Savvy Shopkeeper Retail Podcast

Being a mompreneur is incredibly rewarding, but it's also challenging to find a balance between motherhood and owning a business. We love our kids, but we love our businesses, too. Finding the time to do it all while still making ourselves happy, well, that can seem impossible at times.  No one knows this better than Megan Moran, a third-generation mompreneur, the founder of Mompreneur Co., and of...

I can't tell you how often I've seen a shopkeeper open a second retail store location and want to tell them, "Wait, don't do that quite yet!" I've also seen many store owners go on to close their second retail store location later on.  This doesn't mean that second, third, or fourth locations don't work out for ALL retailers. They absolutely can work! But before you open a second retail store loca...

Your brain might tell you that every other business immediately succeeds—and that you're a failure when yours doesn't. But what if you could reframe your failures as experiments instead? Failing versus experimenting might seem subtle, but this reframe can be a pivotal mindset shift for retail business owners!  In today's episode, I'm sharing my 3-step process for reframing your thoughts around you...

Over the past few weeks, I've shared why an operations manual is beneficial, five systems you should document for your retail store, and a free resource to give you a head start on creating your operations manual.  All of these podcast episodes have had one goal: to help indie retail store owners optimize their operations. Today, I'm excited to share that we can work together on this same goal ins...

Whenever I talk about creating an operations manual, getting started seems to be the main roadblock keeping store owners from creating theirs. From figuring out what chapters to include to how thorough each section should be, just outlining your retail store operations manual table of contents is daunting! In today's episode, I'm sharing a brand new FREE resource with you: the Retail Operations Ro...

A fact that might surprise you: EVERY indie store owner has a set of brick and mortar store systems. Yes, even those of you who don't yet have an operations manual! You might not have them anywhere but inside your head, but you do have a set of systems and processes that you follow.  We're diving deeper into operations manuals in the second installment of this four-part series. Listen in to learn...

Creating an operations manual can feel intimidating and overwhelming, especially for indie/micro business owners. That's why in today's episode, I'm sharing the top eight benefits of a retail store operations manual.  Whether you've got just one employee (you!) or lots of employees at several locations, an operations manual is where you can outline all of your systems, processes, and guidelines to...

Exciting news: the 2023-2024 Savvy Shopkeeper Digital Planner is now available! I am thrilled to share what I believe to be the BEST planner for independent retail store owners with you.  The planner has a new look, new worksheets, and new bonuses to help you work less, profit more, and grow. Listen in to hear what's new with this year's version of the planner, how the planner can help you and you...

Visit the Savvy Shopkeeper website and click on "Credit Card Reform" in my main menu or click HERE to complete the Voter Voice form.  I recently traveled to Washington DC to advocate for credit card reform on behalf of the Savvy Shopkeeper community and here's why... Visa and Mastercard dominate the U.S. credit card market. They account for 80 % of all credit card volume and have blocked competing...

The 2023-2024 Savvy Shopkeeper Digital Planner is launching soon! That means it's the perfect time to revisit the five things I wish I'd known about planning for my retail business early on. When your store is brand new (or still just a dream!), it's challenging to think about the future because you're focused on the now. During my Aspiring Retailer and Savvy Starter stages, knowing how to plan wo...

I can't tell you how many times I've said, "just grab a good old pen and paper" on the podcast. Not only am I a fan of getting things out of my head, but I'm also a fan of writing things down so I don't forget them. But after five years of paper piling up on my desk, I was beyond frustrated. I never felt I could find what I was looking for, and my notes overwhelmed me! So in 2022, I switched from...

As I looked back at all of the content I've written, recorded, and shared with store owners, I realized I've covered how to destock your store more than nearly any other topic! There are at least three episodes of this podcast and a few blog posts that address destocking your store in one way or another. In today's episode, I'm excited to share a new option for destocking your store: The Destash G...

"Growing" and "scaling" are so often used interchangeably, especially in business contexts. I've always wanted to know what these words truly meant, so I read countless articles about the definition of growing versus scaling a retail store. Ultimately, I still felt confused and was left without a clear answer.  Attendees at my Virtual Conference asked about the difference between growing and scali...

Alex Sanso first found her love of souvenirs, gifts, and merchandise at the happiest place on Earth: Walt Disney World. She spent several years working in the creative department as a merchandise designer before moving to a small island in Washington State with her family.  Right off the bat, Alex noticed that Bainbridge Island was home to a plethora of beautiful gift shops—but there wasn't much m...

One of the best ways for indie retailers to market their products on Facebook and Instagram is through shoppable social media posts.  But Meta, the company that owns Facebook and Instagram, has recently announced a change to how these posts function—and it's definitely going to affect both brick-and-mortar and e-commerce store owners.  Listen in for a quick review of the basics of shoppable social...

As an indie retail business owner offering services and running your retail store, you might struggle with pricing your worth—especially if you're lacking the confidence to acknowledge that your time, energy, and effort is valuable.  Not only does setting the right price help you make a profit, but it also communicates your value to your current and potential customers. In today's episode, I'm sha...

After graduating from law school, finding a traditional 9-5 position, and hating it, Nicole Swartz decided to forge her own path as an entrepreneur by starting a beauty brand. Two years in, she received a cease and desist letter for her brand's name and had to change everything overnight.  She realized that she'd forgotten to focus on the legal side of things—and after checking in with her women e...

In this bonus episode, I'm sharing 10 things I learned from hosting the 2023 Savvy Shopkeeper Virtual Conference.  This is the first Virtual Conference I hosted and it most likely won't be the last! I learned a lot about myself and a lot about all of you.  This is an unedited, casual conversation with all of you - I hope you enjoy this episode! Have anything to share about this episode or the Virt...

When faced with a business-impacting decision, we usually turn to our trusty friend Google first. But there are some questions that even Google can't answer—especially when it comes to the intricacies of the technology that runs our stores.  If you've been considering the Shopify point-of-sale, though, I've got good news: I can connect you with an actual human to answer all your questions! Listen...

It's all too common for retailers at every stage to feel confused, frustrated, and disheartened—especially when it comes to how much they can pay themselves.  But most retailers don't realize that their success, growth, and take-home pay come down to a single shocking metric! Listen in to learn what this key metric is, how it's calculated, and what you can do to improve your bottom line. For show...

When a new store or competitor pops up, many independent retailers feel a sense of not being enough, tension, anxiety, annoyance, and fear—lots and lots of fear. But competition in retail is a GOOD thing!  In today's episode, I'm sharing a case study for what happens when we believe that competition in retail is positive—and how that belief can help us improve our stores. If you've ever been worri...

Do you ever find yourself checking your email inbox over and over again throughout the day? It's so common among entrepreneurs, especially when we have customer service questions, discussions with employees/vendors/contractors, and other critical information delivered to us via email. If you're opening or refreshing your email more often than you'd like, it might be time to consider breaking the h...

On a recent trip to Miami, my family and I took an incredible Uber ride—and learned some surprising business lessons from our driver, Luis!  Listen in to learn the three key things every business owner should focus on and what we should never underestimate when running a business. For show notes, visit  www.savvyshopkeeper.com/episode166 . Learn more about Kathy Cruz and Savvy Shopkeeper at Savvy...

Choosing a point-of-sale (POS) system is one of the first and most impactful decisions that an indie retailer makes. Your POS software and hardware are how you collect payment for the goods you offer in your store, and in some cases, they're also the tech supporting your e-commerce website! If you're debating between Square versus Shopify for your brick-and-mortar store, listen to this episode so...

In this episode, we're going to talk about something that isn't always pleasant, but that we have to tackle: why independent retail stores fail.  From stubborn and arrogant owners to poor financial management and lack of systems, we'll explore how these factors can lead to the downfall of a retail business. We'll also touch on the importance of mindset and treating your store like a job, not a job...