The 5 Problems Growing Retail Businesses Don’t Expect (But Almost Always Face)

If your retail business looks successful on paper but feels far harder than it should behind the scenes, this episode is for you.

With thanks to this episode’s sponsor SumUp.

Get 10% off SumUp hardware with the code GamePlan10 at https://sumup.co.uk

I’m Catherine Erdly, and this is Resilient Retail Game Plan — practical product business advice with a healthy dose of reality.

This isn’t about fixing beginner mistakes or chasing the next growth tactic.

It’s about what happens once your business has momentum, and instinct alone stops being enough.

After working with hundreds of established product businesses, I see the same problems come up again and again.

Not because founders are doing things wrong, but because the business has outgrown the way it’s being run.

In this episode, I walk through the 5 problems growing retail businesses don’t expect (but almost always face).

These include:

1. Why growth often creates chaos instead of clarity
2. What it really means when you don’t trust your numbers
3. Why being busy doesn’t always mean you’re moving forward
4. How everything living in your head turns you into the bottleneck
5. What to do when your business no longer fits your life

We also talk about why structure isn’t restrictive, how it creates freedom, and what it looks like when a business is designed to support the person running it, not drain them.

If any of this feels familiar, it doesn’t mean you’re failing.

It usually means you’ve outgrown the stage you’re operating at.

Chapters

00:00 Why growth starts to feel heavy

01:36 When success creates chaos

06:09 Learning to trust your numbers

08:26 Busy versus real progress

11:06 Everything living in your head

15:25 When your business stops fitting your life

18:10 Retail by Design

Links

Retail by Design: https://www.resilientretailclub.com/retail-by-design

Resilient Retail Club: https://www.resilientretailclub.com

Listen on your favourite podcast app: https://www.resilientretailclub.com/podcast

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