1 00:00:00,238 --> 00:00:02,908 Catherine: In this episode, we are going to delve into how you recap the 2 00:00:02,908 --> 00:00:06,747 first half of the year to make sure that you hit your goals in the second half. 3 00:00:07,738 --> 00:00:09,777 Welcome to the Resilient Retail Game Plan. 4 00:00:10,017 --> 00:00:13,347 I'm Catherine Erdly, and this podcast is here to share retail industry 5 00:00:13,347 --> 00:00:15,597 trends, insights, and best practises. 6 00:00:15,597 --> 00:00:19,498 For you, the retailer who's serious about building something that lasts. 7 00:00:23,150 --> 00:00:27,560 We are coming up fast on the end of the first half of the year, but if that 8 00:00:27,560 --> 00:00:29,450 fills you with dread, then don't panic. 9 00:00:29,779 --> 00:00:33,260 In this episode, we're gonna be talking through why midyear beats the 10 00:00:33,260 --> 00:00:37,129 1st of January, because we have real data now, not just a theory about how 11 00:00:37,129 --> 00:00:40,970 the year's gonna go, and then we're also gonna be looking at how you get 12 00:00:40,970 --> 00:00:44,030 clarity on what happened in the first half of the year, as well as put 13 00:00:44,030 --> 00:00:46,340 together a plan for the second half. 14 00:00:46,940 --> 00:00:47,629 Stay tuned. 15 00:00:47,750 --> 00:00:52,849 And also a reminder that this episode comes with a free downloadable resource. 16 00:00:53,269 --> 00:00:58,730 Head to resilientretailclub.com/recap and get your free download with an outline 17 00:00:58,730 --> 00:01:02,839 for how you can recap your first half of the year and make a plan for the second. 18 00:01:03,822 --> 00:01:07,962 So in this episode, we are going to dive deep into how you actually take 19 00:01:07,962 --> 00:01:12,342 some time to step back, take a look at the first half of the year, and 20 00:01:12,342 --> 00:01:16,842 use that information to springboard into a successful second half. 21 00:01:17,312 --> 00:01:20,532 And what I love to do with this process, and this is a process that 22 00:01:20,532 --> 00:01:24,282 I've used in my membership group in courses and with clients over and 23 00:01:24,282 --> 00:01:29,052 over again, is I like to start by looking back and then look forward. 24 00:01:29,532 --> 00:01:33,372 So by looking back, let's go all the way back to the beginning of the year. 25 00:01:33,612 --> 00:01:37,932 Now, I hope based on everything that I've talked about on the podcast or any 26 00:01:37,932 --> 00:01:40,812 of my programmes that you've been in, that you took the time at the beginning 27 00:01:40,812 --> 00:01:43,032 of the year to set yourself some goals. 28 00:01:43,392 --> 00:01:48,072 So at the end of the first half, this is the perfect time to go get those goals out 29 00:01:48,072 --> 00:01:51,762 of wherever you've stashed them, whatever dark digital corner you've put them 30 00:01:51,762 --> 00:01:55,782 in, or which desk drawer you've put your notebook, pull them out and take a look. 31 00:01:55,932 --> 00:01:57,942 Do you remember what those goals were? 32 00:01:58,542 --> 00:02:01,062 Did you set a sales goal, a revenue target? 33 00:02:01,062 --> 00:02:05,483 Did you have personal income goals or did you have maybe some non-financial goals? 34 00:02:05,513 --> 00:02:09,413 So things like wanting to launch a new product, a new stockist, 35 00:02:09,443 --> 00:02:11,153 or learn even a new skill. 36 00:02:11,873 --> 00:02:16,278 And this is the perfect opportunity for you to think without blame or without 37 00:02:16,278 --> 00:02:20,958 self-recrimination and to figure out how much of this you've actually achieved. 38 00:02:21,888 --> 00:02:22,608 Be honest. 39 00:02:22,938 --> 00:02:26,448 But to be fair, some goals shift because circumstances 40 00:02:26,448 --> 00:02:28,428 shift not because you failed. 41 00:02:28,698 --> 00:02:31,728 I certainly talk to a lot of people who had big goals for the year 42 00:02:32,208 --> 00:02:35,088 and then because of something that happened to them in their personal 43 00:02:35,088 --> 00:02:39,048 life or personal circumstances or maybe just some big change that 44 00:02:39,048 --> 00:02:42,391 happened in the business, they've just had to start again from scratch. 45 00:02:42,450 --> 00:02:46,410 Or they'll really take this point in the year as a great point for 46 00:02:46,410 --> 00:02:50,100 them to look at moving forward. 47 00:02:50,670 --> 00:02:54,750 Once you've pulled out those goals, now is the perfect opportunity for you without 48 00:02:54,750 --> 00:02:59,580 any self recrimination or self blame to actually take a look and see how much of 49 00:02:59,700 --> 00:03:01,920 your goals you have actually achieved. 50 00:03:02,550 --> 00:03:06,420 You need to be honest, but do be fair to yourself as well. 51 00:03:06,420 --> 00:03:10,350 If you've had major circumstances that have changed in the business or perhaps 52 00:03:10,350 --> 00:03:14,550 even in your personal life, then this is not the time to beat yourself up about it. 53 00:03:14,550 --> 00:03:17,460 But it's a good opportunity for you to take a look at those goals that you 54 00:03:17,460 --> 00:03:22,290 set and decide how much you've actually done and also what goals still matter. 55 00:03:22,380 --> 00:03:27,150 I do this myself in my own business and sometimes something that seemed like it 56 00:03:27,150 --> 00:03:31,320 was a high priority in the first half has actually I've moved on, or I've come 57 00:03:31,320 --> 00:03:34,680 up with different ideas for what I wanna do, and it no longer feels like this is 58 00:03:34,680 --> 00:03:36,150 a goal that's aligned with my business. 59 00:03:36,180 --> 00:03:37,560 And that's absolutely fine. 60 00:03:37,950 --> 00:03:40,320 So let's talk about the numbers for a little bit. 61 00:03:40,830 --> 00:03:44,460 What are the numbers that you really want to look into at the end of the first half? 62 00:03:44,820 --> 00:03:49,170 Well, I would suggest that you quite simply look at your total sales, so 63 00:03:49,170 --> 00:03:52,500 all of the sales that you've taken up till now to the end of June, from the 64 00:03:52,500 --> 00:03:56,190 beginning of January, and have a look at where they're versus your plan. 65 00:03:56,490 --> 00:03:58,290 Now, you may not have set yourself a plan. 66 00:03:59,214 --> 00:04:00,414 If you didn't, that's fine. 67 00:04:00,414 --> 00:04:04,554 Although I do strongly recommend setting plans for lots of reasons, but you 68 00:04:04,554 --> 00:04:08,694 could also look for example, at last year or even just get a general sense 69 00:04:08,694 --> 00:04:10,164 of how you feel about that number. 70 00:04:10,524 --> 00:04:12,744 Is that number ahead of where you thought it would be? 71 00:04:13,314 --> 00:04:16,764 Is it behind or is it on track, and why do you think that is? 72 00:04:17,094 --> 00:04:19,614 I think the most important thing when we are looking at numbers and we're 73 00:04:19,614 --> 00:04:23,604 looking at recapping your business, we really want to make sure that we 74 00:04:23,604 --> 00:04:28,194 are taking the opportunity to not just think about what the numbers 75 00:04:28,194 --> 00:04:29,784 are, but why you think they happened. 76 00:04:29,784 --> 00:04:33,384 So for example, let's say you've had a brilliant first half. 77 00:04:33,864 --> 00:04:37,824 You have taken twice as much money as you thought you were going to take. 78 00:04:37,824 --> 00:04:38,244 Why not? 79 00:04:38,244 --> 00:04:39,744 Who knows that may have happened. 80 00:04:40,134 --> 00:04:43,104 If that's the case, do take the time just to get really 81 00:04:43,104 --> 00:04:44,604 clear on why you think that is. 82 00:04:45,084 --> 00:04:48,984 Is it because actually you launched a new product and it's done brilliantly well? 83 00:04:50,116 --> 00:04:53,776 Is it, for example, that you've made a major investment into your email 84 00:04:53,776 --> 00:04:55,366 marketing and that's really paid off? 85 00:04:55,846 --> 00:04:59,506 Is it that you've had a really fruitful collaboration with an 86 00:04:59,506 --> 00:05:00,976 influencer or somebody like that? 87 00:05:01,456 --> 00:05:04,036 What is it do you think that has really helped you? 88 00:05:04,756 --> 00:05:07,756 Or on the other hand, is it a number of different things? 89 00:05:07,906 --> 00:05:12,616 Knowing why you've been successful is as useful as, or more useful 90 00:05:12,616 --> 00:05:13,966 than just looking at the numbers. 91 00:05:14,626 --> 00:05:18,016 And equally, if you feel like it hasn't really worked out the way that 92 00:05:18,016 --> 00:05:21,076 you wanted it to, or maybe you're under where you'd like to be versus plan or 93 00:05:21,076 --> 00:05:25,456 for last year, this is your opportunity to think about the why there too. 94 00:05:25,786 --> 00:05:29,806 Now this, it's even more important than when you're looking at when sales are up. 95 00:05:30,166 --> 00:05:33,706 It's even more important than ever for you to not be overly harsh on yourself. 96 00:05:33,706 --> 00:05:37,006 This is not about making you feel terrible, but it's about 97 00:05:37,006 --> 00:05:38,656 you understanding what happened. 98 00:05:39,106 --> 00:05:43,276 Is it, for example, you went on holiday during a busy time of the 99 00:05:43,276 --> 00:05:45,346 year and you had to shut the shop. 100 00:05:45,346 --> 00:05:47,056 So that's had a really big impact. 101 00:05:47,356 --> 00:05:51,136 Is it that you've struggled with personal situations, something that's 102 00:05:51,136 --> 00:05:54,316 happened in your life that you know means that you haven't been as focused? 103 00:05:54,856 --> 00:05:57,676 Or maybe it's you've had a really difficult team member 104 00:05:57,676 --> 00:06:01,306 or footfall's been down, or customers have been spending less. 105 00:06:01,336 --> 00:06:04,726 There are so many different things that it could be, but the key thing 106 00:06:04,726 --> 00:06:10,276 here is to be curious and inquisitive, but not to make yourself feel worse. 107 00:06:10,486 --> 00:06:14,536 You can also delve into what's actually been selling or not selling. 108 00:06:15,136 --> 00:06:18,136 In an ideal world, you would have a look over the last six months 109 00:06:18,166 --> 00:06:22,126 and find out what are the top five items that you've sold by value? 110 00:06:22,966 --> 00:06:27,376 Because sales value, that's money in, which is always really important. 111 00:06:28,216 --> 00:06:30,436 But also you might look at units. 112 00:06:30,706 --> 00:06:32,236 So how many units have you sold? 113 00:06:32,296 --> 00:06:37,366 Unit best sellers are useful to attract as well as value best sellers because 114 00:06:37,456 --> 00:06:41,926 they're an indication of what your customer is choosing on a regular basis. 115 00:06:41,926 --> 00:06:44,896 So it's really important for you to understand what the units are as well. 116 00:06:45,526 --> 00:06:49,276 If you've been tracking your cost prices correctly, you'll also be able 117 00:06:49,276 --> 00:06:53,086 to pull out the best sellers in terms of your profit, which is another 118 00:06:53,086 --> 00:06:54,946 thing that is interesting to look at. 119 00:06:55,516 --> 00:06:58,696 But if all you can get is your top best sellers by value, then 120 00:06:58,696 --> 00:07:00,346 that's still really useful too. 121 00:07:01,156 --> 00:07:04,576 And if they're not the same, if your best sellers by sales volume are not 122 00:07:04,576 --> 00:07:06,406 the same as your best sellers by profit. 123 00:07:06,466 --> 00:07:09,886 That's also another interesting thing to know because that suggests that 124 00:07:09,886 --> 00:07:13,606 you can make a real difference to your profit margin by actually improving 125 00:07:13,606 --> 00:07:15,106 the prices on some of the things. 126 00:07:15,136 --> 00:07:16,186 Sell the best. 127 00:07:17,134 --> 00:07:21,064 So this is a really great opportunity for you to step back. 128 00:07:21,064 --> 00:07:23,944 And again, what I would really strongly recommend is that you don't 129 00:07:23,944 --> 00:07:27,784 just look at which were the best sellers, but you ask yourself why? 130 00:07:28,054 --> 00:07:29,584 Why do you think they were best sellers? 131 00:07:29,614 --> 00:07:32,884 Is it because they were a certain price point that your customer liked? 132 00:07:33,454 --> 00:07:37,174 Was your customer really into a certain type of product? 133 00:07:37,264 --> 00:07:39,604 Did you just get lucky because it was on trend? 134 00:07:40,174 --> 00:07:44,074 Did you find that all of the items that were certain colour 135 00:07:44,074 --> 00:07:47,284 or a certain fragrance, were they the ones that really performed? 136 00:07:47,644 --> 00:07:50,314 What is it that you can pull from that data? 137 00:07:50,494 --> 00:07:54,154 And if you've got a wide product range, you may well want to pull even your top 138 00:07:54,244 --> 00:07:59,014 10 or maybe even 20 or 50, but really understand the best sellers, the ones 139 00:07:59,014 --> 00:08:00,304 that were really driving the sales. 140 00:08:00,304 --> 00:08:03,754 What does that actually tell you about your business and about your customer? 141 00:08:04,084 --> 00:08:06,184 As well as looking at your best sellers. 142 00:08:06,424 --> 00:08:09,154 You can also look at what I call the dead weight audit. 143 00:08:09,214 --> 00:08:11,704 In other words, what did you not sell so much of? 144 00:08:12,094 --> 00:08:14,734 Definitely have a look and see if there are any products that 145 00:08:14,734 --> 00:08:18,634 sold zero in the last six months that you currently have stock of. 146 00:08:19,234 --> 00:08:24,034 This is something that honestly, if you've sold zero of something in six 147 00:08:24,034 --> 00:08:28,174 months, you definitely wanna consider definitely, definitely not buying 148 00:08:28,174 --> 00:08:32,194 it again, but maybe even discounting it or something to get it moving. 149 00:08:32,854 --> 00:08:35,884 You also wanna think about are there any items that you actually 150 00:08:35,884 --> 00:08:37,324 bought and they may be sold. 151 00:08:37,324 --> 00:08:38,974 Okay, but they were disappointing. 152 00:08:39,394 --> 00:08:39,694 Worse. 153 00:08:39,694 --> 00:08:42,334 Sellers are almost harder to calculate than your best sellers 154 00:08:42,334 --> 00:08:44,764 because there's lots of different ways that you can look at something. 155 00:08:45,064 --> 00:08:48,574 But typically I tend to look at the things with the lowest sales, with 156 00:08:48,574 --> 00:08:51,754 the highest amount of stock value behind them so that you can really 157 00:08:51,754 --> 00:08:54,994 understand where your money's tied up and where things aren't moving. 158 00:08:55,264 --> 00:09:00,004 And just like for the best sellers, when it comes to your worst sellers, you really 159 00:09:00,004 --> 00:09:01,804 wanna take some time to think about why. 160 00:09:02,104 --> 00:09:03,634 Why do you think people didn't like it? 161 00:09:03,904 --> 00:09:06,364 Is it something that they used to like that it's moved on? 162 00:09:06,634 --> 00:09:09,244 Is there more competition in this particular area? 163 00:09:09,484 --> 00:09:11,824 Does somebody else close to you start selling this and 164 00:09:11,824 --> 00:09:13,324 you think it's impacted sales? 165 00:09:13,894 --> 00:09:16,714 Or could it just be one of those things where you bought something 166 00:09:16,714 --> 00:09:20,074 you thought was gonna be fantastic and frankly, it turned out not to be. 167 00:09:20,134 --> 00:09:22,204 It happens to everybody. 168 00:09:22,204 --> 00:09:25,234 So if that's happened to you, don't feel bad about it. 169 00:09:25,264 --> 00:09:27,754 Don't decide that it means that you're terrible at what you do, 170 00:09:27,814 --> 00:09:31,354 but just think about how you can take that learning and move on. 171 00:09:33,198 --> 00:09:34,578 Other things that it's good to look at. 172 00:09:34,578 --> 00:09:39,078 Conversion rate is something that I reckon should be looked at once a month, 173 00:09:39,258 --> 00:09:42,768 but definitely at six month point, you wanna be seeing how is your conversion 174 00:09:42,768 --> 00:09:44,838 rate doing and how is it shifting? 175 00:09:44,838 --> 00:09:47,868 So your conversion rate is the number of purchases made compared 176 00:09:47,868 --> 00:09:48,768 to the number of visitors. 177 00:09:49,098 --> 00:09:50,958 You can track it very easily online. 178 00:09:50,958 --> 00:09:54,078 It's one of the key figures you'll see on most dashboards for 179 00:09:54,108 --> 00:09:56,508 e-commerce brands and in store. 180 00:09:56,538 --> 00:10:00,738 You can actually also do a conversion calculation if you can count the 181 00:10:00,738 --> 00:10:03,588 number of people coming in compared to the number of transactions. 182 00:10:03,978 --> 00:10:07,248 If it's something that you don't track continuously in store, maybe 183 00:10:07,248 --> 00:10:11,568 do a little test just to see how your conversion rate is doing, and 184 00:10:11,658 --> 00:10:13,695 that can be very informative as well. 185 00:10:14,565 --> 00:10:16,925 Average order value is something that, again, I think should 186 00:10:16,925 --> 00:10:17,885 be looked at once a month. 187 00:10:18,275 --> 00:10:21,455 But again, at the six month point, you can see how does your 188 00:10:21,455 --> 00:10:22,715 average order value compare? 189 00:10:22,715 --> 00:10:23,405 Is it going up? 190 00:10:23,405 --> 00:10:24,095 Is it going down? 191 00:10:24,095 --> 00:10:25,115 What's going on with that? 192 00:10:26,195 --> 00:10:27,995 Has anything shifted since January? 193 00:10:28,325 --> 00:10:29,675 Have a look at your sales channels. 194 00:10:29,675 --> 00:10:33,965 If you sell in more than one sales channel, many people sell across 195 00:10:34,325 --> 00:10:36,575 websites and their own stores. 196 00:10:36,575 --> 00:10:39,065 They might also sell at wholesale, they might sell on 197 00:10:39,095 --> 00:10:40,775 Etsy, not on the High Street. 198 00:10:40,805 --> 00:10:43,685 Many, many other different channels that you could be selling on. 199 00:10:43,985 --> 00:10:47,945 So do take a moment to have a look and actually analyse, which 200 00:10:47,945 --> 00:10:49,393 is your best sales channel. 201 00:10:49,393 --> 00:10:50,233 Is it still the same? 202 00:10:50,383 --> 00:10:51,133 Has it shifted? 203 00:10:51,613 --> 00:10:53,023 How are the different channels doing? 204 00:10:53,443 --> 00:10:56,323 Did everything perform in the same way in the first half or did you 205 00:10:56,323 --> 00:10:59,473 have some channels that were actually doing brilliantly and other ones 206 00:10:59,563 --> 00:11:01,003 that aren't doing so well? 207 00:11:01,630 --> 00:11:04,360 Are you still investing in the channel that's actually driving results, 208 00:11:04,360 --> 00:11:05,710 or are you defaulting to habits? 209 00:11:05,710 --> 00:11:09,610 So for example, you might have seen huge growth in one particular area, 210 00:11:09,610 --> 00:11:12,700 but you realise actually you still think of it as a small channel. 211 00:11:12,700 --> 00:11:15,430 You don't really give it as much time and attention as you should, 212 00:11:15,730 --> 00:11:17,920 and therefore that's giving you good direction for what you should 213 00:11:17,920 --> 00:11:19,690 be looking at for the second half. 214 00:11:20,800 --> 00:11:22,960 Social media is something else that you can take a look at. 215 00:11:22,960 --> 00:11:26,470 And if you haven't done a bit of a social media audit recently, then I do recommend 216 00:11:26,470 --> 00:11:31,390 doing it at the halfway point, not as a vanity metric, but more as a signal. 217 00:11:31,480 --> 00:11:33,070 What is working? 218 00:11:33,160 --> 00:11:34,780 What are you seeing that works? 219 00:11:35,050 --> 00:11:37,990 What types of posts are you getting any reaction to? 220 00:11:38,290 --> 00:11:41,530 Do people respond when you show up and talk on your stories, but you don't 221 00:11:41,530 --> 00:11:43,090 get much interaction on your feed? 222 00:11:43,660 --> 00:11:46,750 Are you still posting for the audience you had in January 223 00:11:46,750 --> 00:11:48,160 or the one that you have now? 224 00:11:48,999 --> 00:11:51,669 You don't have to have all the answers, but it can be really 225 00:11:51,669 --> 00:11:55,869 informative to go into, say, Instagram and look at some of your metrics. 226 00:11:55,869 --> 00:11:59,799 Look at the last six months and see what posts had the most shares, what 227 00:11:59,799 --> 00:12:03,699 posts had the most saves, what posts had the most interactions, and see if 228 00:12:03,699 --> 00:12:07,479 you can track what posts were driving. 229 00:12:07,599 --> 00:12:08,679 Traffic to your website. 230 00:12:08,684 --> 00:12:12,399 When you look at any peaks of sales that you had online, for example, 231 00:12:12,399 --> 00:12:16,329 or even when you had peaks in store, can you match any of that back to 232 00:12:16,329 --> 00:12:17,979 social media content that you put out? 233 00:12:18,459 --> 00:12:21,339 This is a great opportunity for you to just make sure that you are 234 00:12:21,339 --> 00:12:25,179 leaning into the formats and the subjects and the type of content that 235 00:12:25,179 --> 00:12:27,039 your customers are responding to. 236 00:12:27,999 --> 00:12:31,809 A relationship audit is a great thing to do, especially at the halfway point, 237 00:12:32,229 --> 00:12:36,429 and the relationship audit is really all about anybody who you work with. 238 00:12:36,459 --> 00:12:39,729 It could be your suppliers, it could be people that you collaborate with. 239 00:12:39,789 --> 00:12:43,839 It could be stockists if you're a wholesale brand who moved 240 00:12:43,929 --> 00:12:47,829 the needle and who cost you more energy than they returned. 241 00:12:48,519 --> 00:12:52,329 Many of us have a lot of issues with couriers, for example. 242 00:12:52,929 --> 00:12:55,059 How are you doing with your courier relationship? 243 00:12:55,089 --> 00:12:55,929 Are you happy with it? 244 00:12:55,929 --> 00:12:58,839 Do you feel secure going in towards the second half? 245 00:12:59,679 --> 00:13:03,519 And the same with your stockists, your collaborators, your suppliers. 246 00:13:03,519 --> 00:13:06,249 These are all relationships that you want them to be firm before 247 00:13:06,249 --> 00:13:07,479 you go into the second half. 248 00:13:07,779 --> 00:13:10,599 So if you've got any questions about anybody or there's anything that 249 00:13:10,599 --> 00:13:13,899 you'd like to change in terms of service providers or things that you 250 00:13:13,899 --> 00:13:15,969 wanna invest in, then now's the time. 251 00:13:17,557 --> 00:13:18,460 We've talked about the numbers. 252 00:13:18,460 --> 00:13:22,390 I'd like to talk a little bit more about some of the kind of more subjective parts 253 00:13:22,420 --> 00:13:24,490 of analysing your business performance. 254 00:13:25,150 --> 00:13:28,480 The first thing is to make sure you celebrate your wins. 255 00:13:28,480 --> 00:13:30,550 So I call this section what worked and what didn't. 256 00:13:30,610 --> 00:13:34,870 So first of all, we want to make sure you take some time to 257 00:13:34,870 --> 00:13:37,030 actually name your wins out loud. 258 00:13:37,270 --> 00:13:38,680 Don't rush past them. 259 00:13:39,040 --> 00:13:43,900 Small business owners we're absolutely terrible at having a huge achievement 260 00:13:43,900 --> 00:13:47,260 and then brushing straight past it and onto the next thing, or 261 00:13:47,320 --> 00:13:50,560 beating ourselves up that we haven't achieved something else as well. 262 00:13:51,070 --> 00:13:54,400 So make sure that at this point in the review, you are actually taking 263 00:13:54,400 --> 00:13:58,990 the time to really sit into what your strengths are, what you did well, what 264 00:13:58,990 --> 00:14:03,265 you achieved, and did you even think this was possible a couple of years ago. 265 00:14:03,265 --> 00:14:05,425 If you looked at the business, would you have believed everything 266 00:14:05,425 --> 00:14:06,385 that you've achieved now? 267 00:14:07,855 --> 00:14:11,837 Then I'd ask you to think about what genuinely added value, either 268 00:14:11,837 --> 00:14:13,877 time, money, energy, or all three. 269 00:14:13,877 --> 00:14:17,237 What were some things that you did either inside the business or even for 270 00:14:17,237 --> 00:14:18,677 yourself that supported the business? 271 00:14:19,047 --> 00:14:25,017 For example, look at healthy eating or exercising in a way that supported you 272 00:14:25,017 --> 00:14:26,547 as a business owner that really helped. 273 00:14:26,547 --> 00:14:28,467 That could be something that has worked really well. 274 00:14:28,587 --> 00:14:30,057 Do you have a great new team member? 275 00:14:30,327 --> 00:14:33,927 Did you start a new marketing tactic that's worked brilliantly 276 00:14:33,927 --> 00:14:35,367 or take on a new supplier? 277 00:14:35,727 --> 00:14:39,417 What has it been that actually worked well and made the business better? 278 00:14:39,657 --> 00:14:42,987 Being able to identify those things and lean into them is really important. 279 00:14:43,557 --> 00:14:45,867 And then what flat out didn't work? 280 00:14:45,867 --> 00:14:47,967 Be really specific, not vague. 281 00:14:47,997 --> 00:14:50,757 If there are things that you brought in that didn't sell, list it out. 282 00:14:51,087 --> 00:14:54,237 If there are troublesome employees that really cost you a lot of time, 283 00:14:54,237 --> 00:14:56,547 effort, and energy, then list those out. 284 00:14:56,607 --> 00:15:00,627 Again, this is not about beating yourself up, it's about identifying what didn't 285 00:15:00,627 --> 00:15:02,577 work and what you don't wanna repeat. 286 00:15:02,577 --> 00:15:04,857 What I'd do differently, question. 287 00:15:04,857 --> 00:15:06,777 This is your second half strategy. 288 00:15:06,807 --> 00:15:08,307 Hiding in plain sight. 289 00:15:08,577 --> 00:15:11,507 You can almost take what you would start, stop, or continue from the 290 00:15:11,507 --> 00:15:15,977 first half, and think about what you therefore would do for the second half. 291 00:15:15,977 --> 00:15:18,827 So what do you wanna start doing in the second half? 292 00:15:19,187 --> 00:15:22,187 What you wanna stop doing and what you want to double down on? 293 00:15:22,187 --> 00:15:26,627 That can be a really good way to just get some quick, clear direction as to 294 00:15:26,627 --> 00:15:28,367 what you wanna do for the second half. 295 00:15:29,223 --> 00:15:32,971 And then just have a think about how the business feels right now. 296 00:15:32,971 --> 00:15:37,291 Now, it may seem like an odd thing to say, to talk about feelings in a episode that's 297 00:15:37,291 --> 00:15:42,031 mostly about numbers, but I definitely think that we all need to be building 298 00:15:42,031 --> 00:15:43,741 businesses that feel right for us. 299 00:15:43,981 --> 00:15:46,321 So pay attention to where the energy is, what you've been 300 00:15:46,321 --> 00:15:47,671 enjoying and where it isn't. 301 00:15:47,971 --> 00:15:53,341 If something feels off, then get specific about what kind of off it feels like. 302 00:15:53,671 --> 00:15:54,841 Is it circumstantial? 303 00:15:54,841 --> 00:15:57,991 For example, you love what you do, but you wish you paid yourself 304 00:15:57,991 --> 00:15:59,671 more, or you're just exhausted? 305 00:16:00,121 --> 00:16:04,231 Or is it directional, which is a nagging feeling that you've drifted from 306 00:16:04,231 --> 00:16:05,911 what you originally set out to build? 307 00:16:05,911 --> 00:16:07,441 Or is it worry? 308 00:16:07,651 --> 00:16:11,401 I call these the 3:00 AM thoughts that feel catastrophic in the dark, 309 00:16:11,401 --> 00:16:13,261 but look different in the daytime. 310 00:16:13,672 --> 00:16:17,671 I actually really like a SWOT analysis as an emotional clearing 311 00:16:17,671 --> 00:16:19,621 exercise, not just a strategy tool. 312 00:16:20,567 --> 00:16:23,867 SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats. 313 00:16:23,897 --> 00:16:27,527 It's the kind of thing that people set you as second round interview tasks to 314 00:16:27,527 --> 00:16:30,557 do about a business, or it's the kind of thing that you do in business school 315 00:16:30,557 --> 00:16:31,907 when you're looking at case studies. 316 00:16:32,237 --> 00:16:35,747 But I also think that it's a perfect opportunity for you as a business 317 00:16:35,747 --> 00:16:39,527 owner to really reflect where you're at right now and a 20-minute SWOT. 318 00:16:39,527 --> 00:16:40,997 You know, set yourself a timer. 319 00:16:41,357 --> 00:16:44,747 Get yourself a piece of A4 paper, fold it in half, fold it in half. 320 00:16:44,747 --> 00:16:46,427 Again, get yourself four quadrants. 321 00:16:46,667 --> 00:16:49,727 Write strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats on it, 322 00:16:49,787 --> 00:16:51,677 and then just start brain dumping. 323 00:16:51,677 --> 00:16:55,457 You can also, I often tell people to write areas of 324 00:16:55,457 --> 00:16:57,137 improvement instead of weaknesses. 325 00:16:57,137 --> 00:17:01,037 If you don't like really pondering your own weaknesses too much. 326 00:17:01,847 --> 00:17:04,997 So under strengths, you're gonna list out everything that you're genuinely 327 00:17:04,997 --> 00:17:07,097 good at and how you're using it. 328 00:17:07,337 --> 00:17:10,612 So strengths typically refer to when you're using this in a business 329 00:17:10,612 --> 00:17:15,112 context as internal strengths, internal advantages that a business has. 330 00:17:15,172 --> 00:17:18,652 So think about what you do well, what your business does well, what your team 331 00:17:18,652 --> 00:17:22,942 does well, what you are really happy with, what makes you really pleased. 332 00:17:22,972 --> 00:17:27,622 When you think about the business weaknesses or areas of improvement, 333 00:17:28,094 --> 00:17:30,074 do you already know needs fixing? 334 00:17:30,074 --> 00:17:33,434 What are things that you internally when it comes to the business, 335 00:17:33,434 --> 00:17:35,084 you think could be done better? 336 00:17:35,084 --> 00:17:38,504 And again, really, really important to not let this be like something 337 00:17:38,504 --> 00:17:41,384 that you do that makes you feel really bad about yourself. 338 00:17:41,864 --> 00:17:42,854 Opportunities. 339 00:17:43,154 --> 00:17:44,894 So these are the external things. 340 00:17:44,894 --> 00:17:47,774 So what's sitting right in front of you that you haven't acted on yet? 341 00:17:48,104 --> 00:17:51,284 What are some things that you could be doing in the business 342 00:17:51,284 --> 00:17:53,174 that, or maybe interesting you? 343 00:17:53,174 --> 00:17:58,034 Areas of direction, new product types, new channels that you could go for. 344 00:17:58,274 --> 00:18:02,414 What are some things that you could do to help you grow and threats? 345 00:18:02,714 --> 00:18:07,154 This is where the 3:00 AM thoughts go get them outta your head and onto paper. 346 00:18:07,514 --> 00:18:12,194 This is a way for you to really just brainstorm everything that you have 347 00:18:12,194 --> 00:18:16,454 in your head that is making you feel uncomfortable or you're worried about. 348 00:18:16,454 --> 00:18:18,974 And sometimes just writing all down really helps. 349 00:18:18,974 --> 00:18:21,734 And these are the external threats, external factors that 350 00:18:21,734 --> 00:18:24,614 you think could have an impact on your business over the next year. 351 00:18:25,484 --> 00:18:28,874 Another great exercise if we're talking about the emotional connection is what 352 00:18:28,874 --> 00:18:31,034 I call the 20 year interview exercise. 353 00:18:31,244 --> 00:18:33,764 If you were interviewed in 20 years about this business, what 354 00:18:33,764 --> 00:18:34,964 would you want to be saying? 355 00:18:35,624 --> 00:18:38,624 And are you on a path that leads there or have you gone off course? 356 00:18:38,624 --> 00:18:43,424 So for example, some people might say, in 20 years time, I'll talk about how I 357 00:18:43,424 --> 00:18:47,384 exited this business after successfully running it for several years and I 358 00:18:47,384 --> 00:18:51,104 handed it off to somebody else and I really got a lot of value out of it, 359 00:18:51,104 --> 00:18:53,864 the time that I was running it, but I was happy to say goodbye when I did. 360 00:18:54,344 --> 00:18:57,974 Some people in their 20 year interview will say, I went on to build this to be 361 00:18:57,974 --> 00:19:02,084 a household name and a high street brand that was recognised across the country. 362 00:19:02,624 --> 00:19:05,564 All of those things are completely acceptable. 363 00:19:05,564 --> 00:19:08,144 I mean, everyone has their own vision of what they want it to be, 364 00:19:08,444 --> 00:19:11,384 and some people will say, I'm still running my business because I run 365 00:19:11,384 --> 00:19:12,974 it around my life and my family. 366 00:19:13,304 --> 00:19:14,984 And that's always the way I want it to be. 367 00:19:14,984 --> 00:19:17,894 It's never the main thing I focus on, but it's always there and it's 368 00:19:17,924 --> 00:19:19,784 always given me joy and satisfaction. 369 00:19:20,324 --> 00:19:23,954 Who knows what your 20 year interview will be, but taking some time to think about 370 00:19:23,954 --> 00:19:27,824 it, especially if you felt like there's something off, can help you identify if 371 00:19:27,824 --> 00:19:29,504 you're moving in the right direction. 372 00:19:31,208 --> 00:19:33,248 So now let's talk about refocusing for half two. 373 00:19:33,248 --> 00:19:35,281 So we've really looked at the first half. 374 00:19:35,281 --> 00:19:38,971 We've thought about how it made us feel and we've thought about ourselves and 375 00:19:38,971 --> 00:19:40,261 where we're at as a business owner. 376 00:19:40,741 --> 00:19:44,671 But now for the second half, we're gonna set an actual number. 377 00:19:44,821 --> 00:19:47,341 You may have the sales goal from January. 378 00:19:47,341 --> 00:19:49,381 You might have set yourself a goal for the full year. 379 00:19:49,381 --> 00:19:53,701 If you haven't, then I definitely recommend that you set yourself an 380 00:19:53,701 --> 00:19:55,291 actual number that you wanna achieve. 381 00:19:55,471 --> 00:19:58,741 If you set yourself a goal in January and you're way off it either way over 382 00:19:58,741 --> 00:20:00,391 or way under, you may wanna adjust it. 383 00:20:00,721 --> 00:20:04,201 Set yourself a new goal for the second half that feels more realistic. 384 00:20:04,831 --> 00:20:08,791 And then also, what are your two or three non-financial goals for the second half? 385 00:20:09,331 --> 00:20:12,511 So for example, you might want to launch a new product or to 386 00:20:12,511 --> 00:20:15,555 start a new selling channel. 387 00:20:15,555 --> 00:20:18,555 It may be something like a project in the business, like you want 388 00:20:18,555 --> 00:20:22,425 to have a new website, or who knows what else it might be. 389 00:20:22,425 --> 00:20:26,265 But think about what your key opportunities are, or things that you'd 390 00:20:26,265 --> 00:20:28,095 like to really work on in the second half. 391 00:20:28,695 --> 00:20:31,005 And then key dates, planning, map out what's coming and 392 00:20:31,005 --> 00:20:31,875 whether you're ready for it. 393 00:20:31,905 --> 00:20:34,965 If Christmas is your biggest trading period, you need to start that plan. 394 00:20:34,965 --> 00:20:37,995 Now, think about when you're ordering your product, when the stock's coming 395 00:20:37,995 --> 00:20:41,745 in, if it's already ordered, your marketing plan, wholesale deadlines, 396 00:20:41,745 --> 00:20:42,855 if you're selling at wholesale. 397 00:20:43,275 --> 00:20:46,365 And then what other key trading dates launches or seasons apply to 398 00:20:46,365 --> 00:20:47,925 your business in the second half? 399 00:20:48,195 --> 00:20:49,515 Work backwards from those dates. 400 00:20:49,515 --> 00:20:51,075 What needs to happen and by when. 401 00:20:51,825 --> 00:20:54,255 Revisit any other goals you might have from January. 402 00:20:54,315 --> 00:20:57,585 Are you keeping them, adjusting them or replacing them entirely? 403 00:20:58,155 --> 00:20:59,535 And then write yourself a sentence. 404 00:20:59,535 --> 00:21:03,195 By December 31st, I will have make it concrete. 405 00:21:03,855 --> 00:21:07,455 So that could be, for example, by the 31st of January, I made it 406 00:21:07,455 --> 00:21:10,725 through Christmas without getting the flu and without burning out. 407 00:21:10,935 --> 00:21:14,205 And I'm really happy to have balanced things really well this year. 408 00:21:14,745 --> 00:21:18,285 Or you might say, by the 31st of December, I have reached this financial goal. 409 00:21:18,285 --> 00:21:19,215 Whatever it might be. 410 00:21:19,215 --> 00:21:22,335 It gives you a really clear intention for the second half. 411 00:21:23,295 --> 00:21:25,665 So think about what you wanna do next. 412 00:21:25,665 --> 00:21:29,265 Make sure that you list out not everything that you wanna do, but what 413 00:21:29,265 --> 00:21:32,595 needs to be done in the third quarter, and what can we move to the fourth. 414 00:21:32,985 --> 00:21:36,765 So make yourself a list of what you wanna have ready to go for. 415 00:21:36,795 --> 00:21:39,465 If you do, for example, a third quarter check in. 416 00:21:41,137 --> 00:21:42,967 So that is your homework. 417 00:21:43,027 --> 00:21:45,847 Don't forget, if you want to get all of this in a downloadable format, 418 00:21:45,877 --> 00:21:49,777 you can go to resilientretailclub.com/recap and you'll have a PDF 419 00:21:49,927 --> 00:21:54,337 which will let you do your own first half recap and your second half plan. 420 00:21:55,027 --> 00:21:59,227 But make sure you at least write down your second half sales goal and 421 00:21:59,227 --> 00:22:01,417 what's your main goal that you want to achieve by the end of the year? 422 00:22:01,417 --> 00:22:03,247 Write that down today, not tomorrow. 423 00:22:03,637 --> 00:22:06,187 And why not head over to Instagram at Resilient Retail Club? 424 00:22:06,187 --> 00:22:09,577 Drop me a note or send me an email at catherine@resilientretailclub.com 425 00:22:09,577 --> 00:22:13,687 and lemme know what your thoughts are, what you're aiming for in the second 426 00:22:13,687 --> 00:22:18,817 half of the year, and set yourself your tasks, but don't overwhelm yourself. 427 00:22:18,937 --> 00:22:21,937 Make sure that you have just a couple of things you're gonna work on in 428 00:22:21,937 --> 00:22:25,747 the third quarter to make sure you're building towards your full year goal. 429 00:22:26,227 --> 00:22:27,547 Thank you so much for listening. 430 00:22:27,667 --> 00:22:30,907 Don't forget to like, follow, or subscribe to be the first 431 00:22:30,907 --> 00:22:32,077 to know about each new episode. 432 00:22:32,107 --> 00:22:36,667 And don't forget to head over to resilientretailclub.com/recap to get your own 433 00:22:36,667 --> 00:22:41,197 version of this as a handy PDF that lets you do your own business check in.