Salena Knight 0:00
Selena, hey there, and welcome to the bringy business to retail podcast. If you're looking to get more sales, more customers, master your marketing and ultimately take control of your retail or E commerce business, then you're in the right place. I'm Selena Knight, a retail growth strategist and multi award winning store owner whose superpower is uncovering exactly what your business requires to move to the next level. I'll provide you with the strategies, the tools and the insight you need to scale your store. All you need to do is take action. Ready to get started.

Salena Knight 0:47
Hey there, and welcome to the bringing business to retail podcast. The end of year is a natural time for us to reflect on what's working, what's not, and what we want to achieve next. And for retail e commerce Store owners, I know I've been there, it can be so easy to get caught up in the rush and this just just want to flop on the sofa for a month and wind down here in Australia, it is our summer holidays. So it's our six week break for our kids from school. So even more, we just want to check out and come back in February, but making a few key money moves right now can set you up for a strong start in January and help you scale to that next revenue milestone. And this has been on my mind a lot because we have a plan in place to actively scale to ten million in the next few years. So I am sharing my tips along the way so that you can implement them in your business as well. So here's the thing, most people don't take the time to pause and work on their business, especially during the holiday season. So I'm going to give you three tips that will help you focus with the active intention and set the tone for a profitable year ahead. Are you ready for them? All right, let's jump in. Tip number one is, dare I say it? Check your profitability. Dive into your numbers and understand exactly what is driving profits and what is draining them. This is an exercise that we have done, and the things that you don't realize that are sucking the money out of your business. Oh my gosh. You might be selling a lot right now, but if your best sellers aren't profitable, then you're working harder for less money in the bank, and this is where so many store owners get stuck. They confuse being busy with being profitable. So I want you to ask yourself this, do you actually know the profit margin of your top products, and how often do you review your numbers to see what is worth stocking, whether you need to find replacements or whether you need to expand or contract arrange and what you should allocate your advertising dollars towards? And if you're stuck, here are three things that you can do right now. First of all, identify your top five best sellers and calculate their profit margins, simple as that. And then I want you to look for hidden costs. Look at your packaging. How much money are you spending on tissue and bubble wrap and stickers? Oh my gosh, we saved one business that we worked with over $5,000 a year by changing the stickers that they used to pack their orders with. And this is the kind of thing. It might be one cent or two cents here, a penny here, a penny there, or a few cents, but that is eating up your profits. And as you scale half a cent, one cent when you scale that out to 20,000 packages, now, all of a sudden, we're looking at 1000s of dollars in profit that is gone. So look for those hidden costs, identify your top five best sellers and calculate their profit margins, and then decide which products to push and which ones might need price adjustments. Sometimes it is hard to know where to start or how to interpret the data that you see, but understanding profitability is critical if you want to grow your business and if you want to scale smarter rather than harder. Tip number two, free up your cash flow by clearing dead stock. Now, if you've been around for a while, you know that this is something that I hop on and on and on about, because slow moving inventory is tying up your cash flow every dollar that is sitting in your store in. Old inventory is $1 that you can't use to grow your business. So clearing that stock not only improves your cash flow, but also frees up space, both physically and mentally, to focus on what's next. If I was auditing your business, I would be asking you, How often do you audit your inventory? Not just do a stock take, but how often do you audit the products that you sell? Do you know which items haven't sold in the last 90 days? And do you have a plan or a process to move them on? And if you don't, here are some things that you can do today. First of all, identify the stuff that hasn't sold, I like to do the last 45 days, but most people freak out about that, so anything that hasn't sold in the last 90 days needs to go look at things like bundling them with best sellers, or run a flash sale to clear them out. Use these items strategically as freebies or as loyalty rewards to increase your customers perceived value. Now, I often hear store owners say, I know I should be doing this, but I never make the time, and that hesitation can hold you back way more than you realize, because you could be missing out on 10s of 1000s of dollars. In fact, the running total to date, the running leaderboard to date that we have seen, is $2 million of unsold inventory that a business had that was aged so you might have a few 1000, you might have 10s of 1000s, you might even have hundreds of 1000s, and hopefully you do not have millions. But if that stock is on your shelf and it hasn't moved in the last, let's call it 90 days, get it gone. Alrighty. So we have cleared up the cash flow and we've looked at our profitability. My Tip three for making this a profitable holiday season is to make a plan for reinvestment. Now, for most people listening, this time of year is your cash cow, but if you do not have a plan to reinvest, you can wake up in a few weeks, come February, you'll be scratching your head and wondering, Where is the money in the bank account. Where has it gone? Why is my bank account empty? So I want you to use your year and profits to fuel growth in the areas of your business that matter most. If you want to scale your business to the next level, you need to reinvest strategically. But this is where a lot of people freeze. They don't know what to invest in, or they hesitate because they're worried if they invest it won't pay off. And so inevitably, or what I see them doing is just buying more stock, which, of course, can put you in a vicious money training vortex. So grab a pen and paper and write down the answers to these questions. First up, are you clear on what worked for your business this year, and why have you set aside a specific amount for reinvestment, or are you just winning it? And number three, do you know the number that you want to hit next year? Do you have a revenue goal? And if you do, have you reverse engineered it to see just what time and money and resources and products you are going to need, or have you just left your head in the sand and cross your fingers and hope for the best. So here are some tips you can take to think about what you want to reinvest your money in for 2025 first up, identify the strategies that worked well for you this year. Look at your ads, look at social media, look at specific product launches that you've done, and then allocate a percentage of your profits towards scaling those strategies in the new year, I like to say, do more of what works simple, and then look at prioritizing the systems or tools that can make your operations much smoother than they are now. Maybe that is upgrading your website, maybe that is installing some new apps, maybe that is updating your POS maybe it's moving to an email marketing system. Look at the systems and the tools that will get you to where you want to be next year and invest in your people, yourself and your team. So what does your business need from what your business what does your business need from your team to move to the next level? So that is you, but also the people that you work with. Growth doesn't have. Happen by accident,

Salena Knight 10:01
it requires a very clear intention and a very clear plan. For me, that is something I've always had the goal, but I haven't always reverse engineered it down to how much is it going to cost me every single day? And that is something that I have done inside of our business to set us up for 2025 but if you're not sure where to start, then that's a sign that you need to get clear. You need clarity and you need guidance before jumping in. So don't go and buy more stock. Don't go and spend more money. Don't go invest in a coaching program unless you know what it is you want from your business in the next year. And if you're listening to this thinking, I don't have time for this, or I wouldn't even know where to start. Sal Well, first of all, you get a gold star because you are here listening to this podcast. So you are already doing something. But trust me when I say, you are not alone. These money moves, these little money tips that I've given you are simple, but they're also really powerful, and sometimes it can be difficult when we're in the rush of everything to carve out the time or figure out the best approach on our own. So if that is you, here is my challenge to you, if you can't do all of these things, I gave you three tips. If you can't do all them, pick one, just one of these tips, and commit to taking action this week. Get out your diary book out an hour, and take action, because that one small action will put you a step towards what you want from your business. And if you find yourself stuck, whether it is with the numbers or inventory or the planning, don't let that stop you. Make this the time to surround yourself with the people that you need, to help you get the clarity that you need, and to help you take action. The money moves that you make now will ripple through the months ahead. So do not let this busy season stop you from setting yourself and your business up for a strong start in 2025 alrighty. I hope you loved this short, sharp episode with my year and money making tips to set you up for a profitable 2025 remember, get clear on your numbers, get rid of that excess stock so that you can bring in the cash flow and last but not least, make a plan to re invest strategically. Alrighty. Thank you so much for joining me on this episode, and I'll see you again next week. So that's a wrap. I'd love to hear what insight you've gotten from this episode and how you're going to put it into action. If you're a social kind of person, follow me at the Selena night and make sure to leave a comment and let me know. And if this episode made you think a little bit differently, or gave you some inspiration, or perhaps gave you the kick that you needed to take action, then please take a couple of minutes to leave me a review on your platform of choice, because the more reviews the show gets, the more independent retail and E commerce stores just like yours, that We can help to scale, and when that happens, it's a win for you, a win for your community and a win for your customers. I'll see you on the next episode.