Client Spotlight
OUR SHARED JOURNEY
Pupologie
Located in Encinitas, CA
In store owner Denise's words: "We have the freshest, healthiest, & most unique pet foods & products. Locally made & 100% natural, you won't find pet goodies like these anywhere else. We love your pets like our own! Pupologie is a place where you and your pets can come to discover the freshest, healthiest, and most unique pet foods, treats, supplements, toys, and other goods on the market. We are family-owned and operated, and it is our mission to help pet parents and their fur kids find healthy, holistic solutions to all their needs."
HOW WE MET
When I met my client, her store was well on its way to hitting the 7 figure mark. But the store owner was thinking about what was next for her and for her business. She was thinking about how she was going to get to the next level. Upon hearing how my retail services (open to buy planning and cash flow management) can help the business grow, she signed up.
As I remember it, it took a while to gather the data from the point of sale system she was using in the store.
2012 YTD (Jan to Jun) sales were down double-digits.
Our first meeting was June 2012.
CREATING CHANGE
After working together for 6 months, we stopped the bleeding. 2012 sales were up over 2011 sales.
Working together we used the numbers to guide us. The constant attention to the numbers allowed us to celebrate her victories and focus on her strengths. The entrepreneur was able to focus on the parts of the business that gave her joy and to see very clearly what was causing her to struggle.
"As the business grew, Denise grew as a leader".
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Getting rid of things in the business that did not create flow and contribute to the forward motion of the business.
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Seeing the parts of the business that were near and dear to her heart explode with double-digit growth.
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Using the insight from our meetings not to make rash decisions (stop or reduce dog dry).
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Understanding the importance of her vendors, she prioritized building vendor relationships to create win-win. opportunities for everyone involved.
Each month, we collaborated, planned, and strategized each of the categories we were managing so we could change the narrative of the story and get that merchandise category contributing to the profitability of the store. Using the profit we generated over the course of our working together, Denise continued to manifest her dream by:
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Doing a major store remodel.
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Upgrading her point of sale system.
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Investing in her team with incentives and reward programs.
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Creating full-time marketing and inventory management divisions.
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Implementing a grassroots delivery system that evolved into a major source of income.
CREATING CHANGE
REFLECTION
Working together we used the numbers to guide us. The constant attention to the numbers allowed us to celebrate her victories and focus on her strengths. The entrepreneur was able to focus on the parts of the business that gave her joy and to see very clearly what was causing her to struggle. When it became clear a particular aspect of the business was creating more distraction than benefit, she made a brave choice and eliminated it from her store despite the fact it was generating over 50,000 dollars in profitable sales annually. The business did not miss a beat. She continued her double-digit sales growth.
I can’t really say my client loved the struggle, but the struggle did provide the catalyst to remove everything that distracted the entrepreneur from focusing on her vision and appreciate the things she does well.