There's so much more to planning than time management... but I'm pretty sure you already know this!

You juggle finances to buy inventory or raw materials. You shift around items on your to-do list to meet your most urgent deadlines. You put off making personal appointments because there are competing deadlines tied to the urgency of seasonal selling.

You juggle like a pro!

But… are you planning so you can get ahead of the game or are you scrambling to keep up?

Here's the good news: you can reverse engineer the many benefits of planning if you know what you're working toward and why your planning for it!

You don't need to overhaul your operational practices or adopt a leadership style very different from your Retail Success Style. You simply need to start planning.

This podcast episode highlights three types of planning so that you can make sure you're covering your bases —  now and in the future. As you listen, pay special attention to these points:

• Merchandise planning helps you optimize your revenue while at the same time minimize the costs associated with carrying too much inventory.
• You don't have to be "good at math" to be a planner — you just have to want greater profitability.
• Predetermine how many employees or what type of business support you'll need before you're in a bind.
• Consider your personal needs when you plan your business calendar and quarterly operational plans.

After you've listened, it's time to take action! Remember: Knowledge and action are most effective when applied within the context of your unique business using your unique style.

To help you find your path to business growth, take my free 60-second Retail Success Style quiz at MerchantMethod.com/Quiz.

I also invite you to learn alongside other retailers and makers inside my free podcast community at MerchantMethod.com/RetailShift. This is where you can get support on podcast topic, exclusive hot tips, and more.

© Thinking Thumbprint LLC DBA Merchant Method. All rights reserved. For more information and terms of use visit MerchantMethod.com.

Marketing, as a critical business function, is just as broad a practice as it is deep — meaning, there are many important moving parts. Luckily there are also plenty of valuable resources for SMBs yet despite the training available at our fingertips, Merchants continue to struggle with marketing their businesses for one main reason — marketing is NOT merchandising.

When you take a simple view of retail merchandising, it falls under the broader function of marketing because merchandising your products promotes desirability. When you look at modern marketing as well as modern retail within the context of your cash flow needs, you'll quickly learn that these serve different roles in your business and that you need both.

As you listen to this week's episode, designed specifically for independently-owned retail SMBs, small-batch manufacturers, and makers, I want you pay special attention to:

• Avoiding the mistake of using marketing as a cure-all when sales are stagnant
• Using the Four Pillars of Merchandising to discover opportunities for more revenue and profit
• Aligning your merchandising and marketing strategies
• Asking better quality questions when determining your next marketing move
• The critical role of merchandising and its contribution to a healthy cash flow

After you've listened, it's time to take action! Remember: Knowledge and action are most effective when applied within the context of your unique business using your unique style.

To help you find your path to business growth, take my free 60-second Retail Success Style quiz at MerchantMethod.com/Quiz.

© Thinking Thumbprint LLC DBA Merchant Method. All rights reserved. For more information and terms of use visit MerchantMethod.com.

I remember my first manager-level role — one with employees to train, develop, and retrain should performance fall below expectations. I loved it when my team and I were like a well-oiled machine and never thought about how I would feel if we weren't.

So I was unprepared when my own manager asked me to have a difficult conversation with an employee whom she suspected was stealing from the business. Whether or not I was prepared, it was a conversation I had to have.

In hindsight, I can see that I didn't receive the best direction from my supervisor (perhaps my fears prevented me from really hearing her). Instead I did the best I could do in the moment.

Do any of these feeling sound familiar to you?

I decided to get rid of any expectations that this would be a conversation of conflict. I got curious instead.

It was a productive, personable, and successful straightforward talk. Your next one can be too.

In this episode I share the approach I take when I'm curious about an employee's behavior or performance. Listen for opportunities to make your next "talk" a little easier by trying a clarification-first approach. In this episode I talk about:

• Feelings that may arise when preparing to have a direct conversation with an employee
• The difference between clarity and conflict, and types of conflict in the workplace
• Ways to search for clarity about an employee's behavior or performance
• Why asking questions can be the most appropriate way to understand a circumstance or situation

After you've listened, it's time to take action! Remember: Knowledge and action are most effective when applied within the context of your unique business using your unique style.

To help you find your path to business growth, take my free 60-second Retail Success Style quiz at MerchantMethod.com/Quiz.

© Thinking Thumbprint LLC DBA Merchant Method. All rights reserved. For more information and terms of use visit MerchantMethod.com.

The question I get asked time and time again is — "What should I charge for my products because I need to make more money?"

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but you need to know that making more money does NOT start with pricing.

The nature of personal taste and the costs associated with offering your shoppers the right number of customer choices make the simplicity of finding "the right price" very, very difficult. Let me explain to you what you need to know and WHY so that you can begin asking quality questions and start making more money.

As you listen to this podcast episode I want you to pay special attention to a few key concepts that impact small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs).

• The one thing that makes it difficult to run a profitable retail business or inventory-based brand
• Merchant Method's Four Pillars of Merchandising — a must-know for indie retailers and makers
• Learn the critical roles of each merchandising pillar and how it plays out in your business
• Understand the difference between running a business and running an inventory-based brand

After you've listened, it's time to take action!

Join my FREE podcast community at MerchantMethod.com/RetailShift. This is where the real conversations and retail shifts happen. When you join you'll learn how to improve your business AND meet indie retailers and makers just like you.

© Thinking Thumbprint LLC DBA Merchant Method. All rights reserved. For more information and terms of use visit MerchantMethod.com.

Every indie retailer and maker that I've worked with has one thing in common — a fear of being bored in their work. (Raise your hand if this is you too!) This is often why entrepreneurs start their own ventures. However, the pursuit of freedom and flexibility often spreads into areas that it has no business being.

I'm here to tell you, my friend, that you can AND should embrace boredom! When you do, you'll find running your inventory-based brand easier and, if you do it well, more profitable too.

As you listen to this podcast episode about how to hack your business growth with boredom, I want you to pay special attention to a few key concepts that impact small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs).

• Why you should stop worrying about getting bored in your business
• How uncertainty and excitement in specific aspects of your operations can hurt your business
• The proven benefits of boredom
• Three ways to hack your retail growth using the benefits of boredom

After you've listened, it's time to take action!

Join my FREE podcast community at MerchantMethod.com/RetailShift. This is where the real conversations and retail shifts happen. When you join you'll learn how to improve your business AND meet indie retailers and makers just like you.

© Thinking Thumbprint LLC DBA Merchant Method. All rights reserved. For more information and terms of use visit MerchantMethod.com.

Whether you're ready to share this publicly or suffer in silence, you probably feel that you need to somehow up your retail marketing game — whether it be getting more attention on social media, driving traffic to your ecommerce site, or developing new contacts now that might turn into business later (read: business development).

Amiright?!?

If you believe there's stiff competition or if you're rowing your own boat, there is zero benefit in ignoring the fact that it's a business battleground out there with many brands vying for your customers attention AND money!

This begs the question: What's a small, self-funded retailer or maker to do?

There IS actually an answer that allows you to take one of many paths that's right for YOUR brand. But it does, in fact, begin with a set of valuable insights.

As you listen to this podcast episode about how to profit in a saturated marketplace, I want you to pay special attention to a few key concepts that impact small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs).

• What brand values are really worth — to your customers and to your bottom line
• Customer signals are changing AND they want to make sure you are part of THEIR communities
• Operationalizing modern brand values vs. establishing conventional brand values
• How SMBs benefit from having and using modern brand values

After you've listened, it's time to take action!

Join my FREE podcast community at MerchantMethod.com/RetailShift. This is where the real conversations and retail shifts happen. When you join you'll learn how to improve your business AND meet indie retailers and makers just like you.

© Thinking Thumbprint LLC DBA Merchant Method. All rights reserved. For more information and terms of use visit MerchantMethod.com.

What catches a customer's attention — and hopefully a share of their wallet — changes constantly and the tides of merchandising, marketing, and selling quickly follow suit. What was once a clever idea to drive customer traffic to a store is now the starting price to get a customer's attention. Hopefully you hold it long enough for them to really look at what you've got to sell.

I'm sure you know your customers well enough to provide epic customer care but do you know how they really want to be sold to? Spoiler Alert: It's entertainment-first.

As you listen to this podcast episode about the shifting the customer service role from seller to entertainer, I want you to pay special attention to a few key concepts that impact small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs).

• How the entertainment industry props up and transforms the retail industry
• Shifts in discretionary spending, and the relationship between experiences and physical inventory
• Common retailtainment experiences in a brick-and-mortar or physical settings
• How SMBs can and should entertain customers in an effective and affordable way

After you've listened, it's time to take action! Join my FREE podcast community at MerchantMethod.com/RetailShift. This is where the real conversations and retail shifts happen. When you join you'll learn how to improve your business AND meet indie retailers and makers just like you.

© Thinking Thumbprint LLC DBA Merchant Method. All rights reserved. For more information and terms of use visit MerchantMethod.com.

The Retail Shift podcast shares business advice for inventory-based brands and the merchants who run them. I'm Chris Guillot, CEO of Merchant Method and your portable retail coach.

I'm glad you're here to find answers to your business questions like:

1. How do I plan for the future when there's uncertainty?
2. How do I sell more products and make a profit?
3. How do I find and keep paying customers?
4. How do I get employees to do the work they're hired to do?
5. How do I up my retail marketing game?

You're also invited to join my free podcast community at MerchantMethod.com/RetailShift. When you do you'll learn how to apply these shifts to your business AND meet indie retailers and makers just like you. See you there!

© Thinking Thumbprint LLC DBA Merchant Method. All rights reserved. For more information and terms of use visit MerchantMethod.com.