Blog

Planning

How do you balance your dream business with the daily reality?

MB21 How do you balance your dream business
Every independent shop owner has a vision, a dream that fuels their passion for what they do and why they started their business. But let’s be honest: the day-to-day grind of running a shop can feel all-consuming. Between stock management, marketing, customer service, and those unexpected hiccups (like the POS system breaking down mid-sale!), it’s easy for your bigger dreams to feel out of reach.

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Are you Planning Your Business or Winging It?

MB1. Winging it is not a plan!

Winging it is one way of managing your business, but does it get you the results you want? There's no doubt you will achieve some of the goals you have in mind, but equally, what else could you achieve with a bit of focus? You may find that without a plan you end up going in a completely different direction than the one you intended.

A recent participant in my Planning for Success Workshop said: ‘It allowed me to focus on elements of the business that were neglected or just kept ticking over as…

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Why I Include Planning in My Process

MB3. Why I Include Planning...

10 years ago I started out by sharing my visual merchandising expertise. That included window dressing and how to lay out a shop, where to put products and how to make the customer journey make sense. But without a plan, none of this makes much sense. Why are you choosing certain tactics above others? What are you trying to achieve?

Without a clear sense of direction and required outcomes, all the other aspects of retail become a game of chance rather than focused actions. It is entirely possib…

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