Boost Your Boutique with Emily Benson

0:24.5 You don't need a lot of money to start a boutique business.

0:36.6 Let's say that the first way is through dropshipping. There are lots of dropshippers that are now connected through Shopify. So all you have to do is have a Shopify website.

0:55.4 You pay for the good as the person buys for it, but it's a really nice way to start a business with very little money. You will have to pay the Shopify fee and sometimes drop shippers do have initial setup.

1:08.6 Then you don't have a whole shipping station in your house. You don't have to worry about getting inventory shipped to a warehouse or storing anything. 

1:22.4 Another easy way to start a boutique business with almost no money is to do it with your own clothing.

1:28.6 Start a consignment store. If you can source really beautiful stuff from your own closet, from other people's closets, and leverage that to start a business, then you can start to make money. 

2:19.8 You do need to design the merchandise that you are selling and you actually really need to make it cute because everyone thinks they can do print on demand now, but you have to make sure it's great.

2:31.6 The cool thing about print on demand is you can do apparel. You could do notebooks. You can do mugs. You can do. Bags. You can do so many different things now.

2:53.6 It's a nice way to add income streams to your business and it's a great way to start. 

Resources:

Order your 2024 BOUTIQUE CALENDAR today! 🎉

Visit Boutique Training Academy - If you want to make more money in your boutique or retail business you're in the right place. We'll guide you step by step in your journey through Boutiqueland. 🛍️

NEW BOOK #TheRetailMindset available on Amazon

Let’s be friends! 😊

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Have questions? I'd love to hear from you! Email me at [email protected].

Mentioned in this episode:

Retail Riches Free Workshop

Does this sound like you? You work so hard. You feel so broke. You have racks, boxes, basements, storage units full of inventory. You never have quite the right items or quantities in stock. You feel disorganized and often overwhelmed at what your next step in your business should be. At...

0:41.2 One of the things that I know for sure across all of my clients that I work with as a boutique consultant is I want them all to relax.

1:18.4 I think we need to set much better boundaries than we have in the past. And I think a lot of people just were hustling and that's like how they were raised. And that's what patriarchy tells us to do.

2:25.4 So every time you expand, every time you make more money, you're going to have to put more support systems in place.

3:47.8 So in for 2024 is relaxing and out is hustle.

4:32.4 You've got to have a basic plan for your business. 

4:50.0 You need to be examining your business at a really granular level. 

5:47.0 A plan safeguards you against these feelings of things aren't going well.

6:28.6 If you've been in business for a few years, you've got to stop looking all over the place at what you should be doing.

7:01.7 What is out right now is looking at anyone else in boutique land, anyone else, what they're doing and trying to copy it.

7:39.5 We have to stop looking outside. We have to go within. 

8:30.6 you're going to sell more when you are excited about the stuff that you're selling. 

10:04.3 I've always internally had a problem with a dupe because you're just copying someone else you're literally copying and Selling it and then saying you're doing it like it's very strange to me that anyone would think that this is okay not to mention it's just like  It's not original.

11:20.0 I think graphic tees are good on their way out I think everyone is doing them and I don't know who's wearing them 

13:47.7 I think what's in this year for 2024 is being super specialized, like being a beach shop, being a really boho shop, being like really leaning in like to what makes you feel good.

14:29.0 Your marketing will be that much easier and like you'll have something to be known for.

Resources:

Order your 2024 BOUTIQUE CALENDAR today! 🎉

Visit Boutique Training Academy - If you want to make more money in your boutique or retail business you're in the right place. We'll guide you step by step in your journey through Boutiqueland. 🛍️

NEW BOOK #TheRetailMindset available on Amazon

Let’s be friends! 😊

1:30.6 Pop ups are anything that are temporary or semi permanent. And the idea is that you're going there, you're testing the location, you're testing the audience, and you're seeing if it works for you.

2:25.8 You've got to figure out what the vibe of your customer is going to be so that you know where they're going to be.

2:48.6 You want to study the other vendors that are there. You want to study the ones that look busy. You want to see what they're doing.

3:50.2 If you have good product and good branding, you should be okay at these events. So pop ups are really important. 

4:44.4 So understand that getting out and doing these collaborative events with business owners could be so good for you now

5:55.4 I put on a food truck festival in my town where my store was with my truck and I was like, you know what? I'm gonna do an event for the town.

6:19.5 I will say just the goodwill, the knowledge, the talking about my business, because I was a  running, it was so good for me.

6:27.1 So don't hesitate to be the leader in your area and bring together other people. Bring together other pop-ups.

6:41.3 if you don't have the opportunity to do what you need to do to run your business, you have to create the opportunity.

7:03.3 Get yourself out there. Get talking to people. Pop ups are so, so good and you should be doing them this year.

Resources:

Order your 2024 BOUTIQUE CALENDAR today! 🎉

Visit Boutique Training Academy - If you want to make more money in your boutique or retail business you're in the right place. We'll guide you step by step in your journey through Boutiqueland. 🛍️

NEW BOOK #TheRetailMindset available on Amazon

Let’s be friends! 😊

Facebook 

Instagram

Have questions? I'd love to hear from you! Email me at [email protected].

Mentioned in this episode:

Overbought Webinar

OVERBOUGHT: A FREE Webinar for {Boutique Owners} Who Know They Have Too Much Inventory Sales have slowed. You don't have the right styles. It's almost Fall and your boutique's revenue growth feels like it needs a jolt. What if I told you if you start now, you can end this year with low stock, high bank balances and maybe even a tropical vacation in January. If you're making $10k or more per month consistently, I'm talking to you! The solution to your inefficiency with inventory is NOT adding dropshipping or print on demand. Let's just analyze your sales, adjust your buys and make you more money the old fashioned way. It's literally worked for hundreds of years and when it's done well, can be incredibly profitable. Product based businesses need to shift now and inventory is what truly moves the needle. Get this 90 minute FREE TRAINING NOW!

Overbought Training

Sky's the Limit...

1:33.0 The thing about having a brick and mortar is you have automatic traffic If you pick a good location, so All the clients that I've ever had open a brick and mortar business, I'm always like pay for traffic, pay for good location, because that's something that you don't automatically get in a mobile business.

1:56.1 If you're in a location that's really rural or has really specific zones where people go to shop, you want to exist in those places as a mobile shop. 

2:10.2 I find that when people open mobile boutiques in the middle of nowhere, it's just really hard to find customers.

2:16.1 If you're online now, I think the best way to think about whether or not it's more economical or not is what the traffic situation is.

2:32.9 If you live in a place that's heavily dependent on brick and mortars and you could find a good location in a prime spot, honestly, opening a brick and mortar might be for you.

2:47.2 Now I talked about mine being a 30 foot step van and that was huge. If I were to redo it, I would absolutely make it smaller.

3:31.3 Trailer boutiques are like an elevated version of doing pop ups. 

3:37.4 So it's halfway between doing a pop up show, like where you go to a market or you go to an indoor market and set up a booth. And then it's kind of like a brick and mortar too, because obviously it's a more permanent space.

3:55.7 You have to worry about how big this is, especially if you know you're going to do events where the parking lots aren't that huge or like it is a tight spot.

5:09.8 We saw people in New York that had trucks get fully arrested and like taken away and their trucks get towed. So with a grain of salt, I say yes, you do need permission sometimes.

5:20.4 Okay, so most places when we talk about permission, you're going to need permission from the state or local authorities with some kind of hawker or peddler's license.

6:07.0 You will have to provide that insurance at some point and you should have it anyway.

6:14.0 So like don't skimp on insurance, get the best of the best, even if it's a little more expensive.

7:06.7 So no matter what you do, your truck is always your billboard.

7:54.4 The insurance you need, two kinds, collision and comprehensive, and then you need business liability insurance.

8:20.0 I never covered what was in my truck in terms of Merchandise.

8:39.9 I was protected with that liability insurance for my business, for anyone like getting hurt or injured around when it was parked inside and outside that covered me for events. It covered me for shopping. I never had to use it.

10:45.8 So just remember, you can put anything in a truck. I've seen people put shoe stores in trucks, kids stores in trucks, uh, soap shops, flower shops, like we've seen all over the place

11:50.9 I stopped for a couple of reasons. One, I got really sick of driving. I was physically very sore. I did like 200 and something events a year. Sometimes like 245 events a year. 

Resources:

Order your 2024 BOUTIQUE CALENDAR today! 🎉

Visit Boutique Training Academy - If you want to make more money in your boutique or retail business you're in the right place. We'll guide you step by step in your journey through Boutiqueland. 🛍️

NEW BOOK #TheRetailMindset...

0:24.0 I want to show you why your January negative self talk and your negative, in general, self talk about the economy is,  it's,  it's putting your boutique out of business.

1:24.6 January is a trash month

1:31.8 In the retail world, it is trash, which means you get to take time off. 

2:24.9 No, the economy is not bad, your product sucks.  You have a bad product. No one wants it. People will buy products that they want.

2:24.1 If there's something you want, you will figure out how to buy it. 

2:47.1 So if you have bad product and you're complaining that you don't have sales, you have bad product. Okay. It's not the economy. It's not inflation. 

2:55.0 Are people spending less? Yeah. Are they being more thoughtful about their spends? Yeah. Are they going to more events and doing more things outside that are more experience based? Yes. So your product based business has to be.

3:13.3 Let's start to be more creative. Let's start to design our own stuff Let's get together with a friend and start making wholesale and having unique styles for our boutiques Like let's stop just selling bad stuff and wholesalers.

3:28.9 Talk to your customers, talk to boutique owners, do open pack sizing, like, you have to be freaking for real right now in boutique land, okay

4:03.0 I'm sitting here saying you need better products.

4:20.9 You gotta stop blaming the economy because I lived through retail and one of the biggest crashes

4:30.8 The concept still was working right after the 2008 crash.

4:44.8 You're going to feel like crap. You're not going to want to sell stuff. People aren't really going to want to buy stuff unless it's like cozy or candles.

5:45.3 Number one, it's not the economy. It's not inflation. It's that you have product that people don't want. I'm not going to say it's bad. I'm not going to like put too much negative stuff on it, but be serious about your product.

6:01.9 Don't be too cheap. Don't be too high. Be somewhere in the middle. And if you sell a lot of high end stuff, could you bring in lower end stuff, lower price stuff? If you sell lower price stuff, could you bring higher price stuff in?

6:33.7 January is for resting. It is for resting in retail. January is a rest month in retail.

6:45.9 Stop putting pressure on it. Go on vacation. Take times off. Do staycation. Count your inventory.  Chill out, okay? You get to have a chill January. And then you can come back and have a Galentine's party for February.

7:16.7 So can we just stop complaining? Can we honestly strategy wise go back and see what were our best sellers last year? How are we going to repeat it this year? What's our sales plan for this year? What's our buying plan? What markets are we going to? What months are we going to be buying at those markets? Let's start to plan the year.

7:38.4 I want to be very clear. You could be flat to last year and that's incredible. Okay. If you want to grow, put in more effort, post more on social media, refine your product assortment, get a buying plan together and stick to the buying plan.

7:55.9 We know all these things that we need to do to grow, but we have to take care of ourselves first. 

8:07.2 Right now is your time to ground down and look to the future, work on mindset, work on getting excited about next year coming.

8:15.5 Analyze your sales from last year. See what, what worked, see what didn't work....

4:09.0 January gets a bad rap. It really needs to be rebranded into January is rest, relaxation, rejuvenation. It's also like organizing, prepping, planning, and at a pace that feels gentle and tender and kind.

8:27.8 So where I see retail and boutiques being really different is retail feels really big. 

9:39.2 People that look like they're big time might not be making the money you think they might not have the influence you think, or they'll have the influence in the wrong space.

11:29.5  And, you know, I do think if you are interested in doing white label product, beauty products, you want to go to a show that has like more stuff, maybe your general merchandise, maybe you have a gift store. This might be something that You want to come and look at, um, I will be on their podcast too, coming up soon here.

12:37.0 I think one of the things that it's really nice to do in January is analyze your routines

13:47.7 So we do talk about my plan and we do talk about Facebook ads, but we also talk about getting a launch schedule down and doing a launch schedule. And because that's going to lead you to being in a position where you have a routine. And so instead of doing tasks in your business, instead of just saying, Oh, I need to schedule out my social media. It's actually your routine.

16:08.3 I need to get more routines in my life so that I can get more tasks done because my brain is not great at task switching, which like whose is if you are like you're a rare bird, I think.

16:21.4 I feel like I was in search for some systems to get these routines down because at the end of the day, if you think of goals at the top of your hierarchy, like you're, so this is Brendon Burchard again, like taking his work.

16:46.8 But one of the things I really have been wrapping my head around, and I think this has gotten me so clear because  I love manifesting. I love writing down things. I love journaling. I love burning pieces of paper to get rid of my bad thoughts. You know, I love all that stuff. I love it.  Something about this framework, though, just really struck a chord with me.

19:43.7 I think this is how I want to think about it is like once those tasks get put into the routine, then slowly, because the routine is implemented, I'm going to reach my goals.

20:32.9  I think having more discipline, to be honest with you, is going to pull me out of the depression, out of the, you know, a friend said to me, Emily, the reason our bodies get sick and depressed is because like, if we didn't have to slow down, we would just keep going.

20:56.1 Use this time to recoup yourself. You can still sell, you can still do your launches, your live stream, still do it, right? But take the pressure off at least,  like give yourself a little bit of a break.

21:13.4 The amount of pressure we put on ourselves to push, push, push, push, push, like. That's not gonna get you anywhere.

22:10.8 I have noticed that we love to work really hard,  get really burnt out. And then we have to stop because our bodies just can't take it.

23:03.3 I also think that we need to get out of the thought loop that we need to be working harder, doing more.

23:45.0 What we can do and the action we can take is inside our home, is inside ourselves, is, is, you know, picking and choosing what we're going to go after and what we're going to support and what we're going to pay attention to. 

23:59.5 I want to encourage you to double down on loving yourself, being kind to yourself, moving slower, being more...

1:30.1 This is one of the keys to, I think, the problems that happen among so many boutique owners is you just have so much space.

1:45 But It allows you to overbuy and overbuying is one of the quickest ways to not scale your business to become very much unprofitable and to always be struggling to make the revenue that you want.

1:56.9 So first and foremost, the conversation around assortment has to come from the fact that we don't want to overbuy.

2:29.8 If something is really working in your store, you could bring something back in another color, in another print, in another material.

3:31.3 Now as you start to grow and scale, you have to start to get comfortable with your assortment, understanding what is truly working and what is not.

6:21.6 Now, value of items has been so diminished over the years because people are loving to give lots of discounts and have affordable pricing, which is fine, but like,  I just don't think it's going to work for much longer.

8:50 The Gucci belt principle is that if you have a higher end brand, adding something that's a lower price, that's more accessible to a new customer, someone who's just trying you out or someone who just really can't afford what you sell, you're giving them a piece of the pie. You're giving them something to love on of your brand because really, brand is everything.

9:34.9 So if you have a business, a retail store, a boutique, where you're selling things for 100 to 200 to 400, I really urge you to consider adding some things that are really special, really cool, really branded,  but maybe aren't as tricked out as the more expensive things in this under 100 price point.

10:03.4 But you make it a little bit more accessible to people. They get to wear your brand. They get to like be a part of the mystique.

10:33.6 The biggest mistake I see when people try to scale their boutique and retail businesses is that they expand the wrong way.

11:55.5 But the logical answer to trying to scale your business is not to add  department, like not to add categories, genders, gifts, whatever. The logical answer is to expand on what's working.

12:25.6 You expand on what's working. You don't try to go and do something new that you don't know much about.

12:55.8 anyone these days can start a retail business or a boutique, but not everyone can scale and maintain them and stay profitable.

Resources:

Order your 2024 BOUTIQUE CALENDAR today! 🎉

Visit Boutique Training Academy - If you want to make more money in your boutique or retail business you're in the right place. We'll guide you step by step in your journey through Boutiqueland. 🛍️

NEW BOOK #TheRetailMindset available on Amazon

Let’s be friends! 😊

Facebook 

Instagram

Have questions? I'd love to hear from you! Email me at

1:48.1 With seasonal change, the merchandise has to change. So whether you have clothes, whether you have garden goods, whether you have gifts, it's always going to shift based on the season, right? So that's why January and the J months have this bad rep because they're transition months.

3:53.7 You see really weird activity in January. So you don't want to start your year off that like that. You want to know that January is an extension of the year before.

4:45.2  If December 5th, December 6th, you're like, wow, I have extra money in my bank account. I should buy inventory for spring, for winter, whenever. No, don't do that. 

5:07.2 Make sure you're selling down your inventory for the end of the year. You're getting prepped for January to be a bit of a hibernation period for your business.

5:12.6 Do not think the world is ending because the first two weeks of January are slow.

5:34.2 And these first two, three, four weeks in January in the new year to get grounded in what your plan is for the next year.

5:51.1 Number one is You could right now in December, in November, start to offer coupons that are valid only in January and February.

5:04.4 We should be learning from the big people and implementing it in our store. 

7:03.3 Remind people all during January. Don't think you emailed them once and they're going to remember.

8:23.7 Too many people are going into January being like, I got to sell, I got to sell. And they're still on that November, December sort of rocket ship that we've been on.

8:46.8 In terms of your marketing plan for January. Okay. Do the discounting, but also think about other events you could host.

9:15 The big thing that I want you to remember with your assortment during January is it's going to be a funny mix.

9:46 You want to have new arrivals by like at least January 15th, even if it's some Valentine's Day stuff, some Galentine's Day stuff, or it's truly like a new assortment of a small collection that are in spring colors.

11:03.2 That burst into spring is what makes you sales. That's what gets people to notice that you even have new merchandise, that visually you're making an impact through color, print, and pattern.

11:49.1 January is going to be a transition month. It's going to be a slowdown month. Don't put pressure and expectations on your business that you don't need to take a break. Send some fun coupons out, maybe bring in some heart things and lavender things.

11:55.1 Allow yourself to enjoy the break that January can give you. 

Resources:

Order your 2024 BOUTIQUE CALENDAR today! 🎉

Visit Boutique Training Academy - If you want to make more money in your boutique or retail business you're in the right place. We'll guide you step by step in your journey through Boutiqueland. 🛍️

NEW BOOK #TheRetailMindset available on Amazon

Let’s be friends! 😊

2:17.6 This is the time to talk about it. This is the time to get people behind your cause.

3:06.8 We've got to promote the promotions that we're doing, any sales, discounts, events. events we have to promote,  but we also can't forget that we have to educate our customers.

3:36.8 What matters is how you show up for them. What matters is how you present your offer to them.

4:39.6 ​​But the real truth is like we have to be more nuanced with our marketing. We have to be more  assertive, but make an offer.

5:26.8  Be clear in your marketing. Be like so clear that it's like, duh.

6:04.7 Let's really advertise what we're doing, what we're selling, making that offer for the product. 

9:32.1 Remind people, you're a small business, you're a local business, you're a woman owned business, and with your inventory, reflect that. Talk about how you can't get it anywhere else.

10:34.7 Because people need gifts. They want to shop small. They want to shop local. They want to shop minority, BIPOC, women owned. So show up as that.

11:40.5 You should still make a profit on your inventory if your markups high enough and if you're not marking down too deep and too fast.

14:35.2 Because people need gifts. They want to shop small. They want to shop local. They want to shop minority, BIPOC, women owned. So show up as that.

Resources:

Order your 2024 BOUTIQUE CALENDAR today! 🎉

Visit Boutique Training Academy - If you want to make more money in your boutique or retail business you're in the right place. We'll guide you step by step in your journey through Boutiqueland. 🛍️

NEW BOOK #TheRetailMindset available on Amazon

Let’s be friends! 😊

Facebook 

Instagram

Have questions? I'd love to hear from you! Email me at [email protected].

Mentioned in this episode:

Overbought Webinar

OVERBOUGHT: A FREE Webinar for {Boutique Owners} Who Know They Have Too Much Inventory Sales have slowed. You don't have the right styles. It's almost Fall and your boutique's revenue growth feels like it needs a jolt. What if I told you if you start now, you can end this year with low stock, high bank balances and maybe even a tropical vacation in January. If you're making $10k or more per month consistently, I'm talking to you! The solution to your inefficiency with inventory is NOT adding dropshipping or print on demand. Let's just analyze your sales, adjust your buys and make you more money the old fashioned way. It's literally worked for hundreds of years and when it's done well, can be incredibly profitable. Product based businesses need to shift now and inventory is what truly moves the needle. Get this 90 minute FREE TRAINING NOW!

5:28.0: So I want to talk about the big picture that I want to talk about industry and then I want to talk about you, how you're feeling.

7:47.2: From being a boutique owner to you being a human in the world, right? We are managing a lot. 

10:54.0: If you can get yourself to 12 to 15K, you're good. You're in good shape. You know, like you're good. You're rocking and rolling. 

12:16.1: It does feel like hate and division and the wanting to pit sides against each other and all this kind of like, it just, it's happening again, kind of like during COVID.

13:53.8: That is what we've also been revealed to us is we need to be aware of what's going on. 

15:20.2: Your work is going to always affect not only your family. That's the obvious, but your work does have an effect on the world. 

16:45.9: I believe so much in every single person who's on the other side of this microphone who is I'm in your ears right now. I believe in you so much.

20:50.9: I want you to feel validated. I want you to feel safe. I want you to feel like other people are feeling this way. And it's okay to feel like this, even though you're a business owner.

22:10.4: It's truly hard to have these two things coexist in our life where we want to be really excited and happy about our business. And we are also like extremely concerned about the world we live in and our family or like other things going on. 

23:15.8: A little wild out on the streets, and it would be good for you to protect yourself and to think about what can you actually handle. 

23:50.3: I don't know who said it first, but when you get nervous, be of service. That's really where I'm at at this point. 

25:15.3: And when we have more bad inventory and less good inventory, it's going to get boring and it's going to get annoying.

26:08.3: The root of what we do is like selling fashion. Like go and look at runway shows, go and like look up like Milan trends, Paris trends, London trends. If you can get yourself to London, you will be so inspired.

28:32.3: We got to figure it out. And like, this is a challenge. This is an opportunity. We have the position now to become more expansive and decide that the indicators of success have changed. 

29:09.3: Like that to me, that is success right there in a nutshell, right? If you can pay yourself, go on vacation, have a good life. That's, that's ideal. 

29:53.2: You get to make this manageable for you. You don't have to have some kind of like record setting business to be successful and honestly like live an awesome life. I think if you're in that sweet spot of 250 to 1 million. You'll have a really nice life. 

30:39.9: Let's be honest. We're just selling cute stuff to other women for fun. That's all we're doing. Like, you know, and so if it's becoming not fun or it's becoming blah, we have to start to examine that. 

32:20.2: First of all, I want you to start like doing something that makes you feel good and grounded. This is for everyone. Okay. We have to shift our bodies. We have to shift from where we are to where we want to be. And we have control over that. 

34:27.2: Whether it feels blah, whether it feels overwhelmed or whether it feels actually completely uncomfortable, what this situation and these emotions are doing is they're allowing us to.  See it. Get curious about it...