The definition of a good coach is “That person who makes you do the things you don’t want to do, to become the person you want to be.” Given that, we would suggest that the pandemic proved to be a great coach for many retailers. So much so, "Coach P" really deserves being recognized as the Coach of the Year! Think about it. The pandemic forced retailers to do things they had long evaded or delayed (remember “technology laggards?”)
And it forced many difficult decisions about things they didn't want to do, from reducing staff to fewer vendors, maybe even closing stores. But, throughout all this enforced change, thanks to Coach P, many seemed to have become the retailers they always wanted to be!
Want proof? We've just received and posted on The ROI site the new Key Financial Benchmarks for 2021. We've been amazed by them, and we think you will be as well. Consider some of the changes that the pandemic drove, or made plausible:
And what were the results? Well, as you'll see in the Benchmark Trend Charts, early indications from the newly-released key financial benchmarks suggest that our sense of improved financial strength is more than anecdotal. Indeed, it appears that the silver lining of the pandemic has been golden for some retailers. All thanks to “Coach P” – the pandemics.
Each of us, our households, businesses and communities are in different stages of shutdown due to the coronavirus. While we cannot speak to when this will end, we do have some ideas for dealing with the "fog of uncertainty" that hangs over us all.
The Retail Owners Institute® has developed a retail strategy for "Inventory Management Going Forward." As we often do, it was recapped as an unassuming chart (see above) identifying the Five Stages of Merchandise Mix Management, from "Before COVID-19" to the "New Normal?"
Let's assume your stores have been closed for weeks now.
We recognize how conscientious you are. So, after paying what you can to your employees (and yourself), the next most-worrisome dilemma is your rent.
As you likely have discovered, a common choice for many landlords is to offer to defer your payments. But that means taking on more debt, as those payments are only being postponed to a later point in time. You need a better solution than that.
YOUR GOAL: QUICKLY GET TO A FIRST DRAFT. Face it. Sales are dropping. By how much? For how long? Nobody knows for sure. But, you can make some assumptions, some educated guesses. Put those into the 3-in-1 Cash Flow Calculator.
These totally volatile times cause a lot of opinions and fears to be swirling around. Seeing "what if...?" can be very helpful. All in just minutes. On your own.
There's little that any of us can do to address the public health crisis of the pandemic. Its impact on people and businesses is a widespread and major jolt, akin to the shocks of 9/11 and the 2008-09 economic meltdown. Even as painful and disruptive as the pandemic is at this moment, we must remind ourselves that it will subside. It's not whether it will subside, just when. But all of us are going to have to deal with the ensuing economic situation, and its effects on our sales, our customers, our employees. These are difficult times for us all. Retailing in particular is under enormous stress. Many feel like there are no good choices. But, there are good decisions. And The ROI is dedicated to helping you be able to make those good decisions for yourself.
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