The 3 fundamentals you need for a successful retail business

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As we are now in the midst of Chinese New Year and a time for celebration, I thought it would be a good time to reflect and plan for the year ahead. What determines the success of a retail business? I believe it fundamentally boils down to 3 things which I call the 3 fundamentals of retail success.  

Every business has to be firmly grounded in these 3 things in order to succeed; vision, systems & knowledge.  

Vision
Just as every ship needs her captain and so it is the same in your retail business. Without one a retail business would be directionless. A vision as some say is the first step in strategic planning which in turn allows plans to be made and executed to advance the business forward. Here’s the key idea, a vision needs to be big enough and exciting enough so that the whole organisation can get excited and embrace the vision.  

Knowledge
Do you know enough about the ins and outs of your business? Are you up to date with the  latest happenings in your industry as well as the up coming trends? How much do you know about your customers? These are just some of the questions you need to know in order to be ahead in your retail business. Remember, knowledge for knowledge’s sake is useless, applied knowledge is truly what matters. So take the time to enrich your mind with everything there is to know about your business as well as related fields. You never know where your next million dollar idea could come from.  

Systems
For your retail business to run effectively and efficiently it needs to be built off systems which allow you to run your retail business without actually being there. Systems within the business can cover a multitude of areas from hiring to product delivery to even customer interactions.  A classic example of a retailer which runs on systems is McDonalds. A strong system to run your retail business will ensure that you end up being a captain of a smooth sailing ship and not a firefighter constantly putting out fires within your business.   So, have you got all these areas covered in your retail business? Which areas do you think are lacking in your business? Which areas are you going to work on first in this new year?  

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At Visata Creative, we work together with our clients to Design Profitable Spaces. We work strategically as partners to our clients to ensure that they are equipped with the with the necessary insights and guidance for their businesses based on our years of experience in the retail industry through our interior design, graphic design & strategic marketing services.

To us, bigger space is not always better, what matters most in retail is the profitability of the space. We believe in winning the award that really matters in our industry – Helping our clients achieve the highest profitability possible within their retail business.

View our case studies to see how we have helped our clients achieve their goals and helped improve their businesses.

If you have any inquiries, email us at tim@viscreative.com and we will get in touch with you very soon!