are you thinking of opening a retail
store congratulations welcome aboard
there's never been a better time to open
a retail store the future of retail is
so bright but let me tell you no one
dreams of starting or running a
struggling store do they so stay tuned
while i give you the tips and tools and
strategies you need to have retail
success from the very beginning right
now
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hi there i'm kathy donovan wagner
founder of retail mavens and mother of
america's most fun family my mission is
to help independent retailers like you
get more profit and better sleep if you
haven't already make sure you hit
subscribe below and click the bell so
that you'll get all the notifications
when i share more retail tips and
strategies with you ones that you can
take action on to have an impact in your
business right away i'm so passionate
about the retail industry that i've
dedicated years to helping brand new
retailers set up successful retail
stores right from the very start as well
as helping struggling retailers to turn
their business around i have a track
record of showing startup retailers how
to have positive cash flow their first
year don't believe that lie that you
can't make money your first year because
you should expect to and i can show you
how to do it 99 of the stories that
we've helped open have had a positive
cash flow the first year including
paying the owner from the get-go and
paying down their startup loans but
there is no doubt that retail can be a
big challenge i learned that firsthand
with my own three stores i was almost
bankrupt twice and so i've learned a lot
about what it takes to be successful and
it's especially hard if you don't have
the specific skills that you need to
succeed so let's dig into what you need
to know to have a successful retail
business in today's climate the first
most important thing is that you've got
to start out with your why why are you
opening this door what is it you really
want is it that you want freedom is it
that you want money another good reason
you deserve to be paid well for what you
do do you want to impact change do you
want to take what you're passionate
about and share it with other people and
impact their lives and create this
ripple effect be very clear and what it
is that you want to achieve most the
next thing is you've got to know your
numbers you have to know your numbers
you don't want to just break even
we don't teach people to break even
because that's crazy so often what
people don't do is include paying
themselves in that and you deserve to be
paid for what you do for all the time
and energy and effort you're going to
put into this you want to make a profit
and you deserve to do so from the very
beginning we help retailers do that all
day long you can do it but you've got to
pay attention to your numbers what
happens to so many people is that they
start their store because of the passion
that they have but then they find out
that their passion doesn't pay the bills
so you've got to make sure that you're
paying attention to your numbers you
have to know who you are and who your
ideal customer is don't make the mistake
that i did i had a kids store and so i
just assumed that everybody knew a kid
or had a kid therefore everybody was my
customer that's so not true and you'll
waste so much time and energy and money
i have a great video right here that you
can check out that'll walk you through
this process it's so critical once
you've gone through this process and
determined who you are and who your
ideal customer is it makes so many
decisions so much easier because it
helps clarify the who the when the why
and the how of your marketing it helps
determine the way your store will look
the way it'll feel the way you'll
merchandise it determines the products
that you'll carry it determines the way
your website will look no matter what
kind of retail business you have it
makes everything so much easier when
you're super clear about this speaking
of which you also have to be willing to
sell online if you're planning on just
being a local brick and mortar store you
still have to have a website one that
looks like you one that feels like you
one that is appealing to your ideal
customer your online store is really its
own business and a big mistake people
make they kind of don't pay enough
attention to it they just put it up
there and then just leave it alone but
you can't do that it's marketing people
now shop online they'll go online and
look at your website to determine if
you're the kind of store that they want
to shop in so it's important to make
sure that you run it like it is a
separate business you've got to set
aside dedicated time every single week
to re-merchandise it just like you do
your brick and mortar store you have to
update the hero image you have to change
the navigation to reflect what's going
on in the store all of that is so
important to make sure that you're
putting your best foot forward and
attracting your ideal customer if you're
opening a physical location you know for
sure that location is key when you're in
a high traffic area you can spend less
on marketing and vice versa if you're in
a low traffic area you'll have to spend
more on advertising and marketing and
this comes back to knowing your numbers
you'll also need a lawyer to help with
the lease don't try and do it on your
own i've seen so many people make a
mistake one other thing that people say
about retail is that there's so many
hats to wear there's so much to do at
any one time another thing that i wish i
had learned to do and committed to
taking action on earlier is planning i
can see you nodding your head oh yeah
yeah i know about that why do i know
that you're doing that because i did the
same thing i'd be sitting there taking
notes and someone would mention that i'd
be oh yeah for sure yep planning yep got
that down but did i actually create time
in my calendar for it no i didn't and
you've got to do that planning creates
time and it's hard to stop and do it
because there's a million things to do
on your list right but when you stop and
organize things and prioritize it and
really are intentional about how you're
going to take action it makes your
action that much more powerful i used to
just operate from the standpoint of
action move forward move forward at all
costs i spun my wheels so many times you
can grow faster by intentionally
planning your time and creating
intentional action moving forward you've
got to set up a planning routine that
helps you stay focused on what we call
high impact and high income reducing
activities hip-hop this is a key
strategy to attaining the success that
you were looking for make sure to commit
to building a retail team i've got a
video right here on how to do that so
often people will want to do it all
themselves they want to save money on
payroll plus they know how to do it best
right and it's going to take time and
energy and money to teach someone else
how to do it i get all that but it's
just not sustainable to do it all on
your own in order to achieve the success
you want you need help along the way
you'll have failures you'll make
mistakes you'll do an event that won't
work out at all and you've got to be
willing to learn from your mistakes
remember that truly there is no such
thing as failure what does fail stand
for first attempt in learning and
whenever you're starting something new
you're going to fail a lot think of a
toddler starting to walk they fall down
all the time but they bounce right back
up and that is what you've got to think
of you've got to put aside your ego
you've got to put aside you have to let
all that go i've done events that no one
has shown up for and you're like oh my
gosh it's so hard not to take it
personally i threw a party and no one
came nobody likes me you guys let it go
let it go it's okay to feel bad for a
little bit but boy you want to turn that
around and start your next thing because
you're in this for the long haul right
you're in this to truly have freedom or
make money or impact people and so
commit to keep moving forward and
learning from your mistakes and being
coachable the question i always get is
about inventory how much to start out
with and as you can imagine there are so
many variables that impact this the
amount of rent that you have how you're
financing the store the size of your
space it's a brick and mortar your
financial goals the kind of merchandise
you want to carry that matters too and
i'm here to tell you that you don't have
to do it alone you can use a guide like
myself who's been there and made
hundreds of thousands of dollars of
mistakes so you don't have to don't
hesitate to reach out for help as i
shared in the beginning 99 of the stores
i've helped open over the last couple
decades have had positive success their
first year and so many of them came to
me saying yeah listen i don't expect to
make any money my first year some of
them said my first three years i've
heard you can't make money your first
three years don't accept that that is
not true you can make it happen but
right it's faster if you get help it's
what changed everything for me i was
nearly bankrupt and i resourced up i
hired a coach i was able to save my
stores from bankruptcy open more stores
and now to do this now to have retail
mavens i'll put a link below you can
reach out to us i'd be happy to jump on
a call with you which leads me to
another thing is that the biggest
mistake that people make is that they
plan on starting small they're like well
i just found a little space it's so cute
it's so adorable i'm just gonna dip my
foot into retail that is a huge mistake
and often i've talked people out of it
because they've realized it's not the
right thing for them that's fine right i
mean that's that's the beauty of talking
to an expert about it you see the thing
is you can't make enough money to be
sustainable if your store is too small i
mean physically too small or if you
don't have enough inventory and that
applies to online or brick and mortar in
order to reach your financial goals so
reach out because this is a mistake we
can keep you from making another great
place to start is our retail success
quiz it'll help you find your strengths
and see the biggest potential for growth
that you have i'll put the link below
and you'll have an opportunity to book
on one-on-one call after that too if
you'd like this is exciting and it's a
big decision i get it you're going to be
investing a lot of time and energy and
money into this dream do you have any
other questions about starting your
retail store if so leave them in the
comments below i'd love to help you and
if you're inspired to learn more next
i'll put a couple videos on my screen
that are great next steps for you to
take a look at and don't forget to
subscribe with the bell so that you can
get all the upcoming tips and tools and
strategies to help you improve your
profits and get better sleep and become
a richer retailer that's what our goal
is for all of you thank you so very much
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you