Five Minute Friday: 10 Resolutions to Revolutionize Your Retail Game in 2025

Foreign. Business can be a lonely game. But it doesn't have to be. Welcome to Boutique Chat where we explore community over competition and how to scale your company with the balance and the happiness that we all seek. We'll hear from product based businesses of all types, retailers, e commerce and wholesale brands, along with industry experts shaping the future of our industry. I'm your host Ashley Alderson from the Boutique Hub and I can't wait to chat. Hey, it's you and me and it's Friday and it's time for a five minute Friday and I love this quick topic and this is my 10 New Year's resolutions for retailers for 2025. Let's get into it. Number one, quit blaming outside forces for business flops. Oof. Okay, these are going to be direct. Did I tell you that? So, so no more blaming. Sheen, Timu, election year, your mother, your crazy aunt. I don't care what it is. No more blaming. Either be the victim of the situation, which is placing blame, or be the victor and say, you know what? Yes, this sucked. You know what, an election year is hard, but here's what I'm doing about it. The same goes for when you ask for advice and feedback in the Facebook groups. No more sales are down. Is it down for you too? No more blaming and being the victim. How about yes, sales are down. Here's what I'm doing about it. Here's what I think I could do about it. Do you have any feedback or advice for me? Be the victor and take control of the situation to get the outcome that you really want to deserve. You really do deserve. Not want to deserve. Do deserve. Gosh. Okay, number two, resolution number two, not understanding your analytics is no longer an option. So make the resolution that I will understand and leverage all of my business analytics. It's such a time to do this, guys. Whether it's understanding your traffic, all of your sales patterns, knowing your margin, understanding better your inventory on hand and how to plan your inventory, really leaning into your average order value, your rate of discounts and your turn rate, understanding those numbers. I know it's like, you know, left, right brain types of conversations. But when we really dig down into knowing our numbers and what that means, it's funny because it opens up all the creative process of the marketing and fun side of our brain. So believe it or not, numbers equal freedom. So lean into it. Lean into those analytics. It's going to make you a better business owner. All right, resolution number three, you are capable of understanding your own paid ad strategy. This has Been a big issue for a lot of retailers in the last couple of years and something that we've seen just, you know, a place where a lot of bleeding has happened. I'll say retailers spending 5, 10, 15, 20, $25,000 a month with agencies, but really not seeing the return that they want. Now don't get me wrong, there are wonderful agencies out there that work, that get you a return. They're great, always a wonderful option. But what we've seen through boutique Hub Black this year is hundreds of boutique owners take their ad strategy in house and learn how to run paid traffic on their own and seeing many major returns in doing so. So you are capable, it is possible, you can do it and you can make lots of money along the way. All right, number four, I hope you make the New Year's resolution to embrace your personal brand. You're not just flipping products, but you are building a brand, a community, relationships. And when you do that, you can sell anything more than T shirts, real estate, mlm, I don't care what it is. Building a personal brand allows you to diversify and create multiple revenue streams. So, so lean into it. Number five, bigger isn't better. Better is better. Get lean, not leaky. So lean into. Lean into. Getting lean. I almost said that as really dumb play on words. All right, lean into being lean. Lean into. Where are the income generating activities in your business? Where is there an opportunity to double down on the investment and cut the expenses that are not working for you? Number six, businesses that build systems, processes and people and focus on those three things first are the most successful businesses long term. So make it your New Year's resolution to double down on systematizing your business. Whether that comes into employee training strategy like making a long term process for building, optimizing, training your team, or it's understanding the systems and processes and flow in your business that can become more efficient. Really lean into systems and processes. The book Clockwork by Mike Michalowicz, great help. The book Traction by Gino Wickman, also a really great help. Two places to start for sure. All right, number seven, be a leader and be professional. Okay. There's a reason I make this a resolution. Honestly, it's because you know what is frustrating? From my vantage point, I see posts and comments from thousands of retailers around the world every day. And sometimes I'm sad because I look at some of the ways that retailers speak to one another and to vendors and to customers and I'm like, girl, you can be more professional than this. Like you're Kind of being a little bit whiny right now or rude. So I just think it's the golden rule. Treat other people how you want to be treated. And you're a business owner, so be professional. Sometimes there is a sense of entitlement and God, I hate saying that someone's probably gonna send me a nasty message, but I'm gonna be real. Like, sometimes there is a real sense of entitlement and I demand that I'm gonna be treated this way. Well, man, hold yourself to a higher standard. And when you treat people really well and with some grace and dignity and kindness, they're going to do the same for you. And I'm really calling on our entire industry to lean into that because I think sometimes when business gets a little bit slower, those old ways of doing things and those unprofessional habits have a way of being more pronounced than they should be. So be a leader, be professional, and use the golden rule. Number eight. No more. No more using. I know I should. I know I should. It's like kind of whiny like I should. I could, I would, but I didn't. What's on the other side of I should, I could, I would is actually I'm scared or it makes me uncomfortable to think about doing that. So I encourage you to think about the opportunity to fail fast in this business and to lean into the scary idea of testing to see what works. No more. I know I should, but I'm going to. And then I'm going to see what happens and make a calculated strategy to follow. Lean into it. Number nine. All right. What you focus on, you're going to find more of. So put yourself in the right rooms this year. Surround yourself by people. Brendon Burchard always says, there's old friends, there's maintenance friends, and there's growth friends. And 90% of the people we spend our time with should be growth friends. The people who see us for not who we were, not just who we are, but who we are aspiring to be. Put yourself in the right room of people who are positive, like minded, professional, and who get where you want to go and can help you get there. And finally, number 10, have you read the book the Four Agreements? If not, read it. One of the things I love about this book is this saying, be impeccable with your word. To me, it just simply means have integrity. Growing up, this was the number one core value that my mom and dad instilled in my sisters and my brother. And I was being impeccable with your word and having integrity. Do what you say you're going to do. Be who you tell people you are going to be. Show up and treat people honestly with the Golden Rule. Be willing to give other people the shirt off your back and hopefully they will do the same in return. That's it for my 10 New Year's resolutions. You guys. I am cheering you on always and every single day here at the Hub. Reach out anytime you've got a question, an idea. Hopefully you're inside of our membership groups at the Hub and I get to talk to you on a daily basis, but I will always be here on the podcast to have your back. Wishing you a Merry, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and an incredible 2025. Thanks for listening guys. I hope you took away all kinds of nuggets and new ideas from this week's episode. Don't forget to subscribe and leave a rating and review. We love to hear your feedback and give you a chance to be featured on the show each and every week. For more information on our spirit of community over competition and to access guest downloads and bonuses and all the resources we talked about on the show and head on over to the boutiquehub.com and join the community. We'll see you next week.