone you know what you’re going to do and by when !!! Where was I? – Yes, as soon as I’d started it, I wondered what on earth I thought I was doing, who was I to take this on, and what was I thinking….?

But I’d already committed myself to it, designed the website, talked to the right people – and had some stickers made, even (although that does sound like a ridiculous reason to continue - even to me)– so I carried on, of course, and now I’m amazed by the phone calls and positive response I get and I have a different idea of who I am and what I can do.

So what’s my point? – Its simply this – Choose !

Are you doing this to fit in or stand out? What’s going to be best for you and for your business? So make that call today, call the local newspaper editor, come up with a marketing campaign, buy a sales book and learn something new, expand your idea of who you are and what you can do…..

In short and in the words of a brilliant movie – Choose something, choose anything, choose a challenge !

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Posted in Change, Positive mental attitude | No Comments »

It’s a matter of Principle !

Thursday, March 19th, 2009

Follow the money

Follow the money

Wow, what happened to Principles and how on earth did it all happen so fast?

Principle’s demise is one of the instances of severely troubled retailers using the new pre-pack administration. This is quite a controversial insolvency process that had new rules instigated at the start of this year (did they have a crystal ball?)

The pre-pack process, frequently involves the swift sale of a business back to its original owners, but free of unsecured debt. It has prompted concern that suppliers have been left in the lurch, and as a supplier to businesses myself, you’ve got to wonder, who’s paying the suppliers?

Sure Debenhams have bought the stock, but if the suppliers don’t get paid, there’s a knock on effect down the food chain, which could mean many suppliers businesses going under, which is hardly fair, as the thing with these agreements is that they happen behind closed doors and there is no advance warning to unsecured creditors. The suppliers are blindly trading right up to the point of administration with these companies.

If there was more transparency, the client could make a choice over how much they supply to the company. Pre-packs have been used recently by retailers including the tea and coffee specialist Whittard of Chelsea, Officers Club and Envy to name a few.

So what actually happened? Basically Mosaic (the parent company) owned Principles, Shoe Studio, Oasis, Warehouse and Karen Millen among others. With debts of up to £450 million. Yes, that’s million pounds Sterling, they couldn’t keep refinancing their loans in the current economic climate. They entered the pre-pack agreement in order to shed some unprofitable sites, and if we’re honest, a lot of debt, so their debt total would be more manageable and make them more attractive to investors.

Now Mosaic were partly owned by Baugur,(the parent of the parent company if you like) Baugur are an Icelandic investment group who snapped up stakes in brands on the UK high street on a ten year shopping spree, their investments included House of Fraser, Hamleys, Iceland and of course Mosaic. The Baugur group hit the buffers in the wake of the Icelandic banking collapse in October and after building up debt as it expanded.

Baugur has now filed for bankruptcy after Icelandic courts refused to grant its application to extend its protection from creditors(Hmmm rather an interesting concept really). Baugur had to file for bankrupcy after its UK arm was forced into administration by Landsbanki, although they still have stakes in All Saints, Jane Norman and Whistles. Management at some of these retailers are now looking to make deals exploring debt-for-equity swaps or management buyouts.

So the knock on effect down the chain is clearly visible. What hasn’t been transparent up until now is the sometimes perilous life cycle of retailers. I remember years ago the MD of a very cool chain of 27 shops telling me that his stores didn’t make a profit for 10 months of the year. At the time I was shocked, as independent retailers just don’t have that luxury! Try having that conversation with your bank manager as the owner of an independent business – it will be short !

As small businesses we may be standing in awe looking at the huge figures that these businesses are talking about, but the principles are the same, whatever the size of business, don’t borrow more than you can afford to pay back…!

So, what’s the moral here? Well, the most obvious one is that borrowing in a vibrant economy is ok, but in a contracting economy, spare money is scarcer than hen’s teeth, and if you’re going to borrow an insane amount of money, you’d better check out not only your lender, but your lender’s lender and so on up the food chain.

As the saying goes “Follow the money ! ”

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Posted in Bad news, Change, money | No Comments »

Ask a better question…!

Friday, March 13th, 2009

question_mark-1We spend our whole lives thinking, or at least we think we do. After all, what is thinking? What’s the actual process of thinking? What do we do when we’re thinking?

Well, what we actually do when we are thinking (or think we are, stay with me here) is we ask questions ! You can really see how the world breaks down into two camps from the questions people ask themselves….

For instance, If you want to lose weight and you can’t seem to, you might ask the question? Why can’t I lose weight? Then your brain will tell you “because you’re a fat pig that’s too lazy to exercise, that’s why!” So you go round again in the same old familiar circle, trying to lose weight, not really doing it, and feeling bad about it.

I’ve used the weight example because it’s one that we’re all pretty familiar with, but it could be anything: forming a new relationship, opening another shop, getting great staff…

So, given that our brains are programmed to give us the answers to the questions we ask them, (and quite brutally usually – lets face it, we all talk to ourselves much more viciously than we’d let anyone else talk to us!)

What can we do with this information? Well, the really interesting thing here is that if you want to move forward and out of the cycle of dispiriting answers, then you’ve got to start asking better questions!

So, to go back to our old fat analogy. If, instead of asking “Why can’t I lose weight?”, we had asked “What can I do to lose weight?”, we’d have got an answer something along the lines of: Exercise; eat sensibly; have a goal to aim for; a reason to be setting out to lose the weight; a losing weight partner; a trip of a lifetime as a reward etc. So, our brains know the answer to the questions, if we just ask the right questions.

So, now then - Recession ! Now that’s a word that’s pretty much guaranteed to strike fear into the hearts of full grown men and women.

Instead of us fearing the recession (and that does seem to be the national psyche at the moment) with everyone running around asking how can this be happening to me? What about my job? What will become of me?

How about we ask the question “What’s good about this recession?”

I think the answer will be along the lines of – Opportunity, a new way of looking at your business, using our brains to work out how to respond, instead of just doing the same old things we’ve always done. Shedding stock, moving resources that we should have moved a long time ago, coming out of lines that never really worked for us, but we were attached to, looking at new markets as an opportunity rather than another thing we have to do and a host of other things waiting to be explored.

Retail is changing, shops are changing, jobs are changing, technology is changing - heck, life is changing! So why would any of us think it should somehow stay the same…? If you want to move on, then you’ve got to take something on…!

In the words of Bruce Springsteen, “these jobs are going boys and they ain’t coming back!”

Another great speaker that I’ve admired for years, Jim Rohn famously said “Don’t wish it was easier, wish you were better!” - which is fabulous advice at a time like this…. So the questions we could be usefully asking ourselves are things like : What have I learnt recently? What new skills or training have I invested in? How can I develop my marketing? How can I widen my horizons and get really excited about the future?

So if you want a better answer – Ask a better question?

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Posted in Change, Questions to ask, recession | No Comments »