1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:01,169 It's easy to want to grow. 2 00:00:01,500 --> 00:00:03,689 Knowing when it's the right time is the hard part. 3 00:00:04,469 --> 00:00:08,129 Deciding to open another store isn't just about finding the right unit or 4 00:00:08,129 --> 00:00:09,614 having the confidence to take the leap. 5 00:00:10,349 --> 00:00:13,139 It's about knowing whether the business you have now is actually 6 00:00:13,139 --> 00:00:15,149 ready to support what comes next. 7 00:00:39,823 --> 00:00:43,963 Today I'm joined by Sarah Holmes, a multiple shop owner in northeast 8 00:00:43,963 --> 00:00:49,003 Scotland who's grown from one store, pencil me in to two csca, and then 9 00:00:49,003 --> 00:00:51,193 from two to three task in hand. 10 00:00:51,763 --> 00:00:55,213 And what I really wanted to explore with Sarah isn't just what she did, 11 00:00:55,633 --> 00:00:57,223 but how she knew it was the right time. 12 00:00:57,883 --> 00:01:01,723 In this conversation, we are unpacking how you figure out whether adding another 13 00:01:01,723 --> 00:01:03,553 shop makes sense for your business. 14 00:01:03,973 --> 00:01:07,873 How buying changes when you're buying for more than one store, and the practical 15 00:01:07,873 --> 00:01:10,483 things you need to be thinking about as you move from running a single 16 00:01:10,483 --> 00:01:12,913 shop to managing multiple locations. 17 00:01:13,543 --> 00:01:16,993 So if you are listening with one shop and thinking, could there be more? 18 00:01:17,263 --> 00:01:20,473 Or you are already juggling more than one and want to make it feel simpler, 19 00:01:20,623 --> 00:01:22,333 you'll get a lot from this episode. 20 00:01:22,633 --> 00:01:24,973 Or if you've ever considered opening a bricks and mortar 21 00:01:24,973 --> 00:01:26,263 store in the first place. 22 00:01:28,352 --> 00:01:32,672 Sarah, so starting 2026 with three shops. 23 00:01:34,170 --> 00:01:36,545 do you wanna just tell us the story about how you went from one shop to three? 24 00:01:36,854 --> 00:01:37,094 Yeah. 25 00:01:37,094 --> 00:01:41,114 So one shop number one was born just outta a complete love of stationary. 26 00:01:41,789 --> 00:01:45,749 And wanting to get outta a like, corporate toxic workplace, that old 27 00:01:45,749 --> 00:01:47,189 tale that we've heard so many times. 28 00:01:47,529 --> 00:01:49,269 So that's where Penn came from. 29 00:01:49,329 --> 00:01:52,239 Wasn't so much a gap in the market or anything strategic. 30 00:01:52,597 --> 00:01:55,297 it was just, I really want to be a shopkeeper and this is what I like 31 00:01:55,297 --> 00:01:56,647 buying and what I'm passionate about. 32 00:01:56,677 --> 00:01:58,597 So let's see if that'll transcribe. 33 00:01:58,657 --> 00:02:01,267 Which is cool 'cause it's 10 years old this year, so that's obviously, 34 00:02:02,077 --> 00:02:03,307 uh, linking in with some people. 35 00:02:03,712 --> 00:02:06,112 Shop number two, which is Sea Gear, so that's three years old. 36 00:02:06,202 --> 00:02:08,182 This year it's two doors up for pencil me in. 37 00:02:08,542 --> 00:02:10,702 So it was a bit more of a strategic move. 38 00:02:10,972 --> 00:02:14,902 I had like a vain idea that I wanted another shop and I did a 39 00:02:14,902 --> 00:02:17,752 business growth course with one of the universities up here part-time. 40 00:02:18,232 --> 00:02:21,442 And, and I used having a second shop as like the project. 41 00:02:21,852 --> 00:02:23,862 And it did actually come out as something viable. 42 00:02:23,862 --> 00:02:24,522 So I was like, oh wow. 43 00:02:24,522 --> 00:02:24,762 Cool. 44 00:02:25,107 --> 00:02:27,507 So we kind of got on with that because, you know, where I was 45 00:02:27,507 --> 00:02:30,807 going to the trade shows and I'm seeing all of this other product 46 00:02:30,837 --> 00:02:33,327 that is not available where I live. 47 00:02:33,717 --> 00:02:35,577 So I was like, okay, we could open a second shop. 48 00:02:35,637 --> 00:02:38,877 It's exactly the same customer base, so we've already got that customer base. 49 00:02:38,877 --> 00:02:41,967 It's quite low risk, obviously the money you're paying into it, but 50 00:02:41,967 --> 00:02:43,167 I was like, it's worth a gamble. 51 00:02:43,507 --> 00:02:46,507 So that felt like it was a much, much more of a business move. 52 00:02:46,567 --> 00:02:50,707 And also I feel like having more shops in the location gives 53 00:02:50,707 --> 00:02:52,087 people more reason to visit. 54 00:02:52,358 --> 00:02:55,868 like locally where we were, a lot of the premises were being used for hospitality. 55 00:02:56,468 --> 00:03:00,278 And I'm kind of of the opinion that you would go to a town if it had like 56 00:03:00,278 --> 00:03:02,018 five shops or one cafe you wanna go to. 57 00:03:02,018 --> 00:03:03,848 You wouldn't necessarily go to a town that had five different 58 00:03:03,848 --> 00:03:04,748 cafes because you're not 59 00:03:05,018 --> 00:03:06,788 probably gonna go to five different places to eat. 60 00:03:07,328 --> 00:03:09,578 So the more shops, more interesting shops, the better. 61 00:03:10,268 --> 00:03:14,918 So we snapped it up and open seas here and that's been going great guns, and it's 62 00:03:14,918 --> 00:03:16,913 now kind of washing its face shall we say. 63 00:03:17,333 --> 00:03:20,003 And it's really handy being right next, like right next door. 64 00:03:20,383 --> 00:03:21,283 Yeah, for sure. 65 00:03:21,283 --> 00:03:24,703 And is it, and presumably it's more than of a, that's the gifting 66 00:03:24,703 --> 00:03:25,093 side 67 00:03:25,197 --> 00:03:26,247 So it's home and gift. 68 00:03:26,307 --> 00:03:27,117 Yeah, pretty much. 69 00:03:27,327 --> 00:03:32,817 I had wanted to do much more sort of home hardware, utility side of things, 70 00:03:33,057 --> 00:03:36,387 but very much the feedback from the customers that were coming in was 71 00:03:36,387 --> 00:03:40,377 they were really excited about having a new gift store and I was like, oh. 72 00:03:40,957 --> 00:03:45,477 So we have very much led into that, but still with kind of our values at the core. 73 00:03:45,837 --> 00:03:49,827 But we stock the brush, a really big great brush collection there 74 00:03:49,827 --> 00:03:53,307 and that has been a bit of a passion of mine alongside stationery. 75 00:03:53,757 --> 00:03:57,087 So shop number three, we've been trying to work towards for a while 'cause I 76 00:03:57,087 --> 00:04:01,413 wanted to create a brush door, and we missed out on, there's not very many 77 00:04:01,473 --> 00:04:03,258 other small units we're in Elgin. 78 00:04:03,948 --> 00:04:07,278 And I was kind of hoping to get another small unit near those three. 79 00:04:07,278 --> 00:04:09,438 And then we would just pulled the brushes out, went hardware in 80 00:04:09,438 --> 00:04:12,438 there, and that would've been a nice little state of Holmes Village. 81 00:04:12,948 --> 00:04:13,848 Hella on your hide? 82 00:04:13,848 --> 00:04:14,178 Wash. 83 00:04:16,878 --> 00:04:17,358 Got a dream. 84 00:04:17,358 --> 00:04:17,838 Got a dream. 85 00:04:19,308 --> 00:04:20,731 but we just couldn't get a unit. 86 00:04:21,101 --> 00:04:25,391 So the end of August, I've recently moved to a town in northeast called Naan. 87 00:04:26,188 --> 00:04:30,238 so I moved here in the spring and then I saw a shop become available at the end of 88 00:04:30,238 --> 00:04:32,758 August that's been vacant for 15 years. 89 00:04:33,301 --> 00:04:33,511 Oh 90 00:04:33,910 --> 00:04:36,730 the guy had been selling it but didn't really wanna sell it type situation. 91 00:04:36,836 --> 00:04:37,076 Yeah. 92 00:04:37,870 --> 00:04:40,150 But eventually did sell it, and then person that's bought it with 93 00:04:40,150 --> 00:04:43,278 the flat upstairs didn't want the shop, so they were leasing it out. 94 00:04:43,338 --> 00:04:47,118 Now I actually looked at the shop in 2022 when we were looking 95 00:04:47,118 --> 00:04:48,708 for C Scare, so I was like, oh. 96 00:04:49,488 --> 00:04:53,268 And it's a huge space, so it's way bigger than either of the other shops. 97 00:04:54,018 --> 00:04:56,628 So I was like, it's quite a bit bigger than what I was thinking, but it 98 00:04:56,628 --> 00:04:58,728 would give me that brush up dreams. 99 00:04:59,003 --> 00:05:02,753 so that's, we've gone in with a niche of brushes there at task at hand. 100 00:05:02,843 --> 00:05:03,893 That's shop number three. 101 00:05:04,103 --> 00:05:08,153 So it opened on the 8th of November, so it was busting a gut 102 00:05:08,213 --> 00:05:11,093 to get that open so we could make the most of the Christmas trade. 103 00:05:11,904 --> 00:05:12,474 Yes. 104 00:05:12,774 --> 00:05:15,654 Uh, I loved all of the content you did on social around that. 105 00:05:15,654 --> 00:05:19,224 You were like, let's see if I could open this shop in 28 days or something like 106 00:05:19,283 --> 00:05:23,093 I like regretted having to like record it all and then edit it all 107 00:05:23,093 --> 00:05:24,713 because it was like so hardcore. 108 00:05:25,173 --> 00:05:29,163 there is a bit of a gap in the market in there and for that type of shop, and 109 00:05:29,163 --> 00:05:32,253 that's has matched the feedback that we've had so far, which is really great. 110 00:05:32,253 --> 00:05:35,548 So I I'm really positive about how that's kind of opened and how that's going. 111 00:05:35,948 --> 00:05:38,956 But obviously quarter one is always a complete unknown and 112 00:05:38,956 --> 00:05:41,026 very quiet, which we're kind of living through at the moment. 113 00:05:41,206 --> 00:05:42,139 So we'll see how that goes. 114 00:05:42,957 --> 00:05:46,647 What's important here isn't the number of shops, it's the pacing. 115 00:05:46,917 --> 00:05:48,747 Each step only happened once. 116 00:05:48,747 --> 00:05:52,107 The previous one had proved it could stand on its own in approach. 117 00:05:52,107 --> 00:05:54,897 That is all about discipline, not caution. 118 00:05:55,507 --> 00:05:57,277 how far is Ner from Elgin? 119 00:05:57,277 --> 00:05:59,637 Like how far are the shops apart from each other now? 120 00:05:59,736 --> 00:06:03,906 it's about a 30, 35 minute drive on the main road that kind of connects everything 121 00:06:03,906 --> 00:06:05,676 up here or like 25 minutes on the train. 122 00:06:05,676 --> 00:06:08,959 So it kind of far enough away to be a different customer base, but also 123 00:06:08,959 --> 00:06:12,079 close enough that people from our existing customers in Elgan would come 124 00:06:12,109 --> 00:06:14,081 through to for the day and vice versa. 125 00:06:14,081 --> 00:06:14,771 And on the run up. 126 00:06:15,971 --> 00:06:20,921 Had opening a lot of people from then went to Elgin to see our other stores 127 00:06:20,921 --> 00:06:22,121 to see kind of what it was about. 128 00:06:22,481 --> 00:06:26,436 And, and a lot of people in there already knew of us at Pennsylvania as well. 129 00:06:26,436 --> 00:06:27,096 So that was great. 130 00:06:27,276 --> 00:06:28,686 Sort of reputation wise. 131 00:06:29,146 --> 00:06:32,836 But RN is a very touristy town, so there's got a huge big holiday park. 132 00:06:32,896 --> 00:06:34,096 There's lots of holiday lets here. 133 00:06:34,096 --> 00:06:35,476 So we've got an incredible beach. 134 00:06:35,665 --> 00:06:36,505 lots of great things. 135 00:06:37,055 --> 00:06:39,815 So I'm really interested how that's gonna pan out in the summer. 136 00:06:40,220 --> 00:06:43,610 And how busy we could be over that time and what those 137 00:06:43,610 --> 00:06:45,230 people will wanna buy as well. 138 00:06:45,400 --> 00:06:47,650 So yeah, I'm intrigued to see how that's gonna go. 139 00:06:48,291 --> 00:06:51,711 This is the part of growth that gets skipped in most success stories. 140 00:06:51,711 --> 00:06:54,081 You don't feel relief when you open. 141 00:06:54,081 --> 00:06:55,276 You feel exposure. 142 00:06:55,986 --> 00:06:59,106 You've made the call, spent the money gone public, and now the 143 00:06:59,106 --> 00:07:00,456 business has to back you up. 144 00:07:00,816 --> 00:07:03,936 Being able to tolerate that phase is a real skill that Sarah 145 00:07:03,936 --> 00:07:05,706 obviously has in abundance. 146 00:07:06,487 --> 00:07:07,957 how does that compare to Elgin then? 147 00:07:07,957 --> 00:07:09,372 How tourist does Elgin get? 148 00:07:09,606 --> 00:07:14,666 So Elgan is touristy, so, we're on the sort of cusp of space, which is one of 149 00:07:14,666 --> 00:07:16,346 the biggest whiskey regions in Scotland. 150 00:07:16,346 --> 00:07:17,636 So you get a lot of whiskey tourists. 151 00:07:17,924 --> 00:07:22,027 we're also on the other side of Elgin is the Murray Coast, which is very touristy. 152 00:07:22,552 --> 00:07:25,882 It's still a bit of an unknown holiday destination. 153 00:07:25,942 --> 00:07:28,792 It's also quite difficult to get here due to the road networks. 154 00:07:28,792 --> 00:07:30,892 Like there's hardly Joel Caries or there's no more ways. 155 00:07:31,282 --> 00:07:33,172 it could be a lot more popular. 156 00:07:33,352 --> 00:07:37,162 So it is touristy, but mainly we do find that it's a lot of people that come here 157 00:07:37,222 --> 00:07:41,632 every year on holiday and therefore they will come in, like there'll be an annual 158 00:07:41,632 --> 00:07:45,412 visit into pen to get some stationary, that sort of thing, which is lovely. 159 00:07:46,072 --> 00:07:49,582 Yeah, near is much more the tourist destination because we're closer to 160 00:07:49,582 --> 00:07:51,322 Inverness, which is the Highland capital. 161 00:07:51,322 --> 00:07:53,092 So it's like 20 minute drive from there. 162 00:07:53,392 --> 00:07:54,952 So people come here for the beach. 163 00:07:55,352 --> 00:07:57,452 You know, the ice cream tacos. 164 00:07:57,572 --> 00:07:57,752 Yeah. 165 00:07:57,752 --> 00:07:58,742 It's got a good reputation. 166 00:07:58,742 --> 00:08:00,782 So we're hoping to jump into that a little bit. 167 00:08:01,199 --> 00:08:03,809 This is where multi-location retail stops being. 168 00:08:03,809 --> 00:08:08,064 Theoretical distance changes, how often people visit tourism changes, 169 00:08:08,524 --> 00:08:11,579 why they visit, and once those things are different, the shops 170 00:08:11,579 --> 00:08:13,139 can't all play the same role. 171 00:08:13,559 --> 00:08:14,279 Trying to force. 172 00:08:14,279 --> 00:08:15,929 That is where friction creeps in. 173 00:08:18,389 --> 00:08:22,200 Once you move beyond one location, clarity matters more than creativity. 174 00:08:22,590 --> 00:08:26,430 Each shop needs a job to do, not just in your head, but in the customers. 175 00:08:26,700 --> 00:08:28,095 Without that, you don't get growth. 176 00:08:28,235 --> 00:08:28,705 You get dilution. 177 00:08:30,104 --> 00:08:32,084 There are two real growth skills underneath this. 178 00:08:32,114 --> 00:08:36,464 The first is clarity, being clear on why people come into your shop and giving 179 00:08:36,464 --> 00:08:40,754 them a reason to show up that isn't just I fancy to browse because browsing 180 00:08:40,754 --> 00:08:44,594 on its own doesn't pay the rent, and it certainly doesn't support growth. 181 00:08:45,149 --> 00:08:47,849 The second is learning how to grow through testing. 182 00:08:48,179 --> 00:08:51,209 When you add a new location, you're taking on something new and the 183 00:08:51,209 --> 00:08:54,989 skill is starting with a hypothesis, testing it deliberately and paying 184 00:08:54,989 --> 00:08:56,969 attention to what actually happens. 185 00:08:57,429 --> 00:09:00,849 That's how expansion becomes a learning engine rather than a drain. 186 00:09:01,329 --> 00:09:01,674 You test. 187 00:09:02,394 --> 00:09:06,654 You learn and you feed what works back into the rest of the business. 188 00:09:06,894 --> 00:09:09,684 So growth strengthens you instead of stretching you thin. 189 00:09:10,324 --> 00:09:13,973 I managed, stationery and art for paper chase and that 190 00:09:13,973 --> 00:09:15,113 included, they had these big. 191 00:09:15,923 --> 00:09:17,213 On the flagship stores. 192 00:09:17,213 --> 00:09:20,163 They had Totten Court Road, Glasgow, Manchester, and they 193 00:09:20,163 --> 00:09:21,873 had these huge art sections. 194 00:09:21,873 --> 00:09:22,293 So, 195 00:09:22,337 --> 00:09:24,947 I used to shop the one in Manchester, so I'm very with 196 00:09:25,277 --> 00:09:26,722 exactly what you're talking about. 197 00:09:27,152 --> 00:09:27,442 Yeah. 198 00:09:27,728 --> 00:09:32,918 arts is really wild because it's so, there's just so many different things, 199 00:09:33,338 --> 00:09:34,838 you know, so, so it's like, yeah. 200 00:09:34,838 --> 00:09:36,308 Finding is kind of like. 201 00:09:37,208 --> 00:09:38,378 There's so different niches. 202 00:09:38,378 --> 00:09:42,038 It's kind of working out which one you want to go into, because you 203 00:09:42,038 --> 00:09:45,818 can, you can fill a whole floor, a giant floor like that, right? 204 00:09:45,998 --> 00:09:46,418 It's so, 205 00:09:46,885 --> 00:09:50,485 So it's kind of touching it too hard on, 206 00:09:51,951 --> 00:09:54,021 This is a useful reality. 207 00:09:54,021 --> 00:09:57,531 Check Art supplies is one of those categories where you could buy more 208 00:09:57,591 --> 00:10:02,121 and more, add more ranges, talk about it endlessly, and still feel like 209 00:10:02,121 --> 00:10:03,741 you've barely scratched the surface. 210 00:10:04,671 --> 00:10:08,721 The way you avoid spreading yourself too thin isn't by trying to stock everything, 211 00:10:08,991 --> 00:10:10,641 it's by taking a point of view. 212 00:10:10,851 --> 00:10:14,541 Because the real power in a category like art supplies isn't volume. 213 00:10:14,751 --> 00:10:15,591 It's creation. 214 00:10:15,921 --> 00:10:18,921 Deciding which part of the category you're gonna be known for, and being 215 00:10:18,921 --> 00:10:21,201 confident enough to say no to the rest. 216 00:10:21,631 --> 00:10:23,011 so you've had a starting point then. 217 00:10:23,011 --> 00:10:26,642 So when you started with the third store, it was like this opening stock package, 218 00:10:26,642 --> 00:10:29,673 as we would call it, back when I worked in big retailers, you know, that was 219 00:10:29,673 --> 00:10:31,653 kind of fairly predetermined, right? 220 00:10:31,653 --> 00:10:36,053 Because you knew you wanted to go with the brushes that was like the bit that 221 00:10:36,053 --> 00:10:39,743 you built it around the utility and then you were able to call on the data 222 00:10:39,743 --> 00:10:42,863 that you had from the other two stores to pull in the bestsellers there. 223 00:10:43,473 --> 00:10:46,443 is it more gender neutral, would you say, than the other two shops? 224 00:10:46,568 --> 00:10:50,828 I mean, sea gear's very more feminine because it's, you know, it's got socks 225 00:10:50,983 --> 00:10:53,858 and, and gloves and all stuff going on. 226 00:10:54,148 --> 00:10:56,818 I actually wanted CC to be quite gender neutral, but that's just 227 00:10:56,818 --> 00:10:59,156 not what the customer wanted and you have to lean into that. 228 00:10:59,606 --> 00:11:02,126 But there's, I feel like that's already covered in nrn. 229 00:11:02,626 --> 00:11:04,036 So I don't need to go into that. 230 00:11:04,036 --> 00:11:08,296 So it's kind of, it's really driving to give NRN something different, 231 00:11:08,536 --> 00:11:12,786 but also to give my elgan customers a reason to come over and like, see 232 00:11:12,876 --> 00:11:14,226 what we're doing differently here. 233 00:11:14,755 --> 00:11:16,126 we've got trade shows coming up. 234 00:11:16,861 --> 00:11:19,951 That's going to be the exciting part is now see, because I haven't been to 235 00:11:19,951 --> 00:11:23,731 a changeable since we Oh, open task or even thought about opening it. 236 00:11:24,211 --> 00:11:27,931 So it's like, okay, what can I go and get now that's gonna even 237 00:11:27,931 --> 00:11:30,158 improve that, that shop even more. 238 00:11:30,288 --> 00:11:34,875 but like on the brushes, I went down, so the distributor for the brushes, they have 239 00:11:34,875 --> 00:11:36,915 their own brush shot in Burford and the 240 00:11:36,915 --> 00:11:40,395 Cowa, and they're now making a bit of a move on TikTok, 241 00:11:40,545 --> 00:11:41,745 which is really interesting. 242 00:11:42,165 --> 00:11:45,255 They've got the best presenter for it or genuine anyone to 243 00:11:45,255 --> 00:11:46,395 look up brush shop on TikTok. 244 00:11:47,045 --> 00:11:51,665 So I, I went down and went to visit the shop so I could see exactly how they were 245 00:11:51,665 --> 00:11:55,115 retailing it, because obviously I've seen how they wholesale it, but I was like, 246 00:11:55,115 --> 00:11:56,795 I need to see how you're retailing this. 247 00:11:57,403 --> 00:11:59,803 and the space is quite small, but it was really great to go 248 00:11:59,803 --> 00:12:03,193 in, see what's happening, and we've kind of taken inspiration 249 00:12:03,403 --> 00:12:05,303 from that for a little bit of it. 250 00:12:05,303 --> 00:12:05,363 Um. 251 00:12:05,700 --> 00:12:08,880 And then also find out what they're doing as a business for their 252 00:12:08,880 --> 00:12:13,710 marketing, which then also impacts on kind of how I will market my side of 253 00:12:13,710 --> 00:12:17,160 things and with the brushes, because we're hoping to be the brush shop. 254 00:12:17,160 --> 00:12:19,080 So Pennsylvania is known as the pencil shop, 255 00:12:19,770 --> 00:12:22,380 and we're hoping to take tasks to be the brush shop. 256 00:12:22,590 --> 00:12:25,650 And, and we've actually, you know, we've bought the domain of the brush hub. 257 00:12:25,650 --> 00:12:27,420 I've had that for about 18 months down. 258 00:12:27,730 --> 00:12:31,570 So we're hoping to play on that and, and work that into a bit of a niche Locally 259 00:12:31,570 --> 00:12:32,975 is kind of in the north of Scotland. 260 00:12:33,771 --> 00:12:36,921 Positioning isn't about vibe, it's about expectation. 261 00:12:37,191 --> 00:12:40,491 Before a customer even touches a product, they've already decided 262 00:12:40,491 --> 00:12:42,771 what You're good for that decision. 263 00:12:42,771 --> 00:12:45,981 Shapes, trust, frequency, and spend, especially once you're 264 00:12:45,981 --> 00:12:47,181 running more than one shop. 265 00:12:47,769 --> 00:12:51,129 when you talked about them going for it on TikTok, are they using this, the physical 266 00:12:51,129 --> 00:12:53,259 retail space for their presenting? 267 00:12:53,753 --> 00:12:54,413 it's really good. 268 00:12:54,413 --> 00:12:55,433 I urge you to go like, 269 00:12:56,269 --> 00:12:57,020 cleaning content 270 00:12:57,064 --> 00:12:57,334 yeah. 271 00:12:57,514 --> 00:12:58,744 Oh yeah, massively. 272 00:12:58,839 --> 00:13:03,791 so Victoria who works in the shop, is from the Cowa and she's lovely, a bit 273 00:13:03,791 --> 00:13:06,441 posh, and she just presents so well. 274 00:13:07,147 --> 00:13:09,757 Different brushes and is to talk about them because she's got 275 00:13:09,757 --> 00:13:10,867 so much experience with them. 276 00:13:10,927 --> 00:13:12,787 So, no, it's, it's a great watch. 277 00:13:13,078 --> 00:13:16,076 that was one of my retail trends for the years, the whole shopping and 278 00:13:16,136 --> 00:13:19,256 as entertainment and I think that, that, that's really interesting. 279 00:13:19,609 --> 00:13:21,649 This is where retailer marketing stop being separate. 280 00:13:21,949 --> 00:13:26,089 If the shop itself is part of the story, you're not constantly chasing attention. 281 00:13:26,269 --> 00:13:30,139 You're building familiarity and familiarity is what brings people back. 282 00:13:34,132 --> 00:13:35,692 Trade shows are dangerous when you're growing. 283 00:13:35,782 --> 00:13:36,592 And why is that? 284 00:13:36,652 --> 00:13:40,792 It's because everything feels possible and possibility unchecked 285 00:13:40,792 --> 00:13:42,682 gets expensive very quickly. 286 00:13:43,735 --> 00:13:46,855 so let's talk about trade shows a little bit then, because I wanted 287 00:13:46,855 --> 00:13:49,464 to dig into kind of when you go into a trade show, which can be quite 288 00:13:49,464 --> 00:13:51,894 overwhelming, and you're seeing all of these different products. 289 00:13:52,199 --> 00:13:56,099 It sounds like you have a really clear, almost filter in your head, 290 00:13:56,099 --> 00:13:58,079 like, that's a pencil me product. 291 00:13:58,199 --> 00:13:59,249 That's a CCARE product. 292 00:13:59,249 --> 00:14:00,449 That is a task in hand product. 293 00:14:00,656 --> 00:14:05,246 Do you find that because you've almost got this theme for each shop, that it does 294 00:14:05,246 --> 00:14:08,513 make it pretty straightforward or do you see products that you think, oh, actually 295 00:14:08,513 --> 00:14:09,653 I think this could work in all three. 296 00:14:09,923 --> 00:14:11,783 How do you even organize that 297 00:14:12,034 --> 00:14:14,944 I kind of can just look at a product and think, okay, that'll work well 298 00:14:14,944 --> 00:14:18,214 across probably task and CC for example. 299 00:14:18,214 --> 00:14:22,834 We're not putting anything pink or lilac into task. 300 00:14:23,344 --> 00:14:27,034 There's a lot of female stationery that sells brilliantly, but. 301 00:14:28,373 --> 00:14:30,893 we went through Pennsylvania the other day and cleared eye that works 302 00:14:30,893 --> 00:14:36,560 with me and we were like, we need to get back a little bit to the utility 303 00:14:36,560 --> 00:14:39,560 function of stationary and making sure that everything is very useful. 304 00:14:40,070 --> 00:14:42,710 And 'cause sometimes it can be easy when you're trying to fill the shop 305 00:14:42,710 --> 00:14:46,610 for Christmas to get a bit ry a little bit into, oh yeah, let's get 306 00:14:46,610 --> 00:14:48,080 that because it'll be good for this. 307 00:14:48,080 --> 00:14:49,970 But then it just hasn't sold at all 308 00:14:51,080 --> 00:14:53,360 and it's just like, okay, did we merchandise that? 309 00:14:53,360 --> 00:14:53,600 Right? 310 00:14:53,810 --> 00:14:54,230 So. 311 00:14:54,620 --> 00:14:58,070 Before we do the trade shows, 'cause obviously January there's so many 312 00:14:58,132 --> 00:15:03,553 to, go to we usually do a walkthrough round all the shops and say this is 313 00:15:03,553 --> 00:15:05,323 how we want to develop this area. 314 00:15:05,323 --> 00:15:07,753 Or it would be really good if we had a new collection or a new type of 315 00:15:07,753 --> 00:15:10,033 product that would fill this area because it's been quite awkward 316 00:15:10,033 --> 00:15:11,623 to merchandise, which is an issue. 317 00:15:11,623 --> 00:15:12,793 We've got csco right now. 318 00:15:13,363 --> 00:15:16,183 So we kind of walk around and there there's obvious things 319 00:15:16,183 --> 00:15:17,293 that you know, you're gonna buy. 320 00:15:17,473 --> 00:15:20,713 Like, I'm gonna go to the brush stand and see what's new for 2026, 321 00:15:20,923 --> 00:15:21,463 that sort of thing. 322 00:15:21,798 --> 00:15:24,978 And you do go to see people, you know, sell well for you and you 323 00:15:24,978 --> 00:15:25,766 say, okay, what what have you got? 324 00:15:25,766 --> 00:15:29,426 That's new because it's so great to be able to bring in, this is new from 325 00:15:29,426 --> 00:15:31,136 this person, this is new, et cetera. 326 00:15:31,136 --> 00:15:34,586 Because that's obviously makes good content and good reason for your 327 00:15:34,586 --> 00:15:36,626 customers to come in to see new things. 328 00:15:36,966 --> 00:15:41,811 And yeah, sometimes it is as boring as like walking the show lane for lane to 329 00:15:41,811 --> 00:15:45,471 say, you know what, is there anything that we've missed here that could work? 330 00:15:45,875 --> 00:15:48,785 interested to see how that's gonna work for Task in Hand, like we're 331 00:15:48,785 --> 00:15:52,055 really interested in bringing in Traveler's Company, which is quite a 332 00:15:52,055 --> 00:15:53,795 sort of niche stationary collection. 333 00:15:53,885 --> 00:15:57,068 And you have to apply to Stock to them and send the pictures of 334 00:15:57,068 --> 00:15:58,268 your store and stuff like that. 335 00:15:58,658 --> 00:16:01,028 So we're looking at that and we're like, okay, we're definitely 336 00:16:01,028 --> 00:16:02,198 gonna bring that task in hand. 337 00:16:02,558 --> 00:16:04,178 Do we bring it in at Pen Some in as well? 338 00:16:04,748 --> 00:16:08,048 And it's kind of just seeing if it's gonna be right for the customer. 339 00:16:08,779 --> 00:16:08,989 Good. 340 00:16:08,989 --> 00:16:11,329 Buying isn't just about having a good eye. 341 00:16:11,389 --> 00:16:15,409 It's about having a strong filter and being comfortable walking past 342 00:16:15,409 --> 00:16:18,829 things that don't earn their place on your shelves So you kind of 343 00:16:18,829 --> 00:16:21,079 start with the, what's missing? 344 00:16:21,289 --> 00:16:24,289 I mean, how much do you dig into the data for it, or is it more about 345 00:16:24,289 --> 00:16:28,819 like the kind of sense of walking the floor and what you've experienced 346 00:16:29,183 --> 00:16:32,718 I, I usually have a look, especially at the end of December, I have a look at like 347 00:16:32,718 --> 00:16:37,668 who our top brands were, and then I look at where our sales were, and then I look 348 00:16:37,668 --> 00:16:39,198 at how much space they've got in store 349 00:16:39,858 --> 00:16:42,498 and I say, okay, well if that was such a great seller, if 350 00:16:42,498 --> 00:16:43,968 I gave it a bit more space. 351 00:16:44,373 --> 00:16:45,453 Would we sell more of it? 352 00:16:45,483 --> 00:16:47,907 And like, are we able to experiment in that way? 353 00:16:48,357 --> 00:16:52,407 So for example, at task in hand, 25% of our sales are coming from brushes. 354 00:16:53,157 --> 00:16:55,827 I'm planning to expand that anyway, but it's just like, okay, well let's go and 355 00:16:55,827 --> 00:16:58,077 look at what we can expand that with. 356 00:16:58,077 --> 00:17:01,317 And then what also joins in with that product. 357 00:17:01,407 --> 00:17:01,917 What else? 358 00:17:01,917 --> 00:17:05,127 Because we've got a pick and mix table of brushes and it's just like, 359 00:17:05,127 --> 00:17:07,707 well, what other products could also be on this pick and mix table? 360 00:17:07,707 --> 00:17:10,077 Because it's not just brushes, it could be other household stuff too. 361 00:17:10,761 --> 00:17:13,401 And then, you know, soaps at Seas, gear sell really well. 362 00:17:13,401 --> 00:17:16,911 So it's like, okay, what if we gave over another shelf and 363 00:17:16,911 --> 00:17:17,901 just filled that with soap? 364 00:17:18,668 --> 00:17:19,928 would that increase our sales? 365 00:17:19,928 --> 00:17:20,768 Would they stay the same? 366 00:17:20,768 --> 00:17:22,688 So there's a lot bit of experimenting that'll probably 367 00:17:22,688 --> 00:17:23,138 go on, 368 00:17:23,728 --> 00:17:27,544 in the sort of first three, four months of the year, you know, your. 369 00:17:27,962 --> 00:17:31,112 Checking that that's not gonna be too much a cash risk as well. 370 00:17:31,112 --> 00:17:33,422 So you don't wanna put too much money into something. 371 00:17:33,522 --> 00:17:36,942 So it's not just that balance of let's experiment here, let's experiment there. 372 00:17:37,492 --> 00:17:39,232 So yeah, we do try and look at the data. 373 00:17:39,682 --> 00:17:43,492 Sometimes, you know, you've been doing it a long time, you just get a gut 374 00:17:43,492 --> 00:17:45,466 feeling for, this will do really well. 375 00:17:45,856 --> 00:17:47,411 And then we, we kind of go for it. 376 00:17:47,801 --> 00:17:50,501 You know, roughly what you want to, we used to do an exercise 377 00:17:50,501 --> 00:17:51,311 sand, something similar. 378 00:17:51,311 --> 00:17:54,341 It was called grow, maintain Decline, which is basically where 379 00:17:54,341 --> 00:17:57,131 we would go through each category and we would say, we wanna grow 380 00:17:57,131 --> 00:17:58,421 this, maintain this, decline this. 381 00:17:58,901 --> 00:18:01,541 So, you know, you might go through it and say, right, we want to grow 382 00:18:01,541 --> 00:18:04,781 brushes, maintain cards, but decline. 383 00:18:04,931 --> 00:18:07,931 You know, if you had to set another product area that just hadn't 384 00:18:07,931 --> 00:18:10,638 worked so well, and then you kind of know where your focuses are. 385 00:18:10,638 --> 00:18:11,988 You know who your best brands are. 386 00:18:11,988 --> 00:18:12,918 So that's pretty straightforward. 387 00:18:12,918 --> 00:18:14,958 You go and see them if they're at the shows, right. 388 00:18:15,427 --> 00:18:18,337 and then I suppose you're just then almost like waiting for that lightning 389 00:18:18,337 --> 00:18:22,352 strike if you're gonna walk up and down and then say, oh, actually, I, 390 00:18:22,477 --> 00:18:26,167 I hadn't even thought of that, but this is this amazing thing that, that 391 00:18:26,257 --> 00:18:28,267 I just know was gonna work perfectly. 392 00:18:28,596 --> 00:18:29,946 I mean at the start of every month. 393 00:18:30,711 --> 00:18:33,846 I pretty much look at all of our bestsellers across the shops, and then 394 00:18:33,851 --> 00:18:35,031 I think, okay, what needs topped up? 395 00:18:35,031 --> 00:18:36,321 And make sure that that's in. 396 00:18:36,321 --> 00:18:40,341 And I think for certainly these first three, four months of the year, 397 00:18:40,791 --> 00:18:44,301 it's really important to have your bestsellers in because that's, it's 398 00:18:44,301 --> 00:18:48,201 probably gonna be your regular local customers that know what you stock that 399 00:18:48,201 --> 00:18:50,751 are gonna be coming in, and you want to make sure you've got what they need. 400 00:18:51,501 --> 00:18:51,751 And then. 401 00:18:53,061 --> 00:18:55,161 You can experiment a little bit more because we've got a little 402 00:18:55,161 --> 00:18:56,451 bit more football footfall. 403 00:18:56,721 --> 00:18:57,021 And then at 404 00:18:57,021 --> 00:19:00,771 Christmas, at Christmas, I always feel like I need to find the thing, 405 00:19:01,522 --> 00:19:02,422 Mm. 406 00:19:03,321 --> 00:19:04,521 the golden star. 407 00:19:06,681 --> 00:19:11,271 so you know, we go, we go Harrogate in July and we go to talk September 408 00:19:11,391 --> 00:19:13,731 and we're always there like, what's it, what's it gonna be? 409 00:19:14,676 --> 00:19:17,346 And we did hit on a couple of things this year, but we got them in a 410 00:19:17,358 --> 00:19:21,066 little bit late, so I'm like, okay, I need to be nailing that this year. 411 00:19:21,126 --> 00:19:23,826 Obviously there was a bit of a distraction last year with opening the new shop, 412 00:19:24,162 --> 00:19:26,652 yeah, but this, like we've reflected on last year and I was like, we 413 00:19:26,652 --> 00:19:28,362 need to go in earlier on Christmas. 414 00:19:29,172 --> 00:19:32,382 Like Christmas trees were going up middle of beginning of November, middle 415 00:19:32,382 --> 00:19:36,162 of November, and I'm like, if you don't have your decorations out now in October. 416 00:19:36,508 --> 00:19:39,118 you, you don't really sell any decorations in December at all. 417 00:19:39,268 --> 00:19:42,148 'cause all the trees are up unless someone's buying maybe one for a gift. 418 00:19:42,618 --> 00:19:46,398 But decoration sales are now heavily in October, November, and we were just 419 00:19:46,398 --> 00:19:49,188 a little bit slow I felt last year. 420 00:19:49,248 --> 00:19:50,808 But that can all be changed for this year. 421 00:19:50,808 --> 00:19:53,148 We still had a, a great sales period, but I was 422 00:19:53,148 --> 00:19:56,388 like, I thought I, I think we could do a little bit better. 423 00:19:57,236 --> 00:19:59,306 The more that people try and split the cost of Christmas. 424 00:19:59,306 --> 00:20:01,376 I think that's the other thing as well, is that they start a bit 425 00:20:01,376 --> 00:20:04,826 earlier and they sort of squirrel some, a few bits away earlier on. 426 00:20:04,826 --> 00:20:08,066 So if you've got it, it doesn't have to be your main focus, but if it's there, 427 00:20:08,546 --> 00:20:09,926 especially if they're picking things up. 428 00:20:10,416 --> 00:20:11,886 when you're buying for more than one shop. 429 00:20:11,916 --> 00:20:13,566 Mistakes don't stay small. 430 00:20:13,626 --> 00:20:15,516 They replicate, they tie up cash. 431 00:20:15,816 --> 00:20:18,036 They steal space from what actually works. 432 00:20:18,216 --> 00:20:20,646 That's why data isn't about being corporate. 433 00:20:20,646 --> 00:20:22,746 It's about protecting your business. 434 00:20:23,351 --> 00:20:27,191 This is the moment where growth gets uncomfortable, because scaling 435 00:20:27,191 --> 00:20:30,071 usually means letting go of the things that made you feel safe. 436 00:20:30,071 --> 00:20:32,981 Like being everywhere, checking everything, holding 437 00:20:32,981 --> 00:20:34,781 it all together yourself. 438 00:20:34,971 --> 00:20:38,691 You have to make an identity shift and start thinking about systems 439 00:20:38,691 --> 00:20:40,551 instead of you as the control. 440 00:20:40,821 --> 00:20:42,801 Otherwise, you risk becoming the bottleneck. 441 00:20:43,451 --> 00:20:49,421 So I'd love to ask you about multiple locations because this is something 442 00:20:49,421 --> 00:20:51,761 that when I talk to people, I talk, you know, I work with a lot of 443 00:20:51,761 --> 00:20:55,451 bricks and mortar stores and some of them have multiple locations. 444 00:20:55,451 --> 00:20:55,956 Some people are in. 445 00:20:56,606 --> 00:20:59,666 One location and would like to open another, but I would say that 446 00:20:59,846 --> 00:21:04,026 the kind of biggest blocker is the kind of loss of control when 447 00:21:04,026 --> 00:21:06,475 you are in your store every day. 448 00:21:06,655 --> 00:21:10,353 Then going to basically, you know, obviously it's about being able to 449 00:21:10,353 --> 00:21:12,003 put your trust in your uh, team. 450 00:21:12,327 --> 00:21:16,677 Interestingly, I spoke to Bird the co-founder of Bird and Blend Tea, 451 00:21:16,677 --> 00:21:20,217 who've now got about 35 stores or something, and he said The hardest 452 00:21:20,217 --> 00:21:21,657 store is your second, because. 453 00:21:22,497 --> 00:21:26,086 It's like once you've had two, you know, you've proven that you can run 454 00:21:26,086 --> 00:21:27,796 one without you being there every day. 455 00:21:27,796 --> 00:21:30,916 So the rest of them seem easier, but I'd love to just know your thoughts 456 00:21:30,916 --> 00:21:34,576 having gone from one to two and then two to three, you know, how, 457 00:21:34,636 --> 00:21:36,578 how do you navigate the transition? 458 00:21:36,622 --> 00:21:40,372 I mean, it all is all in the team and, and who you recruit 459 00:21:40,432 --> 00:21:41,902 to come to come into that team. 460 00:21:42,052 --> 00:21:45,237 And I mean, I'm interviewing this afternoon, so I'll 461 00:21:45,237 --> 00:21:46,522 be reiterating this later. 462 00:21:46,882 --> 00:21:50,782 It's really important to get across like the type of shopping that we are. 463 00:21:50,782 --> 00:21:53,362 We're not CHO shopping, which I know you've spoken about before 464 00:21:53,422 --> 00:21:54,322 on, on the podcast. 465 00:21:54,772 --> 00:21:55,162 We. 466 00:21:55,527 --> 00:21:57,802 Yeah, we're like, and we're an experience. 467 00:21:57,802 --> 00:21:58,822 We're enjoyable. 468 00:21:58,822 --> 00:21:59,392 We should be fun. 469 00:21:59,392 --> 00:22:00,622 We're not a service. 470 00:22:01,282 --> 00:22:03,922 And it's making sure that people understand that so that when 471 00:22:03,922 --> 00:22:07,702 customers are in, it's about enjoying what they're buying and you know, 472 00:22:07,702 --> 00:22:09,082 talking to 'em about it in that way. 473 00:22:09,082 --> 00:22:12,322 It's not really about sell it like hardcore selling, it's about talking 474 00:22:12,322 --> 00:22:16,262 to 'em about the product, adding in helpful information that sort of thing. 475 00:22:16,262 --> 00:22:18,002 But it's also looking at how we work. 476 00:22:18,339 --> 00:22:21,909 some of us that work in the team are very efficient working. 477 00:22:22,239 --> 00:22:23,979 I like to be really busy. 478 00:22:24,448 --> 00:22:25,768 I mean, that's like goldmine. 479 00:22:26,308 --> 00:22:29,698 If you can keep, keep your team busy and like, if they really wanna be busy and, 480 00:22:30,221 --> 00:22:34,941 and to a certain extent it's about letting go, which I think when I speak to a lot of 481 00:22:34,941 --> 00:22:39,075 shopkeepers and they think about opening a second shop, that that's the element. 482 00:22:39,075 --> 00:22:42,820 They're like, oh, I, don't want to let go of this or this or that. 483 00:22:43,210 --> 00:22:46,570 But I think what helped me in the past is I was on maternity leave twice. 484 00:22:46,840 --> 00:22:46,900 I 485 00:22:47,410 --> 00:22:51,670 had to bring in people to run the shop and I, you just have to let go 486 00:22:52,420 --> 00:22:55,960 and you find out the real things that you need to keep control of. 487 00:22:55,960 --> 00:23:00,070 Like, I still do all of the banking, like no one has access to the banking, 488 00:23:00,160 --> 00:23:04,030 but the girls have got access to the de, you know, the card for the account so 489 00:23:04,030 --> 00:23:08,680 they can buy stuff like pencil boxes or raw mail or what, whatever it might be. 490 00:23:08,680 --> 00:23:10,780 So obviously trust is really important. 491 00:23:11,440 --> 00:23:14,740 And luckily in a small business that can flex, Quite easily. 492 00:23:15,280 --> 00:23:19,840 But yeah, I think having that time away gave me a better pinpoint 493 00:23:19,840 --> 00:23:23,710 of what I need to keep control of and actually what I can let go of. 494 00:23:24,550 --> 00:23:28,428 And it's also giving a little bit of freedom to your team so that they can 495 00:23:28,428 --> 00:23:31,068 actually perhaps improve processes 496 00:23:31,518 --> 00:23:34,548 and improve the things that you think you're the only thing, 497 00:23:34,788 --> 00:23:36,228 only person that can do it. 498 00:23:36,446 --> 00:23:38,486 Because I don't do any window displays now. 499 00:23:39,800 --> 00:23:41,300 you know, I discuss that with the team. 500 00:23:41,300 --> 00:23:42,230 We come up with ideas. 501 00:23:42,230 --> 00:23:45,080 Sometimes I'm like, I don't have any ideas, and they, and they just go off to 502 00:23:45,080 --> 00:23:46,430 Pinterest and come back with some ideas. 503 00:23:46,430 --> 00:23:50,090 Sometimes I do, and then they're the ones that kind of execute it or come 504 00:23:50,090 --> 00:23:51,620 up with a few other things to add in. 505 00:23:52,460 --> 00:23:53,540 So that's wonderful. 506 00:23:53,540 --> 00:23:55,610 And they, and like that's a great creative outlet. 507 00:23:56,150 --> 00:24:00,260 Like I want the team to do creative stuff while they're at work because we've 508 00:24:00,260 --> 00:24:03,410 always got, because we have the wholesale site to pencil in of printing pencils. 509 00:24:03,710 --> 00:24:05,390 We always have that to do. 510 00:24:05,450 --> 00:24:07,220 We always have wholesale orders waiting. 511 00:24:07,880 --> 00:24:11,300 And I'm like, I don't want to feel like that is always the number one task. 512 00:24:11,300 --> 00:24:15,320 I want you to do some creative stuff so you're not like, so bored at work 513 00:24:15,530 --> 00:24:17,630 that you're gonna get disengaged and you're gonna wanna leave. 514 00:24:17,985 --> 00:24:18,915 you know, they both do. 515 00:24:18,975 --> 00:24:22,465 We have like a shop iPhone and we have a digital SLR, so they Claire and 516 00:24:22,465 --> 00:24:25,585 Louise mainly both do photography at work, so we have a huge big light box. 517 00:24:25,585 --> 00:24:29,905 So they do flat leaves that I use then in our email marketing on our social media. 518 00:24:30,565 --> 00:24:34,675 Louise Rephotographed every brush so that we could put that on the, 519 00:24:34,795 --> 00:24:36,325 on the website so it was consistent. 520 00:24:36,715 --> 00:24:38,545 So they do all of that stuff as well. 521 00:24:38,935 --> 00:24:42,325 And it's a, yeah, I think it's about opening up what a role could 522 00:24:42,325 --> 00:24:47,215 be as, as a sales assistant, which is such a rubbish title, because 523 00:24:47,215 --> 00:24:48,745 they do so much more than that. 524 00:24:48,745 --> 00:24:50,782 And, and that's what I try and do is give the team. 525 00:24:51,172 --> 00:24:55,342 Other interesting responsibilities that aren't just serving a customer, 526 00:24:55,342 --> 00:24:58,582 cleaning the shop, dealing with a delivery, and try and kind of bring 527 00:24:58,582 --> 00:25:01,192 them on board and, and, you know, bring them to trade shows with me. 528 00:25:01,192 --> 00:25:02,842 So they get to meet all of our suppliers. 529 00:25:03,352 --> 00:25:07,700 They get to see how it's merchandised at the show, and then their mind goes to, 530 00:25:07,700 --> 00:25:09,320 how can I make a display out of this? 531 00:25:09,320 --> 00:25:10,700 Well, I'm like, what's the price point? 532 00:25:10,760 --> 00:25:11,480 What's the margin? 533 00:25:11,480 --> 00:25:15,020 You know, how, how can I make, how many will I buy? 534 00:25:15,470 --> 00:25:17,990 But they're, they're like figuring out how that's gonna look. 535 00:25:18,497 --> 00:25:20,657 which totally takes it off my shoulders. 536 00:25:20,987 --> 00:25:24,887 So there could be real benefits to bringing new people in because they'll 537 00:25:24,887 --> 00:25:26,297 have a completely different insight, 538 00:25:26,921 --> 00:25:28,348 to your business, to, to the shop. 539 00:25:28,348 --> 00:25:31,858 But yeah, it's, it's something to get people to come on board 540 00:25:31,858 --> 00:25:36,118 and like my past experience was running big teams, so I do have that 541 00:25:36,118 --> 00:25:37,558 sort of experience bring into it. 542 00:25:37,948 --> 00:25:42,328 And I think sometimes people are a little bit scared to hire people in case. 543 00:25:42,928 --> 00:25:46,408 I think they're gonna steal from them or, or something, but there's 544 00:25:46,468 --> 00:25:47,608 gotta be that trust. 545 00:25:47,909 --> 00:25:50,549 yeah, it's like, it's how you get to that trust, isn't it? 546 00:25:50,549 --> 00:25:53,069 It's how you make sure that what you need to be done is. 547 00:25:53,954 --> 00:25:58,334 Being done and then that you can then step away and know that you can. 548 00:25:58,364 --> 00:26:01,994 Yeah, it's like building that trust up and how you get to that point. 549 00:26:01,994 --> 00:26:03,524 But no, that's fascinating. 550 00:26:03,954 --> 00:26:05,274 Control doesn't disappear. 551 00:26:05,274 --> 00:26:07,164 As you grow, it becomes selective. 552 00:26:07,434 --> 00:26:10,974 Knowing what not to hold onto is what makes growth sustainable instead 553 00:26:10,974 --> 00:26:13,931 of exhausting So what's next then? 554 00:26:13,931 --> 00:26:15,101 How many more shops? 555 00:26:16,495 --> 00:26:20,095 I was pretty sure that I'm done, but my mate was like, this is just the start. 556 00:26:22,255 --> 00:26:22,825 yeah, I dunno. 557 00:26:22,825 --> 00:26:23,845 Three, three is a lot. 558 00:26:23,845 --> 00:26:26,065 I've still got, you know, my kids are still pretty young. 559 00:26:26,065 --> 00:26:28,675 They're only four and seven, so it's like, how much more 560 00:26:29,335 --> 00:26:32,155 do you wanna add to your to-do list? 561 00:26:32,215 --> 00:26:34,945 And you know, my husband works away most of the time as well, so it's. 562 00:26:35,065 --> 00:26:38,755 It can be a bit frantic behind the scenes, which I don't of, I don't 563 00:26:38,755 --> 00:26:41,485 usually share that side of it because like no one wants to see you on the 564 00:26:41,485 --> 00:26:43,015 school running and stuff like that. 565 00:26:43,433 --> 00:26:46,523 I actually wrote like my pro, we've done a strategy for 2026 566 00:26:46,523 --> 00:26:48,113 and it's got like 53 elements. 567 00:26:48,113 --> 00:26:50,333 I was like, that'll do for this year. 568 00:26:51,263 --> 00:26:54,486 But no, this year's really just about, you know, settling task and 569 00:26:54,486 --> 00:26:55,986 just kind of trying to improve. 570 00:26:55,986 --> 00:26:57,766 We're doing a wholesale trade show. 571 00:26:59,196 --> 00:27:01,596 Pennsylvania, we're doing Harrogate in July, so we've got 572 00:27:01,596 --> 00:27:03,786 that to boost wholesale sales hopefully. 573 00:27:03,786 --> 00:27:04,356 So there's a few 574 00:27:04,372 --> 00:27:05,392 Is that the first time? 575 00:27:05,706 --> 00:27:07,386 No, we've done two others. 576 00:27:07,446 --> 00:27:09,516 So we did the stationary show ages ago, 577 00:27:09,756 --> 00:27:13,806 um, 2022, and then we did top door 2023. 578 00:27:14,254 --> 00:27:18,094 And that was great, but like overwhelmingly great and they kept 579 00:27:18,094 --> 00:27:21,064 phoning me to try and rebook and I was like, I've got PTSD Ts from doing this. 580 00:27:21,424 --> 00:27:22,774 Probably Stop phoning me. 581 00:27:22,889 --> 00:27:26,219 So, so I've only just got right to like book outta the 582 00:27:26,219 --> 00:27:28,319 show 'cause it was so crazy. 583 00:27:28,839 --> 00:27:31,419 And then we're trying to like just build that niche of the brushes. 584 00:27:31,479 --> 00:27:32,690 So that's up here. 585 00:27:32,690 --> 00:27:36,920 There's lots of Highland Games events, so we're booked in to do it, to take 586 00:27:36,920 --> 00:27:41,180 the brushes and do like a highland game stall in the shopping area, just 587 00:27:41,180 --> 00:27:44,120 to kind of get the word out about it and just to test that market as well. 588 00:27:47,262 --> 00:27:49,607 This isn't really a conversation about opening more shops. 589 00:27:49,677 --> 00:27:53,442 It's about understanding what growth actually costs in cash, 590 00:27:53,472 --> 00:27:55,392 in attention, and in energy. 591 00:27:55,812 --> 00:27:59,652 Deciding deliberately whether that version of growth fits the business you 592 00:27:59,652 --> 00:28:01,512 want and the life you want alongside it. 593 00:28:02,032 --> 00:28:04,437 If you wanna find out more about Sarah and the different shops she 594 00:28:04,437 --> 00:28:07,917 mentions in this episode, you'll find all of the links in the show notes. 595 00:28:08,307 --> 00:28:11,337 And what I really love about Sarah's story is that it feels like a 596 00:28:11,337 --> 00:28:13,017 love letter to independent retail. 597 00:28:13,452 --> 00:28:16,962 Each of her shops has its own identity, its own role in the community. 598 00:28:16,962 --> 00:28:21,732 It serves Growth for her hasn't been about cloning one idea again and again. 599 00:28:22,152 --> 00:28:25,362 It's about contributing something meaningful to each place and 600 00:28:25,362 --> 00:28:28,332 working out a way of doing that that actually works for her. 601 00:28:28,812 --> 00:28:30,222 And that's the real takeaway here. 602 00:28:30,282 --> 00:28:32,442 Growth isn't a rule, it's a choice. 603 00:28:32,742 --> 00:28:35,652 And the most important part is making sure it supports the kind 604 00:28:35,652 --> 00:28:38,257 of business you want to run and the kind of life you want to live. 605 00:28:39,342 --> 00:28:39,672 Enjoyed 606 00:28:44,877 --> 00:28:45,367 episode.