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

With the immense number of businesses out there and the sheer amount of products available the world over, you’d be forgiven for thinking that everything and everyone is catered for, but you need only go as far as your local supermarket to discover that from fashion to tech, cosmetics to stationery and everything in between, that there are plenty of instances of design biases and blindspots when it comes to diversity and inclusion.

In episode 104 of The Resilient Retail Game Plan, I speak to Cherelle Brown of Kitsch Noir. When she was made redundant 5 years ago, Cherelle hit the ground running, challenged the predominantly white landscape of the stationery world, and made a huge impact in her community by creating her award-winning, family-friendly, black greeting cards and stationery brand.

In this episode, we discuss Cherelle’s journey from the pages of Etsy to the shelves of some of the biggest retailers around, as well as diving into the creative process behind her range of greeting cards and stationery. We also discuss the deep meaningfulness of representation to Charelle, her customers and her community and how regardless of how busy and intense things get, that you still need to ensure yourself a good quality of life.

Check out Cherelle’s amazing cards and stationery at: https://kitschnoir.com/

And connect with KitsCH Noir at:

https://www.facebook.com/KitschNoirLdn/ https://www.instagram.com/kitschnoir https://twitter.com/Kitschnoir

For more details on Hatch Enterprises head to: https://hatchenterprise.org/

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One of the consistent trends I’ve noticed throughout the many conversations I’ve had with small business owners is that a great number of their journeys into the product business world marked the end of an often well-established and successful career - sometimes completely unrelated to their current independent endeavours. My guest today is no exception.

Gayle Mansfield could have gone back to her role as a project manager for a social housing partnership after her maternity leave, but instead found herself harnessing her creative powers and love of interior design and gradually shifting from working part-time producing beautifully minimalist art prints to running her own design studio in Sussex.

In episode 103 of The Resilient Retail Game Plan, we discuss Gayle’s business journey, what shifting from a significant career to running your own business feels like, and how her desire to change things exceeded her desire to stay comfortable. We also discuss scaling up, slow organic growth, and how protecting yourself and your energy is important to your own and your business's survival.

Check out Gayle’s range of amazing products at https://www.gaylemansfield.co.uk/

and connect with the brand at:

https://www.facebook.com/gaylemansfielddesigns/ https://www.instagram.com/gaylemansfielddesigns

Use the code: 10podcast to get £10 off your first month when joining The Resilient Retail Club.

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Whether it’s businesses reappraising their supply chains or ditching plastic, HR departments extending their range of opportunities for more inclusive leave, or customers shopping more consciously, we’ve seen a real shift in recent years regarding attitudes towards environmental, human and social impact. 

But for every brand with a genuine desire to use business as a force for good, there’s a large number out there greenwashing their brands in pursuit of pure profit.

That’s where B Corps steps in. Founded in 2006, the B Corp movement, through a rigorous certification process, seeks to review a business’s social and environmental performance and hold them accountable through making legal and transparent commitments to prioritising the planet and people as well as profit.

In episode 102 of The Resilient Retail Game Plan, I speak to Sarah Jordan, founder of Y.O.U. Underwear, the UK’s most highly rated B Corp business. After visiting Uganda in 2016 and seeing how a lack of access to underwear was creating adverse knock-on effects for women, Sarah developed her fashion business, building sustainability and philanthropy into the brand from the very get-go.

In this episode, we cover all things ‘B Corps’, from the in and outs of the certification process to its many benefits. We also discuss developing a brand's personality through its principles, making best practice part of your business’s DNA and how, at the moment, there’s no such thing as business as normal.

Check out Sarah’s range of amazing products at https://www.youunderwear.com/

and connect with the brand at:

https://twitter.com/youunderwearuk https://www.facebook.com/YOUunderwearUK/ https://www.instagram.com/youunderwearuk/

and to find out more about B Corps head to:

https://www.bcorporation.net/en-us/ https://bcorporation.uk/

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We’re not quite post-pandemic yet, but the shops are open, trade shows are back and retail, for the most part, has got back into the swing of things. 

This doesn’t mean however that anyone’s seeing anything approaching ’normal’ when it comes to sales. With the shift from shopping online in lockdown to the current desire for consumers to hit the high street, many businesses have seen their sales plummet and with the cost of living crisis reductions in spending are expected to continue.

With all this uncertainty, it might be time, if you’re not already doing it, to think about getting involved in wholesale.

In episode 101 of The Resilient Retail Game Plan, I speak to Therese Ortenblad, founder of the Small Business Collaborative, about the relatively steady world of wholesale, and how a mix of third-party services, trade shows connections and organic outreach could mean you see a bit more stability in your sales and security in your business.

In this episode we discuss the importance of building loyalty with retailers, tapping into the current market trends and the benefits of attending real-world trade shows. We also touch on stepping outside our social media echo chambers, ditching the excuses and meeting our customers where they are.

Get in touch about working with Therese at https://www.smallbusinesscollaborative.co.uk/

and connect with her:

https://www.instagram.com/small_business_collaborative/ https://www.facebook.com/smallbusinesscollaborative/ https://www.tiktok.com/@smallbusinesscollab

Use the code: 10podcast to get £10 off your first month when joining The Resilient Retail Club.

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After almost exactly two years since it started and with over 53,000 downloads at the time of recording, I’m incredibly pleased to say that we’ve reached episode 100 of The Resilient Retail Game Plan.

It’s been my pleasure and privilege to have had so many amazing guests join me on the podcast, and I’m deeply grateful for the time and expertise they’ve all shared, but this wouldn’t happen without you, the listeners, and I can’t thank you enough for tuning in, getting in touch and coming on this Resilient Retail journey with me.

In today's episode, to celebrate the stories and tips you've found most valuable, we revisit the top five guest episodes as charted by you, the listener. 

We’ll start with Lucy Werner and the concept of personal branding, cover the importance of having a laugh and the value of your own small business community with smallbizmemez and Khaleelah Jones helps illuminate the rather tricky topics of SEO and digital marketing ecosystems. 

My ex-apprentice Charis Varley will then give us the lowdown on the power of TikTok and we’ll wrap up with Charlotte Pierce as we discuss the impact of taking an analogue approach in a digital world.

Thank you again to all my guests and listeners - here's to 100 more Resilient Retail success stories - see you next time! 

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As the fourth largest social media platform in the world, Instagram has undoubtedly become ubiquitous with the way we connect, interact and for us as product business owners, how we market and even sell our goods. 

In my conversations with other founders and throughout the course of my consulting, the subject of ‘the ‘gram’ comes up with great regularity - there are plenty of success stories to share from the platform, but more often than not it seems that a lot of small businesses have a relatively rocky relationship with the app.

I would venture that, for users, the main issue, as a content-led platform, is that the focus on which content Instagram prioritises has moved on from the humble days of curated image grids, and this will likely continue to evolve as the platform and its competitors grow. 

So, in this episode of The Resilient Retail Game Plan, I want to cover how Instagram has and continues to change and detail some of the pitfalls of relying on a third-party platform to run your business. We’ll talk stats and look at how MAU (Monthly Active User) numbers and conversion rates play their part in your business’ success and we’ll also ask ourselves some potentially tough questions regarding our need for validation and whether the platform is really to blame for slumps in sales.

Use the code: 10podcast to get £10 off your first month when joining The Resilient Retail Club.

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In episode 98 of The Resilient Retail Game Plan, I speak to Vicky Simmons, founder of the brutally honest, sarcastic greeting cards company, Mean Mail. 

Inspired by the way friends talk to each other and Oscar Wilde’s famous quote “True friends stab you in the front”, Vicky’s designs are available in over 100 stockists internationally and have been commissioned by some of the world’s biggest brands. From the importance of originality to starting and staying sustainable, Vicky and I cover the ins and outs of her product business journey and talk about the moments that truly tested her.

In today's podcast, we discuss hiring people for their enthusiasm and energy, dropping the blame game and owning our mistakes and the positive potential of ‘poly-work’. We also talk about the proliferation of greenwashing, the learning moments to be gained from working with stockists and staying resilient in the face of legal challenges and copycats.

Check out Vicky’s amazing range of greetings cards at: https://meanmail.co/

and connect with Mean Mail at:

https://www.facebook.com/meanmail.co https://twitter.com/meanmail https://www.instagram.com/meanmail/

Also, don’t forget to head over to https://www.resilientretailclub.com/grow2022 to sign up for my free online workshop.

Reserve your spot for June 29th at 11 am (UK time) and I'll run you through:

• An industry-wide update - what are the bigger forces at work that are impacting your business
• Three key pitfalls that many businesses are making
• What you can learn from the businesses that continue to thrive

See you there! 

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From content recommendations tailored to viewing habits, to refilling prescriptions via a smartphone, the growing convergence of tech and personalisation continues to provide consumers with more and more specific options in an ever-increasingly efficient package. 

We’re used to Amazon suggesting additional purchases based on our previous orders and are likely all familiar with being offered something to ‘watch next’ on Youtube - but there are now a number of industries outside typical retail that are seeing the benefits and potential in leveraging e-commerce tech and media to better serve their clients.

In today's episode of The Resilient Retail Game plan, I speak to the founder and CEO of The Healing Company, Simon Belsham. With a vision to inspire and lead the way to a healthier world through effective alternative healing methods, Simon and The Healing Company aim to build a community of brands that focus on promoting wellness and improving people's quality of life by harnessing the tech tools of e-commerce and offering personalised healthcare solutions.

In this podcast, we talk about experiential retail and how immersive consumer offerings are being made possible via technology and how understanding people's stories helps businesses and brands personalise solutions for their customers. We also discuss the importance of close personal connections in securing trusted recommendations and the role social media and dark social play in customer conversations.

Connect with The Healing Company at:

https://www.healingcompany.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/thehealingcompany/ https://www.instagram.com/theheal_co/ https://twitter.com/theheal_co

And finally, for extra help navigating the choppy waters of 2022, don’t forget to head over to https://www.resilientretailclub.com/grow2022 to sign up for my free online workshop.

Reserve your spot for June 29th at 11 am (UK time) and I'll run you through:

• An industry-wide update - what are the bigger forces at work that are impacting your business
• Three key pitfalls that many businesses are making
• What you can learn from the businesses that continue to thrive

See you there! 

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In episode 96 of The Resilient Retail Game Plan, I speak to the founder and CEO of Grind Coffee, David Abrahamovitch. Since starting with their first high-street space in Shoreditch back in 2011, Grind has expanded across the capital and into the homes of coffee lovers everywhere, with their amazing home compostable coffee pods and subscription service. 

After nearly a decade of hard work building their brand and refining their products, the footfall at Grind’s physical shops (as did everyone’s) ground to a halt in 2020 as COVID-19 swept across the globe. However, thanks to making the right investments, the right choices, and a considerable dollop of luck, Grind were able to pivot from having their digital offering account for less than 1% of their business pre-pandemic shift to replacing all the business they lost as a consequence of the pandemic - and the business has been forever changed since.

In today’s podcast, we discuss the critical importance of brand building and how your physical and digital offerings need to be working in tandem to make the best gains. We also talk about the confusion surrounding modern sustainability credentials, the greenwashing that comes with it, as well as some of the incredible statistics when it comes to coffee production and the subsequent waste the industry produces. 

Check out Grind at:

https://grind.co.uk/ https://www.instagram.com/grind/ https://www.facebook.com/grind

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Whether it’s via 1-2-1 calls or strategy meetings, through my mentoring sessions or community chat, or in-person and at live events, as you’d expect, I speak to many, many product business owners on a daily basis. 

And when you literally ‘talk shop’ day-to-day, as I do, you begin to not only start seeing patterns in the way that businesses operate and the ways in which the industry works, but you also gain important insights into the personal experiences of founders - and the main thing I’m hearing at the moment is that things feel tough.

So, in episode 95 of The Resilient Retail Game Plan, I want to give you a bit of a pep talk. I in no way want to diminish or underestimate the effect that inflation, the war in Ukraine, the cost of living and energy costs are having on everyone's lives (business owner or not). What I do want to do is help you focus on the things that are within your control and help you to feel more sure-footed in a time of great instability.

In this podcast, we’ll discuss the risks inherent in blaming poor sales on external factors, and the importance of asking more of yourself. We’ll also talk about revitalising your products and why securing a supplementary income could be the best thing for your business.

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