The Resilient Retail Game Plan - retail insights, retail trends and best practices

In this episode of the Resilient Retail Game Plan, I am talking with coach and facilitator Hayley Watts about effective team management, productivity, and your well-being as a founder. We talk about effectively giving responsibility to your team through an analogy with a 'fried egg', the importance of clarity and setting boundaries in team roles, as well as how best to approach difficult conversat...

Today we are celebrating the one-year anniversary of ‘Tame Your Tiger'. I just take a moment to reflect back on the last year and talk a little bit about what it's meant to me and to the business, to have this book out there into the world. I am also excited to announce my upcoming free online summit ‘Retail ROAR’ from February 29 to March 1, featuring an impressive lineup of speakers from the ret...

In this episode, I got to sit down with Resilient Retail Club member Ruth Sturdy, the founder of Color Chronicles.    Ruth shared her journey after looking for a book that would not only allow her to record memories of her daughter but would bring her daughter into the process as well. When one couldn’t be found, Ruth decided to create it which led to her founding her own business and developing t...

Do you have a sales plan for 2024? If not, do you know what is holding you back from having a sales goal?  For some, they don't really grasp the importance of having one. They're not familiar with the importance and transformational nature of having a sales goal. And so they don't make the time for it. But if you want your business to be more profitable, if you want to have better cash flow, if yo...

Do you ever find yourself looking at another business and thinking “I wish that my business was like that!” or “I want my business to be like XYZ.” or even “I just wish I could get to this point with my business and then everything will be fine.” You've probably seen on social media retail businesses that've got piles of mailing bags, or maybe they've been established for a long time, or they've h...

I know that for a lot of people, you're coming off a high from the fourth quarter. And I know it can feel like quite a slap in the face when you go from the biggest months of the year in November and December and then you get into January and it can feel like it's all dropped off a cliff. So first if this is one of your first Christmases or if you know this about your business, I want to remind yo...

Last summer I launched a mastermind for product-based business owners and it has hands down been the most exciting that I’ve done in my business.     The people in the mastermind have businesses of various sizes. Some are very large, and very well established. Some are earlier on in their journey or at different stages. But the thing that unites every single one of those product business owners is...

Do you want to scale your business? In other words, do you want to grow it further than where it is now? Or maybe you're in the process of growing it and you want to feel more comfortable and proactive with what's happening to you and to your business.    So what I wanted to dig into today, is to help you understand that if you're in this process of growing your business there are five key questio...

In this episode, we will discuss four key retail trends for 2024: sustainability and green fatigue, the rise of artificial intelligence, social commerce, and personalized communication.  As a retailer, you need to embrace these trends and be proactive so you can ensure that your business continues to grow and continues to thrive in the coming year.   [0:00] What trends will be reshaping the retail...

In episode 176 of the Resilient Retail Game Plan, host Catherine Erdly, founder of the Resilient Retail Club, engages in an insightful discussion with Lindsay Schneider, founder of the self-tanning brand, Get Into the Limelight.    We discuss the trials and triumphs of building a brand, focusing on Lindsay's experience in product sourcing, the process of creating a quality self-tanner, and the mar...

In this episode of the Resilient Retail Game Plan, we are discussing the art and skill of negotiation in the retail business with Simon Duncan. We delve into why negotiation is a crucial skill for business owners, how to determine what the other party wants in a negotiation and the importance of planning before entering a negotiation situation.    The discussion emphasizes the significance of unde...

Have you thought about what it would take to scale your e-commerce business to $5 million or more? What about getting an investment to grow your business further?    In today’s episode, I spoke with Yoni Kozminski, an e-commerce scaling expert.. Yoni shares his expertise on scaling e-commerce businesses and the process of working with founders when investing in their businesses to help them grow....

We know that starting a business is not for the faint of heart. Even those who are full of confidence can sometimes be plagued with the fear of losing everything we have built.    In today's episode, I spoke with the inspiring Toks Aruoture, owner of the Baby Cot Shop. Toks has an incredible journey to share with us. After losing her store in the US she returned to the UK and reopened her business...

It’s no secret that the fashion industry is problematic. From materials to manufacturing to the retail models themselves, a lot of damage is wrought upon the people producing the clothes as well as the planet. As the world slowly wakes up to the long-term effects of these business practices, it’s encouraging to see people act more responsibly, taking steps to produce ’slow fashion’ centred around...

Originating in the USA as a post-thanksgiving sales event, Black Friday has, over the last decade, become a major, and sometimes divisive shopping event in the UK retail calendar - and based on last year's figures it’s only getting bigger.  As a small business, you shouldn’t feel obligated to take part in a sales event that’s traditionally a mainstay of larger retailers, but you also shouldn’t fee...

TikTok is a relative newcomer in the world of social media, but it’s been making serious waves since it entered the fray back in 2016. Hugely popular with the younger demographics, the platform has evolved and changed a lot since its inception, and with tools such as ‘TikTok Shop’ I’d suggest that it’s worth taking the time to consider whether setting up an account might be beneficial for your bus...

Video has become a commonplace and indispensable tool for small business owners. My often repeated adage that ‘people buy from people’ is exemplified perfectly by the amazing engagement and communities we see grow around brands and founders when they share the realities of their business, whether that’s through behind-the-scenes videos or product showcases.  We’re all familiar with the various for...

If you’re feeling the pinch at the moment, trust me, you’re not alone. September through October are traditionally a major pinch point for retail - when you have lots of money going out as you stock up for the festive season, without any of the accompanying sales materialising until later in the year, cashflow can start to dry up and things can start to feel really tough. This isn’t just a small p...

In episode 167 of The Resilient Retail Game Plan, I speak to Caroline Gogolak, CEO and founder of the New York fashion brand Saint Art. Producing effortless but luxe street-style sportswear, Caroline has seen great success with Saint Art by implementing an effective ‘test-and-learn’ approach and making clever business decisions that help address issues of overproduction and waste in the fashion in...

The retail landscape is constantly evolving. From the continued growth in online shopping, to the collapse of the department store model, as well as the effect of lockdowns on the high street, we’ve seen a lot of change in the last few years, especially when it comes to physical stores. When the need to buy a product is no longer enough reason to go to an actual store, how can brands ensure that t...

Paid Advertising can be incredibly effective for small product businesses. We’ve all undoubtedly seen some great sales success stories built off the back of social media-based ad campaigns, but paid advertising can be a bit of a confusing subject as well as a technical minefield - how do you know when you’re ready to jump into the Ads Manager, and if you’re already using the platform, how do you b...

Having run the Resilient Retail Club for the last three years, I’ve seen first-hand the transformative power being part of a community can have on not only your business but on your life. Fostering connections and relationships and sharing in experiences is such a crucial part of what it means to be human - in episode 164 of The Resilient Retail Game Plan, I cover five key ways that being part of...

There are many reasons someone starts a business, but a pattern I often see with founders in the Resilient Retail Club is a combination of dissatisfaction with the working world and a desire to make a more significant impact, and today's guest is no exception! In episode 163 of The Resilient Retail Game Plan, I speak to Lucy Jeffrey, founder of bamboo sock brand, Bare Kind. Having started her busi...

The importance of Christmas for small product businesses can not be underestimated. Some businesses can end up taking half, and I’ve seen in some circumstances, even three-quarters of their annual sales in the fourth quarter! This sales period, and a highly competitive one at that, really has the potential to make or break your year. So if you want to achieve your Xmas sales goals and finish the y...

If you’re a long-time listener to this podcast or have worked with me, you’ll know I love to start talking about Christmas early - from around May actually! With the holiday season but a few months away, I’ve been digging into lots of research around what we can expect for retail at Christmas this year.  Xmas 2022 disproved a lot of predictions and exceeded many businesses' expectations, but with...