#240: 20 New Year’s Resolutions for Business Owners with Ashley Alderson, Founder of the Boutique Hub

It's episode number two. Four zero. Oh, my gosh. 240. And we're kicking off 2020 by talking about New Year's resolutions for your boutique and for our entire industry. Let's talk about your business strategy and the juicy details of what actually works, from mainstream fashion to fashion on Main street and the entire ecosystem behind it. How do we scale your company and do it with the balance and the happiness that we all seek? Let's hear from insiders, experts, and strategists that actually make it happen. I'm your host, Ashley Alderson from the Boutique Hub, and I can't wait to chat. Hey, guys. Welcome to 2020. Doesn't that sound crazy? 2020 vision. 2020 a new decade. 2020. I know you've got big plans and whether 2019 was the best year of your life or 2019 was a dumpster fire, because we all know those years happen. This is a fresh start, and it feels like one of the coolest fresh starts we're going to get in our adult lives. Today. I wanted to talk to you about something I know you've probably already gone through in terms of practice, if you are part of the Boutique Hub. We've been doing the best year yet challenge, and we've talked a lot about planning in 2020 and New Year's resolutions. And I know in general, everyone turns over New Year's Eve with some grandiose New Year's resolutions, but I want to get a little bit more specific today on New Year's resolutions for your business and for the boutique retail industry as a whole. And as I do that, we've got 20 New Year's resolutions to cover today. And I'm going to be talking about many of these at a Western Summit and did cover some of these at Western Summit. And they're a combination of both looking forward on what we think is coming in terms of business and marketing trends and industry changes we need to be aware of. But it's also a combination of looking back and saying what happened in the last year. How could we do things better? How could we improve, and how could we move forward? And I just want to leave you with this kind of one thought before we dive into these resolutions. And it actually was an experience that happened to me while I was traveling over Christmas break. I was back in North Dakota in my hometown. First time that I ever got to take our kids or that Eric and I got to take our kids back to the high school that I went to, the school that I went to growing up in Bowman, which was amazing to get to see the gym, which I have so many memories in, and old friends. And I'm going to tell you, there's like a kiosk where you can look up graduation pictures in the corner of the cafeteria. And so, Hadley, that'd be really funny to go look up my high school graduation picture, which, you guys, I don't know what happened. Was I on my period that week, was I eating a lot of chocolate? Like, what was going on? But I was having an acne breakout, and it's not a good picture at all. So she pulls up this graduation picture, and she's like, uh, mom, what happened to your face? What happened to your face? And then Eric's like, I'm not gonna waste an opportunity to make fun of you. So he took a picture of it, which, if that ever surfaces, he's dead. I'm just gonna tell you that that was my experience heading back to my high school gym. But the reason I tell you this is we came to watch my nephews play basketball. And one of the games, the. The C squad game was an awesome game. These boys, oh, my gosh, they were so much fun to watch the B squad game equally as fun. They just were having a rough game and they. They didn't pull out a win in the B squad game. And my sister Tina was sitting next to me, and one of her boys was playing in the game. And. And it's about the fourth quarter, and she pulls out the video camera and she starts to video these boys, you know, kind of sucking air, sucking wind, trying to get down the court. And she's videoing and videoing. And yes, I said, video camera. I don't know why she doesn't use her cell phone, but, I mean, we'll cover that in another episode maybe. But she's videoing with this video camera. And she gets done, and I asked her about it. I was like, oh, you know, interesting time to video. And she's like, you know what, Ashley? She said, our boys learn more when they watch themselves play at their worst than they will ever learn when they play at their best. And I thought, man, that's interesting. They learn the most when they play their worst, and they can watch it. And so many times we think about our business and our life, and we look back on the year and it's easy to celebrate the highlight reel. And I think that's what happens on social media, um, especially on New Year's Eve, everyone's like, look at my amazing year. Here's what happened in 2019. And I'm going to show it to you. And. And we should do that. And we should celebrate those high points. And I'm. I loved reading them, to be honest. Like, I loved it. I wish you guys would share them all year long, your high points, because we want to celebrate your wins with you. But equally as important as celebrating the wins is celebrating the times when it did suck. Because truthfully, the moments that were the hardest, those are the moments that changed us and challenged us the most. And if it's not hard, if it's not a challenge, it is not ever going to change us. We don't learn things when we're in the winning season. We learn things when we're in the losing season. So whatever that's worth, when you're thinking about your personal goals and your personal plans going into 2020, I really invite you to look at those struggles that you had and ask yourself, what did I learn from this situation? Right. How am I stronger today because of this situation? And we could have a whole episode just on that. Because I have a lot of thoughts to share around overcoming adversity and obstacles. But we all have that same drive and fire within us to move forward and to grow and to climb that mountain. And I think it's a Rachel Hollis quote. Maybe I heard. Maybe it was in her book. I don't know. But I can remember her talking about how we think about people that are standing on a mountaintop. Right. We think about people that are winning and they've climbed this mountain and they're on the top and they're doing the rocky dance, but they aren't doing the rocky dance on top of everything that went. Right. Right. It's a mountain of the failures that we have to climb. It's a mountain of the obstacles that we have to overcome. It's a mountain of the boulders that got in our way, but we climbed over the top of them anyway and we figured it out and we continue to rise to the top. That's what success really looks like. So as we think about New Year's resolutions, I want you to keep that in mind. Both what's happening? What do we see coming down the pike for our industry? But where are you now? And where can you learn from where you are now so that you can move forward in a positive way? Sound good? All right, I've got my coffee. Let's go. We've got 20 boutique growth and marketing New Year's resolutions so that you can start the year off right. Resolution number one. And this is probably the longest resolution out of all of them. So bear with me. There's a lot to talk about here. Resolution number one, quit blaming Amazon for everything. Have you ever done that? Oh, man. Sometimes I see posts, and not just in our, in our boutique hub, but all over the Internet. People are like, oh, Amazon's really hurting this business in this industry and so on and so forth. And you know, maybe to a certain extent, I think if you let it hurt your industry, if you let it hurt your business, it's more of a mindset shift in my opinion, than it is an actual fact. And here's why. Two reasons there's things that we can embrace that Amazon does and has to offer and reasons our customers are shopping Amazon that we have the same access to, that we could be doing the same thing Amazon's doing in our own business. But number two, there's a lot of things that Amazon can't do and won't do and reasons why your business will be stronger because Amazon exists. So let me go deeper. Number one, how can we embrace what Amazon's doing? First is ease, ease. If we can't search for sizes and multiple products and specialty words. If you don't have a great selection or if I can't click with one click checkout, then that's not easy and that's what customers want. But with technology today, if you're a brick and mortar store and you're listening and you're wondering like, do I need to really be online? And yeah, you really do need to be online. If you're not online, in my opinion, in some way, shape or form, great with social media or at least having a website presence and driving traffic to your storefront some other way, you have to be where people are searching for you or you don't exist. So I just read a stat the other day that E commerce right now equates for 9% of retail sales as a whole, right? In retail, E Commerce equates for 9% in the end of 2020. By the end of 2020, they are estimating that it will jump to 13%. Think about that jump. Like if it's at 9% now and it's going to jump to 13% of total retail sales will be via E commerce will be on your desktop or on your mobile device or via your app. Isn't that crazy? That's a huge increase. So think about where we are headed and how we need to get on board with that. Now. At the same time, I'm going to preface it with if you know what your bread and butter is, you have to really be diligent to your bread and butter. And if that's your brick and mortar, if that's what's, you know, paying the bills, you got to be really diligent to not walk away from that and try to just chase e commerce because it is its own game. But we have to be thinking about how we are going to strengthen E commerce if we want to build a business that's viable three, five or 10 years into the future. And if this is like not your wheelhouse, there's a million people out there that can help you with it. And there's some awesome people inside of the hub that we love and trust and value that are e commerce experts that can help build those things for you. And then you have all the opportunity in the world to be resourceful. Find a college intern, right? Find if you are, you know, an older generation boutique owner, find a daughter, a granddaughter, or again a college intern, somebody who does feel comfortable with technology, if that's not you, and bring them in and start training them. Now you have every opportunity to be resourceful and be just as easy to use and have as many options in terms of fashion, fashion as Amazon does, right? People go there because it's easy, but your business can be just as easy to use. The second opportunity, you have to be just like Amazon. And I'm going to argue that just as much as Jeff Bezos wants your money, he wants your data. That's why he's got Whole Foods, that's why he's bought all these other companies, right? It's a data play and that is one of the greatest assets that you also have access to. So many times I think in boutique owner land, we get caught up in what's everyone else doing on social media. They're going to market and they're doing these photo shoots and it looks so glamorous behind the scenes. But what people don't post on social media is the not glamorous part of owning a business. And that's the hour sitting at your desk thinking about how could I re segment my list? How could I create automation so I can work smarter and not harder? How can I use this customer purchase data, right? Or my sales by class or vendor or sales by size to then resegment my list so that I can use this data smarter? 80% of our revenue comes from 20% of our list. And so the more we can really break down the data that we have at hand and how to use it, it's all about how do I get one more dollar out of my customer's pocket. Think about what that does to your year end revenue. Right? Just one more dollar per customer. So the data that you have, you have to be willing to sit down and take the time, even though it's not glamorous, to analyze it. And can I go on a soapbox for just a quick second? I think that we're all fed up with this idea that we have to keep up with the Joneses on social media. Like, we're over it, over it. And just because this boutique and that boutique and even boutiques in the hub, you guys, I love all of you in the hub, but everyone comes from a different demographic, different store type. What works for one person may not work for all sorts of. Whatever you do in 2020, try not to chase shiny objects. Try to chase your own data and test what's going to work for you. Implement iterate, test it again and keep working forward on what you know your customers are responding to versus trying the next best thing or looking for the golden ticket or looking for that one shiny new tool or resource that you heard somebody recommend on social media. Dig deeper into your data because I guarantee there are so many answers that lie inside of your data. All right? Within that, within data, I guess we hit on segmenting and creating automations, right? Another thing that's inside of your data and inside of how customers are searching for you is your SEO. And for a long time, I'll say I had no idea how to really use SEO and keywords. Like I was, I was oblivious to it, I thought I knew what it was, but I had no time to really dig into it. And I think a lot of us probably feel the same way. Like, it feels like just another thing feels a little overwhelming. But one thing we did this year, and I'm so happy that we did, we hired another marketing expert on our team who happens to be amazing with SEO. And he has totally rewritten the rules of the game in terms of how we do podcasts and blog posts and the content that we share. And we've talked about it so much in terms of boutique owners, where it feels like it's overwhelming. And you're probably getting all of these phone calls from quote unquote marketing experts and agencies that want to do SEO for you, charge you five grand a month, and then you're like, not really sure what they're working on at the end of the day or if it's fruitful or not because you don't understand it. Right? That's a great trap to fall into and have watched a lot of boutiques fall into that trap. So something that he and I are going to work on internally at the hub this year is how do we share what we've learned from SEO and share it with you? And as simple as I can put it into these terms, it's this. If your customers are searching for you on social media, what is the one single term they're going to use to search for you the most? If it is online? Women's boutique. I tell you what, Laura Benson giving you some shout outs because your SEO is amazing. And if you look at Laura's site, it's in every headline, it's in every sub headline, it's in the body copy. I could name a number of other boutiques that I love to just like follow and see how they work SEO too, now that I understand it on the back end. But it's just one simple keyword. Like, how is it that your customer is looking for you, right? If you carry plus sizes, if you cater to a curvy market, boy, do you have an opportunity, right? Get really specific about how you're going to be found and then get that word and those keywords everywhere on your website. And again, we'll talk about this a lot more inside of the boutique hub this year. But something to certainly keep in mind thinking about because Jeff Bezos wants your data, he has his own search platform in Amazon. And just as much as it's important to understand your SEO and your search for Google, I tell you what, YouTube and Pinterest, they're search platforms. And if you understand your keywords on Google, now you go into YouTube and you download your try on sessions and you start your YouTube channel and you go into Pinterest, which is a search platform and you start using it in your pin descriptions and in your board names and in your hashtags on Pinterest. And you're getting really consistent using tailwind. And you have an opportunity to drive a ton of traffic to your site without you constantly having to post on social media, right? This is how boutiques continue to grow over time, organically, without having to hustle for every single visitor that comes to the website. So those are two ways you can be a lot more like Amazon and not intimidated by them. But the real thing here is what makes you unlike Amazon is that you're a human being and you serve other human beings, right? Your customer service is unmatched. Your ability to understand your customer to know her, to love her, to serve her, to know her body type, to style her, to provide product education. That is something the big box stores and Amazon can't do. And one trend that I've really been noticing a lot lately, and I know we're all aware of this, is all these Chinese knockoff sites which love to steal your product photos, by the way. They're really, really heavy on Amazon. And so there's a lot of people that have gotten burned on Amazon, especially when it comes to fashion and like home goods, bath and beauty products as well. And you can't trust what you're going to get when you order there. And I think a lot more people are starting to wake up to that fact that, man, I really shouldn't be ordering these products on Amazon because I truthfully don't know what I'm going to get and I don't know what the quality is. But when they come to you and your business, they do know what they're going to get. And you've really got to be able to hang your hat on that. And we have stand together as an industry to wave that flag and to talk about all of the fraud that's happening around us and why doing business with independent retailers, whether it's in your brick and mortar on your website, is different and how consumers can trust you. You know, there's so many Facebook groups out there where it's, you know, groups of women that are rallied around a cause. And a lot of times the questions they ask each other are, hey, where did you get this? Or where did you get that? And, and those women often are quick to share the cheapest place, which is often those knockoff sites. But in a lot of those groups I'm in, I'm starting to see many more of them say, hey, don't order from these places. Let's find a boutique that actually has this product, the original product and the high version or the high quality version of the product. So huge thing to hang your hat on. Stop letting Amazon influence you or intimidate you because you've got game, sister. And you got to stay in your lane and make it happen for your business in 2020. Resolution number two is, well, that's ironic. Stay in your lane, right? No more comparing yourself to others and other businesses on social media. And I alluded to this a little bit ago, but again, so often we see other boutiques that are, you know, traveling to LA on a regular basis or they're set up at the NFR or they're opening A second location, or they're doing this, that, and the other thing. And you think, man, if she's doing it, I've got to do it. Or that's the definition of successor. If she's opening her second brick and mortar, man, she must really be making money. And I'm over here. I'm not able to pay myself yet. Have you ever had those thoughts? You know, it's easy to see the highlight reel, but without really measuring what matters, and that is profit in the bank. So you can actually help someone else or help your own family or impact a big cause or a big why. Doesn't really matter, does it? So I've seen some posts already in the new year where some of our members have talked about downsizing. This year they've decided that, you know what? Bigger isn't always better. And it's better to be smaller, but to be profitable and to be happy and to be fulfilled than to constantly chase this rat race that we think we have to keep up with online. So resolution number two, stay in your lane. No more comparing yourself to strangers on the Internet. All right, resolution number three. This is kind of the Yang and the Yang of social media. You know, we talk about not comparing yourself to others, but in resolution number three, let's talk about how we can use social media to continue to grow, and that is to embrace the influencers on social media and figure out how to grow with them. So there's a number of influencers today that I feel don't mesh well with boutiques. They want to promote Walmart or they want to promote Amazon, and they do it because they're trying to make a living, too. Right? And those are the big sites that have influencer programs and that have commission programs or they use like to know it. But there are a number of influencers that will still work with boutiques. We just have to make sure we seek them out and we continue to collaborate with them in a meaningful way so that it's a partnership and it's a win win for them and for you. And when I say influencer, I think that can be kind of a, like, annoying word for some people. Like, you either love it or you hate it. I don't just mean fashion influencers, but truly look for lifestyle influencers, makeup artists, athletes, fellow business owners, speakers, health and wellness coaches. Everyone has to wear clothes, right? So anyone who has clothes on their body and has some level of influence or authority may be a good fit for you. Not just someone who, quote, unquote, calls themselves a fashion Influencer resolution. Number four, more video. More video. More video on Facebook and Instagram and YouTube and Pinterest has video and TikTok. All of the things. Video views for your product, photography on your website, more video resolution. Number five, forget likes. Build engagement. Likes are just a vanity metric. Engagement is what pays the bills. Money follows eyeballs and the way that we get eyeballs is by having a meaningful relationship with someone. So asking them more questions, man. If you're into Instagram stories, I love Instagram stories. The more you're into the polls and the yes or no or the this or that or the fill in the blanks, all the things. Build engagement by having a meaningful two way relationship with somebody. Number six, TikTok. Learn it. Because those videos, those cute little try on sessions that are like in fast forward motion. I was gonna say slow motion. What's the opposite of slow motion? I don't know. Fast forward motion sounds legit. It works. And they're super cute. You can put music to them. It's a great way to show multiple outfits. It's a handy little platform and it's only going to continue to grow and explode in 2020 resolution. Number seven, buying. Oh, this is such an important one. Buying is a full time job based on data. It's based on data. So I know right now you're listening and you probably have 13 tabs open on Fashion Go, right? Anybody, if you have a tab open on Fashion Go and you were listening to this podcast, I need you to send me a screenshot because it would be hilarious. And I know that we like to surf and shop a little bit here and there, right? But in 2020, in order to build a profitable, sustainable business, we have to start buying based on data because our customers are demanding it of us. You know, it used to be. And I'll tell you, you know, being from North Dakota originally and living in Wisconsin now, it took so long and in some cases it still takes a little bit longer for trends to reach where we are in the Midwest. I remember a friend from college coming home and she had these cute red like crop pants and she actually had a boss tell her, like, honey, this town is not ready for your red pants yet. Back in the day, probably 10 years ago now, because trends, you know, we always looked for the retailer. We looked for them to be the trendsetter. But because of social media today, we're the trendsetter. The consumer is the trendsetter, the college kid is the trendsetter. Right? They see what's happening on Instagram and they want to be early adopters. So you as a buyer have to buy so much smarter and further ahead, to be honest, to keep up with those trends and those demands and have to have a really, really keen ear to listen to what your customer is saying and to watch what your customer's doing in order to remain relevant in her eyes. Because consumers are looking for the businesses that uplevel their style, right, that bring them up a level, not somebody who's maybe at the same level as them or, oh, just not quite as stylish as the consumer is. Does that make sense? So buying as a full time job based on data, your reports, your point of sale, your aging, understand your classes, your brands, your sizes, the trends that are actually turning, that is really, really going to be important for you as always in 2020. Resolution number eight. Women with curves matter. Women with curves matter. The average size in America is a size 14 and most brands go to a size 12. And I know so many of you are like banging your head against a wall as you hear me say this, because you have tried to serve women with curves and as much as you want to, the brands are not listening. If you are a wholesaler and you are listening, please, for the love, dress women with curves because they need it and they deserve it. So how can we take what we have available to us and make it educational and worthwhile to our customers? You know, if you have pieces that maybe are a large or an extra large, but could definitely dress a 2 or a 3x, how are you styling it? How are you showing it? If your photography is a flat lay and you're trying to sell the curvy women, it will never work. So speak directly to your customers. Get women with curves to model with you. Make sure if you are a skinny lady, you have to have someone with curves on your staff that can speak the language and understand the challenges, understand how things fit so that your customers feel like, oh, finally someone understands me, someone understands my needs. That's what all women are looking for in a boutique, right? It doesn't matter what size or shape you are. People just want to feel understood and appreciated, valued and that the boutique they are doing business with really understands them and gets them. They're going to be your customer for life. Resolution number nine, up your photography game always. This should be a resolution every single year. Up your photography game. Resolution number 10, embrace your team on a personal level and where they're headed next. You know, I'm sure many of your parents and my parents generation, for them it was noble to be in a role for 30 years and you built loyalty to the company you were with. And I think now as a business owner, as much as that sounds nice, and as much as I would love to believe our team at the boutique Hub, let me just tell you this. I love them. I adore them. They are my family, they're my closest friends. I would go to bat for anything for them. They're amazing. But would I really be serving them and doing them justice if I said this can be the only place you work in your life? Like, yep, you're here now. You're here for the long run? No. I have to love them so much as people that I want what's best for them no matter what. And I think that's a challenge for so many business owners today because we feel like they have to be here to serve us and we have to get as much out of them as we possibly can. And then when they leave, we're upset or we have turnover problems because we aren't thinking about what fits them best as individuals. So if you are into growing your team, asking the question about, really, what do you. What do you want to do long term? What's the best version of yourself? Well, how could I help you live into the best version of yourself? What do you really want to be doing? What's really fulfilling? What would make this a win for you? Where do you want to go from here? Asking those questions and truly caring is so important that you can continue to grow and build your team and they're going to, hands down, bend over backwards for you if they know you have their best interest at heart as well. Resolution number 11. Capitalize on vintage or on resale. As Depop and Thredup and Poshmark are becoming such huge players in our market and competition for the boutique industry, how can you capitalize on that yourself? Having a resale page or some opportunity to reuse products in your boutique, your customers are going to continue to ask for it. So time to get on the bandwagon. Ahead of the bandwagon. Same with resolution number 12. I think these kind of go hand in hand using vintage fashion, but also ethical. Fashion is upon us. Sustainable fashion is upon us. At some point, someone's going to make a Netflix NETFLIX documentary on the waste in the fashion industry. And it's going to be devastating. I'm just going to call it. Because if you think about all those plastic bags that all of your stuff comes in, right? All of the waste, all of the hangers, all of all the things that are wasteful in our industry, our consumers are going to continue to demand that we become more sustainable, more ethical. And so how can you start to think about that ahead of the game. And if our consumers don't demand it soon, the law will. Whatever happens in California may trickle. Right. And California already has a lot of laws around consumerism that the rest of the United States and the world does not yet adopt. So think about ethical fashion and how we can be leaders and have that conversation with our customers before they demand it. Resolution number 13. Retail is both an art, the fun stuff and a science, the not so fun stuff. And in order to be successful, we have to utilize both sides of our brain. What does that mean? Resolution number 13 is know your numbers. This is your year to master your inventory, to work with Shopify, Delirious profit, Shopventory, your point of sale system, whatever it is. Knowing what's on hand, what's aging, what's turning your classes right, what's your open to buy, understanding your P L and your expense categories and knowing in your expense categories what is a true expense and what's an investment? What can yield an ROI for you? What are the percentages of those expenses? Are you within range? And where can you afford to invest and grow? And where can you start to pay yourself more? It's your year to know your numbers. Resolution number 14, get visible and be your brand's leader. You know I think we talked about this when it came to Amazon, that people want to do business with people and it is your time to be visible for your brand and to be the thought leader, to be on your videos, to be in your try on sessions and to not just be talking about product but talking about life. Because your customers love you, because they want to be a part of your community. They think you get them and understand them and you're similar to them in some way, I'm sure. So they want to know more about you and what makes you tick behind the scenes. So be your brand's Leader. Resolution number 15, Karen's opinion doesn't matter. And you should probably just block Karen, right? Amen. I don't think we have to say anything else about that. Also this could be Karen, your neighbor down the street, your mother in law or anyone else in your life that is holding you back. Block Karen. More collaborations. Resolution number 16, more collaborations. We work in community over competition at the hub and the more we can embrace the idea that we are stronger when we work together, the better off that all of us are going to Be. So whether that's hosting giveaways with fellow boutique owners or brands that you carry in your store or influencers or, you know, a business down the street like the salon or a tire store, you can collaborate with just about anyone and everyone. So more collaborations, more connections, and continue to grow your community by working together with others. Number 17. There is still room at the table. There's still room at the table. And if your table looks the same as you, it's time to get a new table or time to figure out how to pull more chairs up to the table. Right? I think about this as a whole in our industry and in our communities, if there is a leadership entity in your community, say Chamber of Commerce or Main street association or anything like that, and it is the same group of people leading that entity, and they all look the same, and they do it because that's the way it's always been done, then it's time for some new blood and new ideas and the time to embrace people that may be different than you. And it's time for you to step up and say, hey, I have fresh ideas and I can lead, too. So whatever that means for you in your life. I could tell you 100 different examples that I've seen, but I think it's up to you to decide what are the tables that you're sitting at and do they look the same as you, and is it time to find a new table or to add chairs to your table? Resolution number 18. Know the 4B's of building your boutique, which is branding, buying, being authentic, and being consistent. I get asked all the time, could you tell me more? Could you go deeper? Is there a secret? What is everyone that's most successful doing? What is the answer? Those speakers did not go in depth enough here or there, because there must be more. And I get frustrated when I hear that sometimes because I think, you know what? There isn't a secret. And even if this boutique owner that you see as wildly successful shared their secret with you, the secret that pushed them over the edge, chances are that's not going to be the secret that pushes you over the edge, because you have a very different life and business and operation instead of circumstances. The only secret that you should know is that there is no secret. But it's hard work. It's being consistent. It's being authentically you and not your best version of anyone else. It's buying smarter and using data and understanding what your customer really wants and giving her more of that. And it's branding. It's Better branding, right? More quality branding, photography, video. Really getting clear with who you are, what you are, what you're doing, why you're doing it, and how your community can be a part of it. That is the secret of growing your boutique. Number 19. Build relationships with your vendors. We want. I visit with vendors a lot, and sometimes I get complaints from vendors that sound like that. Gosh, I wish the boutique owners that bought from me would treat me like they want their customers to treat them. Oh, something to think about, right? Treat other people how you want to be treated. And that goes for every level of our industry, right? Gosh, I wish that consumers would treat you guys better. Sometimes would treat boutique owners like those reviews that come in. I know what that's like. It hurts. And I think vendors want the same thing. How can we as an industry build stronger partnerships and collaborations with our vendors, friendships with our vendors, so that it's a win win partnership where we can continue to grow together and not just I'm the customer and I'm always right, right? Because sometimes you've got customers that feel like that I'm the customer, so I'm right. So just don't be the boutique owner that says that to your vendor. I'm the boutique owner, so I'm always right. But how can we work together to find solutions, to really get what you need stocked in your boutique, to get it there on time and within a decent amount of shipping cost, right? So we can build partnerships to be stronger together. When you win, your vendors win, Right? And when your vendors win, you should win with them. Finally, resolution number 20. And I did hit on this a little bit already. There's no magic bullet. There is no secret. There is no instant gratification, which our entire world is so hung up on. Instant gratification, right? We want fast food, we want fast fashion. We want fast profitability, we want fast everything. But there is no instant gratification on the road to success. There's only the answers that are worth finding. I think about this Thomas Edison quote often because it's one. I think I heard this quote maybe first in high school, and it's stuck with me since then. But opportunity is often missed because it's dressed in overalls and disguised as work. And coming from, like growing up on a ranch, I understand the meaning of that firsthand. And it's easy today to hear society and to let society sway us into thinking, well, this should be easier. Or I see so and so doing it, and if she's doing it, how come I can't do it. And if she's successful already, how come I'm not successful already? There. There's got to be this one answer, and there's not. And, and yet I'm going to say this, knowing that so many of you are listening to me going, God Dang it, Ashley, 2019 was a dumpster fire. I couldn't pay myself and I'm working my tail off. So don't tell me to work harder. And I'm not telling you to work harder. But what I'm telling you is the answer is taking the next right step. That's it. It's understanding what's happening in my business right now, using the data, analyzing it, iterating on it, trying something. And if it works, you do more of it, right? There's little things along the way where you're going to pick up a nugget here, there, everywhere. Maybe one podcast gives you one nugget and you implement it. And then one training in the Hub gives you one nugget and one conversation with your boutique bestie gives you one nugget. It's just about finding those little tiny nuggets, testing them, iterating on them and being consistent, showing up and doing it again, but doing it authentically, as only you can do it only in your own unique way that only you are capable of. That is how growth happens. I think about my own journey at the Hub, and I'm going to warn you of this because I had in my own mind for the longest time that I had this big idea, you know, and I thought it was a great idea. And I also thought, certainly there is someone out there smarter than me that can do this better than I can or that knows how to do this. I mean, I cold called and cold emailed everyone under the sun who I thought could be a resource to me, asking for help or asking questions. And most of which, I tell you, went ignored, most of which I got no's or no responses, right? But the times that I got a yes or the times that I got an answer, I ran with it. But what hung me up was I got to the point where I invited someone into the business that I thought was going to be the savior, right? Oh, this person knows how to run startups. This person knows how to work with retail. They know how to work with E commerce. They're smarter than me. I'm going to let them run with it. And what happened was that person totally pulled the wool over our eyes, drained the bank account, blocked me from the Facebook groups. I'D started, the customer list, had our business name. Like, what I knew of the Boutique Hub at that point was gone. And I thought we were done for, right? And it happened because I did not believe that I was capable of making it happen. I didn't believe in myself. I thought someone else had an answer better than me. And that sucked for pretty much an entire year. And what I had to do in that moment, I'll never forget it was laying on the couch crying, literally. And Eric came up to me and he's like, you know what? It's okay. You deserve to lay there and cry. And this sucks. And I don't know how to help you other than you have to decide what your next step is. Like, what's one step you're going to take? Are you going to let this be it? You're going to throw in the towel or are you going to fight? And for me, it was, I'm going to fight. And I started to hustle and just start to take the next best step, right? Like, start to ask more questions, start to iterate, start to provide as much knowledge as I could to the community that I still was able to maintain and grow from that point forward. And I tell you what, you guys, the cream always rises to the top in any situation. I'm sure many of you have had similar situations where you've trusted someone and it didn't work out. But the people that lead you astray, I tell you, the cream always rises to the top because that person started to scam people. It fell apart. And we moved forward in a way that was just purely on helping people for free. It built an audience, it built our community. It built the foundation of what we believe in here at the Hub. But it was just built one step at a time. And over that time, I had to realize that I was capable of building the thing. I was capable of surrounding myself with people smarter than me when I could, asking them as many questions, gleaning just that one little nugget and implementing it. And you're capable of the same thing. Just take the one nugget, implement it, and you will continue to see results and grow. But you have to have the belief in yourself that you are capable and that it is possible for you guys. That is it for my 2020 New Year's resolutions for boutique owners and for our industry. I hope that there was a nugget in here for you. And let me just say, I am so humbled that you guys show up and listen the way that you do, and the messages that you send me. I love hearing from you. Please keep them coming over at ajalderson on Instagram. I like to shoot back a lot of video responses, so I know some of you have gotten those from me. But thank you for being a part of our community, for being a part of our mission, and for continuing to believe in yourself. Because I believe that our world is built on the backs of small business and that when your business grows and succeeds, it changes your life, your family's life, your staff's life, and therefore the community and the world around you. So thank you for following your dreams and doing what you're doing. And thank you for allowing me and our team and our family at the Boutique Hub to be a part of it. You guys, wishing you the most success in 2020. It's going to be epic. I will see you inside of the Hub and inside of our best year yet challenge, which we are in the middle of as we speak. I hope you're participating. It's free for all of our members. It's going to be an epic year, you guys. Thank you for listening and we will see you next time. Thank you guys so much for listening to today's episode all about New Year's resolutions. Hey, if there's one thing I know so many people are working on today as we speak, it is setting your 2020 up for success using your planner. If you haven't already had an opportunity to take a look at the Boutique Boss Planner, I invite you to do so. Because we have have poured our heart and soul and all of our past experiences, good, bad and indifferent with planners into creating a planner built just for your business. From tracking inventory and social media stats to understanding what promotions are working in your business right now, to what do Boutique owners need to know every year, every month, every quarter, complete with checklists so you can continue to work with your team and grow your business. It's all inside of the planner. So I invite you to take a look over@boutiquebossplanner.com and I would love to get you one into your hands to make 2020 your best year yet. Hey guys, thank you so much for listening to this episode. We hope that you loved it. Don't forget to hit subscribe and leave a rating and review down below for a chance to be one of our featured listeners each and every week. For more information on our spirit of community over competition and how to access complete show notes and bonus downloads from our guests, head on over to the boutiquehub.com and join the community we'll see you next week. Sa.