Creative Shop Talk with Wendy Batten
214 episodes - English - Latest episode: 1 day ago -How do I attract more customers to my store? How do I get more sales? How do I book out my shop’s events and workshops? How do I do retail marketing and social media for my store?
These are the questions that creative retail business owners ask Wendy Batten, creative retail coach and mentor. Wendy works with creative shop owners all over the world and with industry leaders. Her speciality is working with creative retailers to get control over their brick and mortars to avoid burnout and overwhelm while achieving more success and profits.
In Creative Shop Talk, Wendy digs into the problems and solutions that “accidental shopkeepers” and hobbyists turned retail business owners face. Wendy dives deep in mindset and best practices for retailers with masterclass trainings, business strategies, expert guests and industry insiders, and more. Each episode is designed to help busy and passionate creative shop owners take action, work through their overwhelm and get focused on strategic business areas.
Thinking about opening your own creative retail shop? Ready to stop playing shopkeeper and “winging” the business stuff? Looking for more foot traffic? Want to turn your brick and mortar into a viable business? Want predictable profits? Want to take the next step to run your store and not let it run you? Turn to Wendy Batten to take the proven steps to achieving your dream store, living your creative life and helping your amazing customers.
Homepage Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
63. Making Bookkeeping Simple With Guest Expert, Kelly Christian
June 21, 2021 12:00 - 32 minutes - 31.1 MBBookkeeping. I tend to see fear come from my retailers when I mention bookkeeping because they either don't want to hand off the job to someone else, don't want to spend the money, or they have fear of HOW to simplify it. There is HUGE ROI in staying up to date with your book. Seeing your balance sheet, profit and loss statements and knowing your numbers in real time - is so crucial. Having your bills paid, being able to adjust and pivot with proper info and the added bonus of peace of mind!...
62. Three Pitfalls to Watch Out For So You Don’t Lose Your Business
June 14, 2021 12:00 - 21 minutes - 21.1 MBWe are all busy, driven, passion-filled retailers. We have big visions, big dreams, and we're constantly working to achieve those goals and succeed. But, there are three things that I see happening regularly with retailers who end up losing or closing their business. 1. Complacency. Not in the sense that you don't care about your business. You've just stopped paying attention. Paying attention to your customer's needs, your business standards, the look of your shop. Maybe you've stopped lo...
61. The Foundations You Need to Make Radical Decisions in Your Business with Inner Circle member retailer Ann Schneider
June 07, 2021 12:00 - 45 minutes - 43.2 MBIt is such a privilege to be chatting with my friend retailer and Inner Circle member Ann Schneider of The Front Porch, a home decor, silk floral & boutique store! We found each other via social media because our business names were so similar. We soon met in person at a conference and immediately hit it off! Ann has such an amazing way of running a business, so we are digging deep into her strategies and business journey over the past 25 years. She has done everything from selling her inf...
60. How Focused Learning Increases Can Grow Your Business
May 31, 2021 12:00 - 25 minutes - 24.7 MBWe are in the business of self-improvement all the time as shop owners, there’s just no end. It’s part of the gig. We have to be lifelong learners in order to improve and grow, right? But... if you’re constantly holding yourself back and thinking that you’re not good at that… start saying to yourself: “you aren’t good at that YET.” Everything and everyone is trainable. Most shop owners are doing all the things like ordering inventory, planning, working the counter, unpacking boxes, ...
59. How To Do A Mid Year Review: Set Yourself Up for the Best of the Rest of 2021!
May 24, 2021 12:00 - 40 minutes - 38.9 MBThis year has proven to be a very interesting season for retailers with COVID, quarantines, shutdowns, and reopenings. So I want you to give yourself grace and compassion as you plan and move forward through the rest of 2021. I started doing mid-year reviews years ago, both for my own business and for my clients, to discuss and analyze the nitty-gritty of what exactly has been going on behind the scenes. We look back at the first two quarters of the year and check: *Numbers - things like...
58. Three Simple Sales Metrics Retailers Need to Measure for Better Sales
May 17, 2021 12:00 - 30 minutes - 29.3 MBI know... nobody wants to talk retail math and numbers. I get it. There are so many numbers we feel like we should be looking at within our business like profit and loss, balance sheets, etc, etc, etc. and we don't quite know where to start. In this episode, I'm sharing three major (but simple) metrics that you'll want to be able to rattle off at the drop of a hat! These are numbers that I didn't even know existed when I first started running my shop. My shop was busy, we were making money...
57. Prepare to Sell, Franchise, or Expand: Four Areas That Need to be Under Control
May 10, 2021 12:00 - 34 minutes - 33.1 MBWhat do you need to have in place to have a solid business? What would you need to have in place should you decide to sell your business? "But I'll never sell! This is my passion!" Never say never. Sometimes opportunities present themselves out of nowhere, or situations arise, and you never know when you may need to pivot. There are four key areas that ALL shop owners need to have organized. All of these are avenues to being able to sell, franchise, or expand your business. Making su...
56. How to Add Additional Revenue Streams to your retail business
May 03, 2021 12:00 - 32 minutes - 46.3 MBShop owners are all hoping to create a bit of security within our business, but this year has certainly shown us that we are not always in control. Having multiple streams of revenue within your business will help you to get that control back! This isn't about necessarily doing more, but it's more about thinking outside the box and expanding what we are already doing well. So let's "put it through the hopper" together and ask ourselves these four questions: Does it excite me? Is it so...
55. Unscalable Conversations - a free, simple and powerful marketing tool to use
April 26, 2021 12:00 - 37 minutes - 52.7 MBWe know that marketing is important, right? We know that social media is a big part of our marketing plan, along with local marketing, collaborations, and paid advertising. These are all measurable plans where we can SEE how it is helping our business. But there is something that you are already doing every day that surprisingly CAN be measured - conversational marketing. Most of you are regularly connecting with your customers through caring, passionate, and heart-centered one-on-one disc...
54. Stop "Shoulding" All Over Yourself
April 19, 2021 12:00 - 27 minutes - 38.6 MBI should be doing this. I should be doing that. I should be doing all the things! So many of my retailers, along with myself, have been seriously feeling this constant sense of overwhelm and telling ourselves what we should be doing. Whether it's in business or in our personal lives, we all are wanting to be more consistent, get one more thing checked off the list, find more balance, be more present, right? It's time to flip the script. So if you feel like you are "shoulding" all over ...
53. Branding Yourself vs. Branding Your Product
April 12, 2021 12:00 - 26 minutes - 37.2 MBWhat happens when most of your revenue comes from one product line? What happens when something goes awry or there's a mass disruption with that particular product and your business ceases to exist? Today we are discussing branding yourself and not the product lines that you carry. We are diving deep into some various retailer's stories and what happened to them so you can avoid not having all of your eggs in one basket! Are you only marketing toward your highest revenue-making product l...
52. Why a Culture of Accountability is Critical in Your Retail Business
March 29, 2021 12:00 - 26 minutes - 38.2 MBWho has not gotten to this situation at work: "Oh, I thought Wendy was going to do it", "Wait, I thought Susan had already taken care of it", and so on. Miscommunication causes big problems in our retail businesses, to slip through the cracks, leaving our small shop in trouble with no one to hold accountable for. It's also true of ourselves as self-employed retail owners. Who is watching over us? Who are we accountable to? Who can we get to help support us? In this week's episode, I shar...
51. How Brands Work With Retailers to Make a Win-Win Situation with Suzanne Fulford
March 22, 2021 12:00 - 47 minutes - 66.1 MBToday we are starting a new series to bring in brand owners to chat. Today’s guest Suzanne Fulford, founder and the CEO of Dixie Belle Paint Company, started her journey as an enthusiastic DIYer with a passion for cultivating and creating beautiful timeless pieces that brought new life to old, tired, and forgotten furniture. In this week’s episode, Suzanne and I talk about the future of the paint industry, its trends, and how brands work with retailers to make a win-win situation. I also t...
50. Five Simple Things You Can Do To Get Ready For What’s Coming In Retail
March 15, 2021 12:00 - 31 minutes - 45.1 MBOne question I received from a coaching client is "what's coming for retail, and how can I be ready?" The answer is simple: Get ready! Don't be complacent, take action on the momentum you may have built in 2020. Shore up the gaps, get confident and strong in the areas you may feel that you have weak links. Be ready for what's coming. There's so much hope for retail. Let's congratulate ourselves for getting through 2020 and let's get ready for what's coming! In this week's episode, I reve...
49. Helping Lisa Get Better Known and More Customers in the Door
March 08, 2021 13:00 - 35 minutes - 49.5 MBMany retailers are so busy running their brick-and-mortar stores and creating beautiful things, sometimes we just need a little help with marketing. Having strong retail business skills is going to be key to be successful. Marketing matters. That’s exactly what I teach in my Foot Traffic Made Simple, my new mini-workshop for shop owners. In today’s episode, I’m doing a Live Coaching call with Lisa Casey from The Painted Pineapple in Moncton, New Brunswick. Lisa has a great following, sh...
48. The 3 Biggest Time Wasters for Retailers and How to Avoid Them
March 02, 2021 13:00 - 33 minutes - 47.3 MBAre you constantly asking yourself, where did the day go? Or, why time runs so fast? Believe it or not, we are bombarded by so many time wasters in our day-to-day business that we don’t realize the impact it can generate in our lives. Between emails, text messages, calls, social media notifications, and even our colleagues, we’re constantly battered with potential time-wasters. Eliminating all the distractions at the office can have a positive impact on your productivity, output, and ment...
47. The Secret to Getting Your Customers to Choose You Over Your Competition
February 22, 2021 16:02 - 19 minutes - 28.8 MBComprehending what sets us apart may seem too obvious, but many creative retailers spend time focusing on the day-to-day of their business that they forget about the big picture. This is totally understandable, but if you fail to look at what makes you stand out over your competition can make all of your marketing efforts ineffective. The key to reaching a new customer is connecting on an emotional level. If you can speak to your customers’ challenges and offer a solution, it will make it...
46. Season 2 and Retailer Success Story - Melanie Curley
February 15, 2021 13:00 - 47 minutes - 66.5 MBHey there friends and welcome to Season 2 of the Creative Shop Talk Podcast. I want to start by thanking each and every one of you for all the support throughout Season 1. We’re jumping into season 2 with a retail success story - meet Melanie Curley from Mango reclaimed. Her story inspires. Being successful is the biggest dream every creative retailer has. But success doesn’t happen within hours or days. Success comes out from hard work, dedication, perseverance, and love for what we do. ...
45. How To Fall Back In Love With Your Business
January 11, 2021 13:00 - 18 minutes - 27 MBDo you ever feel like you resent your business? What do we do to continue to stay in love with our business? How do we get back to the honeymoon phase? In this week’s episode, I talk about resenting our business. I know this past year has been eye-opening. One of the things I discuss is the importance of being intentional about the business that we have and figuring out what we want from it. If we resent it, if we burn out, if we just try to do all the things all the time, we cannot grow ...
44. The Four Must-have Ingredients For a Successful Business
January 05, 2021 13:00 - 28 minutes - 40.9 MBWelcome to 2021! I'm very excited about this year. How are you feeling? I hope you are feeling optimistic and confident about diving into 2021. I want to thank each and everyone who joined me on December, 30th in my Rockstar Creative Retailers and Shop Owners Group on Facebook to discuss my four-part series Plan Your Best Retail Year Ever. I loved the questions and enthusiasm from everyone. In this week’s episode, I share four must-have ingredients that every creative retailer needs f...
43. Plan Your Best Retail Year Ever (Part 4)
December 28, 2020 13:00 - 20 minutes - 29.6 MBAre you excited about planning your best retail year ever? Listen to this my friends: we need to celebrate the wins and acknowledge that we've been working hard throughout 2020. In Episode 40, we talked about looking back and how to move forward by looking at what worked and what didn’t work. Later on, in Episode 41, we discussed how an ideal 2021 would look like to us. Last week, in Episode 42, which was our third part of our series, we talked about what we needed to do to get where we w...
42. Plan Your Best Retail Year Ever (Part 3)
December 21, 2020 13:00 - 36 minutes - 51.3 MBPreviously, we discussed five prompts for year planning in Part 1 of my “Plan Your Best Retail Year Ever” series. These helped us to look back before we can move forward. In part 2, we talked about three prompts that help retail business owners plan for 2021. These three prompts are related to our numbers and finances. In this week’s episode, Part 3 of the series, we are going to talk about what we need to do to get where we want to go. How do we get customers? I discuss different ways...
41. Plan Your Best Retail Year Ever (Part 2)
December 14, 2020 13:00 - 22 minutes - 31.4 MBWe can’t predict if we will have any more bumps in the road in 2021. 2020 has been a big mountain and detour for all of us, but at least we know where we're headed. Everybody has been asking, how do we plan out 2021? Throughout 2020, many independent retailers are thriving. And that’s fantastic. We all want to succeed. But before making plans for the future, we must look back at how our current year was. Previously, we discussed five prompts for year planning in Part 1 of my “Plan Your Be...
40. Plan Your Best Retail Year Ever (Part 1)
December 07, 2020 13:00 - 21 minutes - 30.8 MBHow do we plan for 2021 knowing that we don't want a repeat of everything that happened in 2020? With vaccines and political changes and all the things that have been going on in the world throughout this year, we're going to see a different climate again in 2021. So, how do we plan for that? How do we know what to do? We all know that it's been a rough year. But what were the feel-good moments? What are you most proud of that happened in 2020? In this week’s episode, we’re going to ta...
39. Retailer Success Series: How Jill Went from Hobbyist to Creative CEO
November 30, 2020 12:29 - 36 minutes - 51.7 MBBedsprings and Burlap in Topeka, KS will celebrate 8 years in business this November. Jill Beam had always loved making things but realized there was only so much she could make for herself and friends or family. Jill was a full-time teacher when she started the business and worked it as a small hobby hustle for four years. She consistently put money back into the business and bootstrapped as she went along. Drawing on her years of teaching experience, Jill has made it her mission to...
38. The One Big Thing Retailers Must Do This Holiday Season
November 23, 2020 13:00 - 15 minutes - 22.4 MBHey friend, are you feeling frustrated by your low Facebook engagement or wondering how to showcase that amazing new stock when foot traffic is slow? I’ve got the solution, and it is an absolute must-do for retailers of any size! Today, we’re talking about how important using email is to remain top of mind for your customers and keep serving them to the best of your ability. So many of the retailers that I work with resist the idea of using email to communicate with their customers. Th...
37. Expert Sharvette Mitchell Shares Customer-Focused Branding Tips for Retailers
November 09, 2020 13:00 - 35 minutes - 49.7 MBSharvette began her journey as a branding expert at a friend’s table about twelve years ago. What started with web design has grown into a successful, multifaceted business helping female entrepreneurs to build online platforms so that they generate more revenue with an amazing personal brand. She works with clients on visibility and marketing with one on one consulting, group coaching programs, web design services, social media coaching, and conferences. As retailers, we so often pro...
36. Retail Success Series: How Planning Kept Emily Kerley Thriving Through Pandemic
November 02, 2020 13:00 - 26 minutes - 37.6 MBEmily of Milkmaid Creations and Antiques is a farmer's wife and mom to three little girls. She started her retail business after leaving her corporate job to be home more with her growing family. She's owned her business for over three years, where she sells antiques, home decor, custom painted furniture, and working to reintroduce DIY classes. In the past year, Emily has hired an employee and a babysitter to help focus and hone in on growing her business. When the pandemic hit, she ...
35. Five Tips for Finding Success as a Creative Retailer
October 26, 2020 12:00 - 32 minutes - 46.4 MBHave you thought about what business success means to you? You started your business because you had passion and a unique set of skills to share with the world. But maybe those skills didn’t include a business background or an understanding of how to take your creative shop from newly opened doors to profitable. You might even be unsure of what you consider successful for yourself or business. Success can look really different from business to business, what is important is understandi...
34. Knowing Your Business Stage is Key to Reaching Retail Success
October 19, 2020 12:00 - 22 minutes - 32.4 MB“The map is not the territory.” Meaning, the path is not reflected realistically on paper. There are twists, turns, and bumps in the road to success. As a retailer, you know starting and running a creative business is anything but running down a simple checklist one-by-one. While there isn’t necessarily a map to get from point A to point B, there is value in understanding where you’re at with your business to more easily take the steps to get where you want to go. And there is treme...
33. This Non-Negotiable Habit is Key to Creative CEO Success
October 12, 2020 12:00 - 28 minutes - 40.5 MBAre you taking the time to regularly assess your retail business as the Creative CEO, my friend? As creatives and small business owners, sometimes we get swept up in the day-to-day of shopkeeping tasks — tidying displays, opening inventory boxes, conducting workshops, or providing customer service. While these are all incredibly important aspects of working in your business, they are not the Creative CEO efforts that work on your business to strategically help you move the needle and bu...
32. Retailer Success Series: Susanne Dropped a Huge Revenue Stream and Made More Profit
October 05, 2020 12:00 - 33 minutes - 47.5 MBTake a hard look at how you’re spending time and energy in your creative retail business. Is there something you’re doing out of habit or obligation, even though it stresses you out? Let’s move past complacency, my friend, and build the right-sized, successful business of your dreams. Sometimes having to make big changes in your business (like shutting down due to COVID) can end up having remarkable results. That is just what Susanne Wilkins from the Crazy 8 Barn on Highway 3 in Ontario ...
31. Seven Tactics to Attract Foot Traffic to Your Brick and Mortar
September 28, 2020 11:59 - 31 minutes - 44.3 MBAs a store owner, booth space owner or studio owner, I know you want more sales and more customers. The answer is to be seen in your community. I’m not talking about doing more Facebook here. My attraction marketing tactics are all about getting the attention of your local community and getting them to take action and walk through the doors of your store. It’s a grassroots effort and it takes time, but it makes a difference because in the end small business owners support other sma...
30. What to Stop Doing in Your Retail Business
September 21, 2020 12:00 - 18 minutes - 27.3 MB“Sorry I no longer do custom work.” It’s totally okay to make changes in your retail business. (Especially now with coronavirus allowing us to press the easy "Change It Up" button) The cliche advice is to “Marie Kondo” areas of your life. It’s a spot-on verb. Even in your retail business you don’t have to keep doing the things that don’t light you up, that don’t make you profits and don’t give you joy. For me custom work was the first thing I let go. Once I moved on, I was able to focu...
29. Reducing the Stress with Procrastination Coach Dr. Christine Li
September 14, 2020 12:00 - 34 minutes - 48 MBI’m thrilled to bring the Procrastination Coach Dr Christine Li to the show today so she can help us all reduce stress going into Q4. Dr. Li is a licensed clinical psychologist who has a private practice in New York City and Westchester, New York. Dr Li is all about supporting your best entrepreneurial self and shares today: The secret to reducing your stress Why “waffling” is a bad practice Stepping out of the stress and setting the atmosphere you create in your store Her 4 Fs to c...
28. How to Rethink Your Holiday Retail Events for 2020
September 07, 2020 12:00 - 17 minutes - 25.9 MBIt’s that time of year, when retailers are planning out their Q4 sales and marketing plans to capitalize on the holiday spending season. Only this year, things are a little different. No matter where your brick and mortar is located and what your in-person restrictions are, you and your customers are concerned with keeping safe and healthy during the pandemic. In this episode we’re rethinking the typical mad-rush holiday retail events. Let’s plan ahead, get creative and avoid the crush of ...
27. Closing the Sale in your Creative Store with Sales Maven Nikki Rausch
August 31, 2020 12:00 - 34 minutes - 48.6 MBSales Expert Nikki Rausch teaches authentic selling to creative retailers. With a background in neuro-linguistic programming and 25 years of experience selling, Nikki breaks down the process easy-to-implement techniques, tools, and tips for creatives who feel uneasy with the whole concept of “selling” Nikki shares talks about the mistakes retailers make when selling plus: 1 crucial reason to invite the sale Yes or No questions to ask every customer How decision fatigue affects your cu...
26. What Is The Story You’re Telling Yourself?
August 24, 2020 12:00 - 22 minutes - 32.9 MBThe stories you tell yourself aren’t always true. These stories are called limiting beliefs. They are FALSE! When I hear creatives say: "I'm not a numbers person" "I'm creative, not a business owner type" "Stress and overwhelm are a normal part of this creative shop owner life" "I don’t have time to plan" "I'm not good at the biz stuff" I make it my goal to help them bust through these myths that are holding them back in their own creative businesses. Let’s flip the script! If ...
25. Three Reasons Your Marketing Might Not be Working Well
August 19, 2020 10:34 - 21 minutes - 31.4 MBWant more foot traffic and visibility? Posting on all of the social media platforms is NOT the answer. I hear it over and over again, and I bet this is you too with your retail business. One of the core frustrations from my retail coaching clients is that they are completely frustrated and overwhelmed when it comes to marketing. They feel stuck in a hamster wheel of having to post content, be everywhere all at the same time, keep up their energy, and never getting ahead. Let’s get you...
24. Four Focus Strategies to Harness the Momentum of the Small Business Boom During COVID
August 11, 2020 13:48 - 18 minutes - 26.8 MBI’ve got really good news for small independent creative retailers during this pandemic time. There is a boom happening for small business. Just check out these stats: 76% of consumers are trying NEW brands right now. This means they are shopping local, trying smaller brands, appreciating customer service, and avoiding faceless brands. 94% of my retailers in my Inner Circle are over their original pre-pandemic revenue goals for 2020. Not kidding. We cranked the numbers. The majority ...
23. The Nonnegotiable Paycheck and How to Start Paying Yourself
August 04, 2020 12:00 - 16 minutes - 24.7 MBAs a retailer and business owner, you work really hard. I see you. I’ve been there. But like I did for years and I see so many retailers doing this, you cannot forget to pay yourself. You are in business to make a profit, not hang on and see what’s left in the till. “If you are not paying yourself a living wage, your business is not profitable.” You need a steady income from your business. Understanding your inventory, knowing where your money is going and paying yourself a living wage i...
22. 10 Things to Consider Before You Open a Retail Business
July 27, 2020 12:00 - 23 minutes - 33.1 MBEven during pandemic shutdowns I hear from many folks that they love the idea of owning a store. So you wanna open your own store too? Before you dive into this retail business dream, let’s discuss the 10 things to think before renting the space and signing the contracts. Retail business is not at all the pretty side of merchandising and styling store windows. Go through this checklist first. Further Reading: Am I Ready to Open a Brick and Mortar Store? Move your biz forw...
21. Introduction to Subscription Boxes with Sarah Williams
July 21, 2020 12:00 - 30 minutes - 42.8 MBFor the past 3 years Sarah Williams has built an incredible fan base with her store Framed by Sarah in Wichita Falls, Texas. She also added a monthly monogrammed subscription for her local and online clients. Today she’s sharing her secret sauce for offering a subscription box as a new revenue stream. She’s answering your questions about: profit rates, multi-products vs single products, and products of the month. This is definitely something to think about for retailers. Sarah is opening...
20. 5 Goals to Set for Your Retail Business in Q3 and Q4
July 08, 2020 12:00 - 14 minutes - 21.4 MBIt starts with a plan, my retailer friends. Just last week, our Retailer’s Inner Circle sat down for a 3-hour strategic Q3 and Q4 planning session. It sounds intense, but it’s really not because a quarter is only 90 days! I meet many brick and mortar business owners who are just winging it and don’t bother to have a plan. So in today’s episode I’ll break down your Q3 into 5 major goals. Let’s go! Move your biz forward with my freebie download The Creative Shop Owner’s Game Plan ...
19. What’s Possible: She Had Her Best Month EVER in Sales during the Pandemic Shutdowns (A Retailer Case Study)
June 24, 2020 12:00 - 34 minutes - 48.1 MBIn today’s very special What’s Possible episode, I am chatting with retailer: Amy Cseh. She is the owner of Schoolhouse Salvage -- an architectural salvage and vintage finds warehouse in Mentor, Ohio, outside of Cleveland. Amy does NOT come from a retail background, and yet she has put in the effort to learn and grow a wildly successful retail business. After 8 years of business, she had the most successful sales period ever, right smack in the middle of all the chaos and shutdowns! Amy s...
18. What’s Possible: The Accidental Shopkeeper with a Thriving Store (A Retailer Case Study)
June 23, 2020 12:00 - 35 minutes - 49.9 MBIn today’s very special What’s Possible episode, I am chatting with retailer Jeff Lee. He is the owner of The Vintage Nest Home & Gifts in the historic downtown of Mount Holly, North Carolina outside of Charlotte. Jeff shares the story of how he grew his retail business from an antique mall booth to a 10,000 square foot and addresses several of the bumps and learning lessons along the way. He’s the quintessential “accidental shopkeeper” who was a hobbyist turned store owner. I know you wi...
17. What’s Possible: She made a BIG decision based on her numbers (A Retailer Case Study)
June 22, 2020 12:00 - 29 minutes - 42.3 MBIn today’s very special bonus episode, I am chatting with retailer: Wendy Johannes. She is the owner of WeJo in Honesdale, Pennsylvania - a reclaim, reuse and recycle shop with furniture paint, crafts, home decor and gifts. She’s one of my retailers in our Inner Circle who is thriving during this pandemic. I’ve been so proud of her, she has made business decisions based on her numbers. She set a goal to increase her paint sales by 50% and she did it!!! You’ll hear her story and be comp...
16. How to Prepare your Entrepreneurial Grit
June 16, 2020 12:00 - 28 minutes - 40.1 MBOur main job as retail business owners is to learn and get better and better. There are always going to be storms to weather and we can only strive for being prepared. The bottom line is the retailers with core foundations are the ones who are doing exceptionally well -- and even thriving -- through these current times. In today’s episode, I have tried-and-true tips for being prepared for the worst… and how to make it out on top while building our “entrepreneurial grit.” Yes, I ackno...
15. A Powerful Lesson from my Café Days
June 04, 2020 12:00 - 19 minutes - 28.2 MBWhen we’re in the middle of hard times, no one wants to think about the “lessons” we are learning at the same time. It’s so much easier to look back at those events —from a safe distance— and reflect on our takeaways years later. Right now, as retailers it is tough. We are facing pandemic shutdowns and change, social unrest and more. We are too deep living in it. It’s hard to see the good right now. We are personally developing, testing our strength and stepping up to the challenges...
14. Unless You Know, You Really Really Don't Know
May 28, 2020 12:00 - 13 minutes - 20.5 MBThis is what I’m hearing from creative retailers from all over the world: I’m exhausted. During the last 3 months, you’ve been working 10 times harder to stay afloat, to get curbside orders to customers, to show up on social media, and to keep your business going. This quarantine hasn’t been a down time to focus on your hobbies and home projects. You’ve been working! This is a special episode to let you know I’m proud of you and that other brick and mortar retailers are feeling the same ...