¶ Turn Unsold Inventory Into Cash with Melodie Van der Baan
If you have inventory that is sitting around, you just can't sell no matter how old it is and you want to get rid of that inventory and make your money back from it. This episode is for you. If you want to build a very successful retail store that maybe you one day exit, you sell it, you hand it down to your kids and employee buys it, whatever it may be. You want to build this successful retail store, then this episode is for you.
You want a masterclass in less than an hour on independent retail, then this episode is for you. Oh my goodness. I've got so much to share with you in this episode because of my guest, Melodie Van der Baan, who is just dropping the retail knowledge. She is incredible and also has built a very interesting business called Max Retail that helps you sell your inventory that you can't sell. You get money for it. It gets out of your store. It's not your problem.
And we break down everything about that service and that offering in this episode, as well as how to build a successful retail store. Melodie used to be a retailer herself. You can tell she is very systematized and has processes and has, was a successful retailer, and she is sharing those things with you in this episode. You're going to get so much out of it. I can't wait for you to listen. So let's dive in. Welcome to Rooted in Retail. I'm your host, Crystal Vilkaitis.
Here, we have engaging and informative conversations with successful indie retailers and industry experts. Together, we learn, connect, and grow. Don't miss our live after the show every Tuesday night in the Rooted in Retail Facebook group. Alright, here's today's episode. Melodie, welcome to Rooted in Retail. I'm thrilled you're here.
Thank you for having me.
Yes. So before we dive in, in today's conversation, which I'm so excited to bring to our retailers, cause you're doing some really cool things that I just recently learned about. So I can't wait for our conversation, but will you just take a couple of minutes and share a little bit more about you and your retail journey?
¶ How Melodie started out in retail as a road rep
Absolutely. So I started out as a road rep, right? Like so many of you who became retailers. And I drove across the country from South Florida, up to Boston, over to Chicago, down to San Antonio and everywhere in between selling to independent retailers. And then in 2012, I became a retailer myself, opening a store in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida called Blessed Boutique. And I enjoyed that journey for nine years before selling it.
And today I have a company called Max Retail, where we empower independent retailers to sell their excess inventory with ease online.
Awesome. Okay, I didn't know because we just met last month in June, we're filming this in July. I did not know that you were also a retailer. So you totally get our audience. Like you have been there. You know what it's like. It's like, and hence why you created Max Retail, which is such a great solution. So we're going to kind of dive right in and start talking about that and inventory, because managing excess inventory can be challenging for retailers.
¶ Pro tips for deciding which inventory to get rid of
What are some pro tips for deciding which inventory to get rid of and how can retailers maximize their returns on these items using Max Retail?
Sure. I think knowing how old your inventory is one of the most important things you can be aware of. And it's challenging because we're going 100 miles a minute, as a retailer, and in 8 different directions at any moment in time. And sometimes you're thinking, Oh my goodness, of course that sandal is old. Well, because it's now 60 degrees in October, but being mindful of that in advance is super important.
And that's why I strongly suggest every retailer diving into your point of sale and knowing how to run an aged inventory report. In my opinion, this should be a weekly occurrence, but even if you can just set a calendar invite for the last day of the month to remind yourself to at least run your on hand report. And then what do you do with that? Well, I know today when we're seeing those sandals that have been there and they're suddenly in October, we're putting them on sale, right?
We're like, "Hey, let's just put a little sticker on that says 50 percent off and try to get as fast as we can." Which is awesome, but I think we all know how it feels when that customer walks in and they say, "Well, I bought those at full price. Why are they on sale now?" It's so uncomfortable. And it's actually the reason why I resisted markdowns for my first eight years of owning a store, because I hated when that happened. I was so uncomfortable.
And yet, we know markdowns are a necessary evil. But what are our alternatives? Max Retail is a really great alternative. So with Max Retail, what you're able to do is once you know something is getting dusty, aging out, right? And you need that money to buy something that's now coming in next week, or maybe you still have to pay the vendor. You can just simply tag that item in Shopify or in Lightspeed that sends a product feed to Max Retail, and we know that you need help selling it.
If you have any other point of sale, you can simply send our team that aged inventory report and we will list those items for you. We'll find the images. We'll write the descriptions. We'll find out on those jeans, the rise, in seam, wash care, country of origin, so that you don't have to. And then what are we doing? Well, Max Retail goes out and forges relationships with major e commerce sites and retail marketplaces so that your sale rack gets in front of over 400 million end consumers.
Wow.
Without you having to do anything.
No kidding. This
Yeah, it's super fun. And so the nice thing is, all right, you ran the report, you listed that inventory on Max Retail, and now you just go about your business. You go back to doing all the things that make your business money. And Max Retail sends you an order that says, great news, those jeans have sold. You approve the order, immediately get a prepaid label. And once you send it out, you get back your wholesale cost and we take a 15 percent fee.
Wow, okay. Yeah, of course, I'm wondering the economics of this and our listeners are too. So this makes it incredibly easy. The retailer, they're so busy. You were there. So they can just basically say, okay, this I've heard you should never have a birthday for inventory. Do you agree with that?
That's pretty epic.
Yeah,
I love that.
I heard that from Dane Cohen with Management One and I think Kathy Wagner with Retail Maven. So like, we don't want to be celebrating birthdays. We want to make sure we're moving the inventory. So if they're synced up Shopify, Light Speed, that's easy, but they don't have to be using that. They can send it to you.
¶ What marketplaces your products are being listed on
You're then going to list it. When you say, did you say 400 million consumers that the product? Okay so will you give us a breakdown of like some of those places that the products are being listed? Yes.
So we work with sites such as the common ones that retailers might be selling on today, like Poshmark or eBay. Right. And we all know it's a lot of work to sell online. It's a lot of work listing, responding to the customer questions, them haggling with you and then, God forbid, they actually want to try to return something after. And so with Max Retail, we do all of that customer correspondence for you, all of that offer things for you. And even there are no returns with Max Retail.
And then we work with more sophisticated e commerce sites as well. Those range from Canada, the US, and even Latin America. Next year, we'll be expanding globally with our goal of just increasing number of units sold for each and every of our sellers. To us, the measure of success is seller payouts. And today, on average, our sellers make $2,200 a month in payouts of their excess inventory. Some of our retailers who have more excess inventory and list frequently.
They make up to $20,000 a month in payouts. But I mean, even $30,000 in additional money from your excess, dusty, past season inventory is a pretty good payout than staring at it in store longer.
No kidding, and it's just taking space and then you're not able to bring in new inventory. You can get some of that cash back so you can purchase like, it's just such a win win. And so then how, so if I bought something for $10 wholesale and I can't move it and so now I list it, you're going to go and sell it.
¶ How Max Retail decides the price for your items they sell
And do you decide, like, how do you decide the pricing that you're going to sell that item for?
So first off, our threshold for listing inventory is $15 wholesale.
Okay.
right? So it has to be at least 15 wholesale. And then what we're going to do is we're going to add on that price. What is the sales channel? Like, what do they want to make? Like, what is eBay want to make on this transaction? What are the shipping costs? Because remember, we offer that prepaid label and then a margin for, hey, the fact that we absorb returns. And when there's a return requested, that's like a customer that just changes their mind and they're like, "I don't want to keep this."
Cause on half of our marketplaces, we do have to accept returns. What we know is that the last thing our retailers want is to ever see that item again. And so then we go and we either try to resell it through our marketplace network again, or we have other partners that we will put it in like maybe a physical store that's meant for off price, things like that. But we have to creatively solve for things like returns.
But really at the end of the day, it's the lowest possible price that end consumer will be motivated to buy. That covers all the expenses we need to cover to get the item sold where
Got it. And so then as the retailer, I'm basically like, "I bought this for 15. So I know I'm going to get 15 back." Like, it's just pretty transparent of what I bought it for. I'm just going to get my money back. This isn't necessarily going to be a place where they're going to profit from these channels. It's all about really just getting rid of this inventory. You can't move. Right.
Right. And Crystal, we take our 15 percent fee right from their payout. So, and that money drops into their account as soon as the shipping label is scanned. They don't have to wait for it to be delivered. We wait till it's delivered to be paid, right? We actually have net 30 terms with a lot of our sales channels. So Max Retails really holding this financial obligation because we understand that independent retailers need that money as soon as possible.
We have had conversations with our retailers. They're like, "Well, if it's 85 percent of my cost back, it's not my cost. It's not my wholesale cost." But what I like to explain is if you have it in store and it takes you six months to get your cost back when Max Retail could have sold it in one. How many more turns could you have gotten in?
Exactly.
And so our goal is to get you your money back as fast as possible, so you can bring your new shipments in faster and sell something at full price. It's not worth holding onto it to wait for the right eyeball to walk in the store when we can expand how many eyeballs are seeing your sale rack today.
Yep, totally. I feel like this is a service, but it's so smart and it's a service that every retailer, like every retailer should use because there is just, it's like almost foundational retail best practice because you need an easy way to just turn it into the convenience of this, the time that it's not going to take. There's a value to that. So it's so smart.
¶ Episode Sponsor: EVOLVE 2025
Oh my goodness. The feedback we're getting from our Evolve conference has been incredible. And if you want to be in the room, you're going to need to get your ticket pretty soon here. Cause we're already 30 percent sold out and it's mid August as I am filming this commercial. I would love to see you at Evolve. This is the destination for resilient retailers, which I know is you. Our agenda, the things I'm working on for 2025 is so good.
We're going to be really focusing on your transformation, customer experiences, both in store and online, how to really amplify results. You are going to walk away with actionable step by step strategies that you need to implement into your store to reach your goals and find new levels of success. And I'd be honored to be a part of that journey with you as well as all of our incredible speakers that we have lined up. Like seriously, it gives me goosebumps. I can't wait.
So you could go to crystalmediaco.com/evolve to learn more, secure your ticket, be in the room. That's where the magic happens. And I can't wait to see you there.
¶ The two strongest categories of products that sell best on Max Retail
Now, Melodie, are there different types, like categories of products that do well or better on your platform that you've seen, or is it pretty broad?
I like to say we have a few categories that we excel in, and then we also like to leave room for surprise. So brand name apparel and footwear are our two strongest categories. Now that can be a popular fast fashion brand all the way up to a designer brand. So it could be $15 wholesale, it could be $1,500 wholesale. We have retailers that are mid tier, contemporary, and designer on Max Retail. But what I'll say is beauty has been surprising us, right?
And so that's where I always like to leave room for things like that. We've also seen, because footwear has been growing and running shoes are also sold in sporting stores, we now see more outdoor stores joining Max Retail. So we have just this natural expansion into other categories because an independent retailer. Yeah, she's buying a dress, but she's also buying the sandals and she's also buying the sunglasses. Next thing you know, we have eyewear on Max Retail and that's selling.
And so what I like to say is, if you have brand name apparel or footwear by all means list it on Max Retail, you're going to win, but list everything else because there is so much room for surprise based on what's trending, based on new sales channels that we're launching all the time. One really important thing, Crystal, is that as I'm explaining all these different kinds of retailers that we work with, the most important thing is everything is anonymous.
So, you know, when retailers are selling directly on Poshmark or eBay or anywhere else, they have to have the account, right? And what we hear from a lot of retailers is, I don't want anyone to know it's my excess inventory. And so we're very sensitive to that. I will also say that we work with some publicly traded companies who have the same problems as independent retailers and want to remain anonymous. And so when you list and work with Max Retail, you simply have a retailer ID number, right?
There is no visibility of your store. And even on any sales channels, there's no visibility at all because Max Retail is the sole seller on record on the sales channels, and you are simply doing your thing in store. And when we sell an item, you know, we buy it from you and you're good, you're safe. And that's really, really important to our community.
That is awesome. I love that you have that built in. And then again, with these items, I want to make sure that I'm understanding, because I'm sure there might be a listener who's asking this same question I'm having. So let's say that I do have a surprise thing that I can't sell that isn't in fashion , I can still list it, right? And you guys, is it basically like an approval where you'll be like, "yes, we'll take it." And then at that point, I'm getting paid.
I'm not waiting for it to sell through, or can you pretty much put, is it just like, boom, you take it? Like, is there an approval process? I guess.
So there's no approval process, but we also can't guarantee that anything's going to sell, right? So what we like to say is Max Retail enables independent retailers to have access to these sales channels. But at the end of the day, it's the end consumer who decides to buy or not buy. And so that's why payouts occur when merchandise sells and is shipped. So we can't pay people because what if they then sold it in store, right?
Like if you listed them into our Max Retail, I'm just going to send you money, but you didn't send it anywhere. No, like we actually built this in such a way where a retailer can benefit from an in store opportunity or an online opportunity. So you keep your inventory in store. Customer comes in. They see that sweater on the sale rack. It's an extra large. They're so stoked. They buy it right there and then. It simply comes off a Max Retail and Hey, at least the item sold.
So our goal is to be a resource. Another sales channel. Another opportunity for a retailer to get sales, but also still be able to operate their core business of benefiting from the person who walks in the door.
Totally. Okay, love it. I think I was getting confused in the sense I was thinking that the second I list it and it's like, yep, we'll take it. Then I was thinking I was getting paid at that point.
I wish.
right. I know the
you, Crystal, as we continue to launch more sales channels. Yes, you will be able to list it and it will be as good as sold. But I like to say we're a small, but mighty company. And we're on our way and there are some products that if they were listed today, I could guarantee you they'll be sold by tomorrow. But that will continue to happen as we launch our distribution network further.
Very cool. Okay, so some cool things to look forward to but even just right now, what an amazing option for retailers to have. So I'm so glad that you're here and that I met you so we could share this to our listeners. Now, Melodie, I love success stories. So do you have a specific success story of a retailer who saw significant results from using Max Retail?
Absolutely, I think the most meaningful thing to me today is when I see the names of retailers getting sales on Max Retail that I actually sold to 15 years ago.
Yeah.
The ones who I stood in their store and they would point to what didn't sell and say, "Mel, how can you help me?" And today on my dashboard, I'm like, wow, They had five sales today, right? But I think my most exciting success story is probably a retailer in Wisconsin who has a small location in a seasonal town and I noticed that she had a lot of activity on Max Retail. I didn't know her personally, but I was like, gee, I want to know her.
So I called her and I said, "Hey, you're getting a lot of sales You I just want to understand what are you doing?" And she said, "well, I have a basement where I have been storing my past season inventory for the last couple years. And I've just made it a habit. Every single day, I list one item on Max Retail, one more style every single day. And it seems to be working for me."
And so what we learned from her is that the more frequently you list, every day when she was listing, her item was going to the front page of every sales channel. At that point in time, retailers were listing quarterly or monthly, right? But she was just doing it her own way, which felt achievable. Really just chopping down that oak tree one swipe of the blade at a time. And from that, she was seeing a tremendous success.
So then we took that and we brought it back to our other retailers and we're like, "Hey, here's what she's doing. And it's working." And that's where, anytime we say, "Hey, listen, it's not just how much you list. It's how frequently you list," because of that front page placement. Then that retailer also taught us that she was marking down a low wholesale when she was really motivated to get rid of it.
And what we realized is every time she was doing that, it was bringing her inventory to the front page again of all of our sales channels because she had a new lower price. It was just amazing because she was achieving a 55% sell through on Max Retail, and today she has made over $180,000 in payouts from her tiny little store in Wisconsin over the last two and a half years, and that's been really exciting.
Also, last month we celebrated $10 million in seller payouts and we've already hit 11 million in the last month.
Oh dang, that's
So like we're quickly even blasting through to the next milestone of impact to sellers. But I just love that the sellers in our community, these small retailers can really teach us how to set other retailers up for success with this tool that we built and have really meaningful impact on their businesses.
that is incredible. Congratulations on reaching those milestones. That's so awesome. And I love this example with this Wisconsin store because I just know there's a retailer, at least one listening right now that has a room, a basement, an attic, a closet, a something. That you just keep putting stuff in there and I can't imagine just like the heaviness of that.
Like there is, there's energetics with having things and then more things and more things and knowing like, I bought this, but now I can't sell it. And now I'm getting further behind or where am I going to store it? And it's a matter of just like freeing that up. And I love the retailer's method of just make this easy on me once a day, I'm just going to chop away. And if it's, you said $180,000 in two and a half years. So about $70,000 a year, bringing that back.
I mean, I feel like we have somebody right now listening, feeling so hopeful being like, "Oh my gosh, this can help me. That's me." And if that is you listening, you need to contact Max Retail immediately and then keep me posted because I want to hear how it goes. So
You know what, Crystal? I think the other thing that was super exciting is we actually just celebrating that retailer opening a second location.
Oh my gosh. I had chills when you were talking about that. I have chills again. That's really cool. So cool, oh my goodness.
¶ Action steps to grow your business while handling daily operations
Okay, now I want to switch gears a little bit because you were a retailer and I want to talk a little bit more about kind of balancing running a retail store. Because many independent retailers struggle with that balance between the operational aspect, the strategic planning. So can you share some actionable tips a retailer can use this week? We're going to be super focused. Like we could take action now on how they can effectively work on their business while managing the daily operations.
Let's do it.
Let's do it.
So get out a notepad, my retailer friends. And I want you to start from the beginning of the week and I want you to write down every single thing you did for your business this entire week. Go through every hour of every day and I want you to put that one item for each row, right? And just go down. Now on the right hand side of this same piece of paper, I want you to write down how much it would have cost you to outsource that same task.
So maybe you had to create the schedule, run payroll, you had to book your coterie appointments. You had to receive a new shipment. Maybe you steamed some of the clothes. You shot a video. Maybe you did a fashion show for the local community. Maybe you did run an inventory report and look at your numbers. And what you're going to do is you're going to quickly see how much of your week you're spending on things that are way below your pay grade.
Mm hmm.
And anything on that list, that is a 15 an hour or less task, you're going to outsource to your teammates. You're going to delegate because what you'll find is that 80 percent of your week most likely was spent on very low hourly wage tasks. That's what we call working in your business. Now, 20 percent of these things that you did are actually things that are going to propel your business forward. Those are more expensive.
That would cost you anywhere between $50 to $150 an hour, maybe even 200 an hour to do to hire out. Right? And those are the meaningful things. And I want you to just think about if you could delegate the other things and get 80 percent of that time back to work on meaningful things, how that will change your business.
It'll be massive, I think for some of our retailers, like what a great exercise. I can't stress this enough. This is really important to do. I know we're all really busy. This is really important to do.
Do it when your kids go to bed. Make the list when your kids go to bed and reflect. Reflect on the time you spend because we are an octopus, but do we really need those eight legs hanging out of us? Or can we have two?
yes, okay, let's get to like,
Let's walk on two legs. You
need. The stress that this could save our retailers.
¶ Melodie's advice for retailers who are afraid to outsource
Melodie, what would you say to somebody who is listening to this, but they're like, it's going to take so much work for me to train somebody. It's just going to take more work for me to get this off my plate then. So I'm just going to do it anyways. Cause I think that there's a lot of people that feel like it's just going to be a lot of work to train and to offload, and they're not going to do it like I would. So what would you say to that person?
really need to look at your team. And the number one thing that we hear from the retailers in our community, which we have over 2,500, is they say, "I don't have enough time." Time is the number one thing that we're all limited by. But when you look at your team today, you have to really evaluate, is there any toxicity that you are allowing to linger? Whether that be someone who always calls out, always shows up late. Maybe they have a negative impact on customers, but it's intermittent.
It's not every time. It's just here or there. You have to realize that when you settle for good enough with your team, you're preventing yourself from going and finding someone really amazing who could take things off your plate. So I think that a lot of times we just don't want to do without. And so we end up overcompensating when really we just need to sometimes pull the bandaid off and maybe spending a week or two of your time.
What I used to do, I used to go to the mall and I would go and poach whoever was the best person in the other stores. And I never felt bad taking from a big box retailer, their most amazing employee. Now I don't feel bad at all. And I never hired from a sign on the door. So if you need to say the most important thing I need to do is find someone I can trust who will safeguard the experience, who will be absolutely amazing.
Go find them, make them a good offer because now you have a list of all the things you need to offload where everyone else is lacking and you know what it's going to be worth to pay them. And if they're delivering on that, your business is going to grow and you're going to sleep better at night. Poach,
I just hope we take that in listeners. Like that is really, really good. Go poach some good people. Get the help.
Poach, poach, poach. I'm telling you, man, there are good people. There are good people out there, but if you wait for them to walk through your door, you're probably not going to get the good ones because the good ones are taken.
Absolutely, yeah. They're not looking for a job. They're being poached, like the jobs are coming to them.
¶ Episode Sponsor: Retail Mavens
Okay, I'm sure that you've heard you need to be working on your business versus in your business, especially as a store owner. And sometimes that could be, that could feel really challenging because you're wearing all the hats to run your store, but here's the deal. It is really important that we do spend that time working. Working on our business. Now, our friends at Retail Mavens says there's only three hats that you should be wearing in your business.
And Kathy Donovan Wagner will share those three things in an upcoming free class called three steps to maximize profit and reduce overwhelm. Something that Kathy says is your store shouldn't run you and your life. You should run your store to serve your life. Ooh, so true. And learn, you've got to learn from Kathy. She's one of the best. She's the profit lady. You know that I love Kathy. If you've listened to this show.
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So you want to be sure if you want to save money, save time, register for this class, go to retailmavens.com/profitroadmap to get your profit roadmap to lead you to more time, more money, better sleep. Learn it from Kathy. She's the best. Go register now.
¶ One guide every retailer needs to create empowered and productive teams
Now, since we're talking about teams, you know, obviously empowering your team is so critical to a business owner's wellbeing and the success of the store. What are your top tips or hacks for independent retailers to effectively empower their teams and create a positive, productive work environment?
group because I really feel strongly about it. So I'll say it again here. You've got to have a handbook. You started this business because you knew you could deliver an experience that would be memorable and create a following. It's not just what you love, it's who you are. And when you document what makes you you and your store special, then everyone knows that that's what excellence looks like. And they can maintain that as a consistent experience.
And so you must take the time to write down what makes you, you.
Yeah.
And teach the other people and hold them accountable because then if someone drops the ball, you can open that handbook and it doesn't have to be uncomfortable. I know you don't want to call someone out. I get it. You don't want to be like, "Hey Sarah, that's not how we blah blah." But if it's written down, "Hey Sarah, this is how we steam. This is how we hang our garments. This is our timeline to clean out a fitting room. This is how frequently the mannequins need to be changed.
This is our policy with closing our door." I would fall over and just about die if I saw on my cameras a customer walking in at close time and my employee saying, "Sorry, we're closed," and lock up the door because in the handbook, it was written a customer walks in, you never turn them away. But if people don't know what your expectations are explicitly on paper, they can't achieve them.
So most of the time people let you down because they don't understand your bar of excellence and writing it down completely neutralizes all of that. Ideally,
do things. It also allows anybody to enforce that. Because ideally, the store owner isn't in the store all the time. You know, they're, Right. Like one of my dear friends who's been on the show, she owns a couple of stores, Beth Rich, and she wants to run her store from a beach in Bali. So if you're right, like if you want to run your store from a beach in Bali, then you've got that handbook for your manager or the supervisor or whoever to say, no, this is how we do things.
And really creates that consistency. It's so worth building that out. And I talk a lot about AI on the show. AI can help write that for you, you can really bullet out. You don't have to be a great writer. You don't have to have this long, big thing. Just get it all out on who you are, what you stand for your policies, and then AI can formulate that for you and you are done.
Can I take that one step further?
Please.
If you don't know what your policies and procedures should be, just ask ChatGPT. What should be my policy for closing my store, for opening my store, right? You don't even have to have all the answers. I call ChatGPT my co pilot. And I am a very verbal person. I don't like to write. And so, yes, if I can dictate, and it can just go ahead and put it in a nice format and summarize it. There's something called Fireflies Notetaker.
You can install it, and then all of your conversations, it'll just put a summary of it. So even if you just want to talk to yourself,
Yes.
that too.
Totally. I think that a lot of our retailers actually would prefer to do that is just to talk out loud. So with that app, people can just talk into it and then it will transcribe for them.
That's right. And you can plug it into your Google Hangouts, Google Meets, right? Like, if you have a couple different stores and you want everybody in on the call, if you want to collaborate on the ideas together, there's a really great saying that one of our advisors taught me, which is those who make the plan don't fight the plan.
Mm.
Bring your employees in and let them be a part of this handbook creation process. Then they're going to feel empowered by it. You're not going to throw the book at them. They're going to be your co authors. I used to have an employee who was with me and just during our downtime, what we did is we made the outline of what needed to be in the handbook and we would just chip away at it. She'd be like, Mel, one hour today, go. Right. And this is before chat GPT.
And I would say, okay, here's everything I want to happen when you open the store and blah, blah, blah, blah. And she would just type, type, type, type, type, type, type, type, type, type, type, type, type, type, type, type, type, type. Right. And then the next day and the next day, and it took us a couple months. This was not a one day thing. And over the course of years, our handbook was around 80 pages big.
But I was able to sell that business because the owner saw that I was that there was a process for everything. And they did not feel like they were walking into an operation where they would need to be an octopus. They could truly be a business owner.
Absolutely. Yep, it's so smart. And it's creating that sustainable business that can go on without you, that you can exit out of if that's one of your goals. I mean, it's so critical.
¶ How retailers can put their long-term goals first
Okay, now I'm talking about planning. Long term thinking is also so critical to the sustainability of a business. So what advice do you have for helping retailers prioritize long term planning? And do you have a framework or system that can help them stay organized and clear in their goals?
Absolutely. I would say the first thing is that handbook. You can't plan for your legacy without defining what your business is. So start there, right? You can't sell something that doesn't have value. The next thing is you have to learn what is the multiple that your business is going to get. Which is like, what's it going to be worth when it sells? And that goes to your inventory turns.
And Crystal, I can only imagine how much you've talked about turns in the past and present and will in the future, because it is not just about your sell through. It is not just about your little gross margin, right? It is about your number of turns. That is your profitability and no one is going to buy your store and pay for all that aged inventory.
Mm hmm.
So you have to make sure that you have all of your ducks in a row and your resources. You want your ducks in a row and your resources on hand now because you want to sleep at night
Yes.
and later because you're going to want to pass it to your child, sell it to your employee, sell it to an excited new business owner.
Mm hmm.
But step one is the handbook, the documentation, the processes. Step two is understanding what is the health of your business today. Step three is making sure you have the resources to improve your terms metric. That might be a planner. That might be a retailer association where you're learning new tips. It's definitely Max Retail, right? Like you, you need to have a tool set and your tool set is both proactive and reactive.
Because no matter how much you plan, it can still be hot as hell in January and you're stuck with boots. That is not your fault, but it's going to happen, it's the name of the game, right? And then team.
hmm.
You have to keep a strong team and limit toxicity.
Mm hmm. so true. Okay, it's like you say that in a matter of 90 seconds, two minutes, and it's four things that are so critical, but we'll seriously transform a business if you don't have these things in place. And what I love about this answer, it feels very, it is very doable for every single retailer that's listening to this right now. But like you said, Melodie. It took you a couple of months to do the handbook. Like it's not going to necessarily happen overnight.
We do have to have some patience, but focus on these four areas of your business and really have that long term thinking of what is it, where do you want to go? What are you trying to achieve? And in these four areas, where do we need to solve some issues? We're having fixed some things, get some things in place to really support the business. It's so good.
And I think if we're going to have a really vulnerable conversation for one minute, I would say at the end of the day, without a team, you cannot succeed. A one man band. doesn't build a legacy. Teams create legacy. And if you are struggling with your ability to lead or retain talent or source talent, find an organization of retailers that can support you. There's Whizbang. There's Boutique Hub. There are lots of amazing resources that can teach you how to be a good manager.
And if you need that personal development, most of us open a retail store simply because we love fashion. But our personal development has got to continue and being a leader is the most important thing you can be in your business.
So critical. I'm really glad that you brought that up because it really does start with the owner. And I want to throw in there too. Strategic Coach is also a great resource. Yeah, that I've been through that. I learned a lot as a business owner and leader too. So there's so many great resources today. You know, it's really about finding the coach or the platform or the place that really supports you. And you've got to get that support.
There's a solid chance that a lot of us need that support because you're just, there's few and far between that are just born leaders that know how to manage people. I think I've learned it's so hard to manage people. That is certainly not my strength. And I've learned a lot over the years and I've found somebody who could help me manage, like really learn more about yourself, but it's critical to the success of the store.
My goodness, Melodie, this feels like it was just like a retail masterclass.
¶ Melodie's resilience round
are you ready for the resilience round?
¶ Best business book
Let's do it. Best business book.
¶ Best retail technology
That is a good one. That's a really good one. Best retail technology, like an app or software.
Truly, I think Apple Wallet is my favorite.
Nice. Yeah, that's a great one.
¶ How do you keep up with the ever changing retail landscape?
It's great. How do you keep up with the ever changing retail landscape?
I have a very lucky position here in that I have investors who actually go out, source and fund retail technologies. So they always keep me in the loop on what's the latest thing that's coming to market. And then I also have my retailers who keep me in the loop on what the problems they need solved are.
¶ What's an operational foundational best practice?
Yeah, awesome. Now to help retailers be stronger, more rooted in success, what's an operational foundational best practice?
I would absolutely say the handbook. If I'm going to be so obnoxious on your podcast, I'm going to go back to it.
Yep, that's a good one. It's truly, it's foundational.
¶ If you had to start your business all over again, what's one thing you'd do differently?
If you had to start your business all over again, what's one thing you'd do differently?
I'd be less stubborn.
¶ What do you think the future of independent retail looks like?
Hmm. Yep. That's a good one. And finally, what do you think the future of independent retail looks like?
I think it's omni. I think it's maintaining these beautiful in store connections that cannot be replaced by anything online, while understanding that global reach of consumers will be important to your business.
Well said. Melodie, how can people learn more and connect with you?
Absolutely. You can just send an email to info@maxretail.com and a member of our success team. We'll reach out to you, share more about Max Retail, or you could simply go to MaxRetail.Com and fill out the get qualified form. Somebody will give you a buzz real quick and they can't wait to see everyone at the trade shows this fall. We've got a lot going on. And so come meet us. Meet us in New York, Atlanta, Dallas, Grand Rapids, Michigan, right? Crystal. We're even going to be there.
Yes. I know we're filming this in July and Melodie and I will be at Bob and Susan's conference. The Retail Success Summit will be together soon. So if you're there, this episode is airing in September, so we already saw you. But so much for watching. Go check out where Max Retail is going to be because they might be at a trade show near you and definitely connect online. Melodie, you dropped some serious retail knowledge and help today. Thank you so much for sharing your expertise.
Thank you for having me. Look forward to meeting everyone.
Yeah. Awesome. Everyone remember that I'm rooting for your success. Have a great weekend, bye. Thank you so much for being here. It means the world to me. Don't forget to join the Rise and Shine newsletter, which is social media news you need to know sent via email every Monday morning, go to crystalmediaco.com/rise to join and don't miss the newest episode of Rooted in Retail, which drops every Sunday morning.