If you are visiting Melbourne Gift & Lifestyle at the MCEC from 19 to 21 March, make sure you set some time aside to attend one or more seminars presented by Debra Templar.
For the past 25 years, Templar has worked with small businesses teaching them about customers and all that it entails. She knows that businesses thrive or die depending on their offer to customers. So when she was asked to create a program for the fair around education she was happy to oblige.
“Small businesses have had a really tough time for the last two years,” she says. “I want to talk about topics that retailers need to know about today. They can walk away from a session and put the tools into operation straight away.”
When the first lockdown was announced back in March 2020, Victoria based Templar lost her business—all the events that were planned got canceled and like many other businesses she had to pivot.
“I turned my attention to Zoom and I had to reach out to businesses and help them get through the tough times one way or another. While events are coming back this year—my calendar is full until September—I still love Zoom. You can have an audience and be interactive, it works really well.”
There are many topics Templar will cover during the three days at the fair, however, one she says retailers shouldn’t miss out on is apps & hacks for small business.
Mobile applications are changing the face of business. They’re becoming more prevalent and more powerful, and most importantly, they can help your business run more smoothly. Want to improve daily operations? Organise your ideas? Manage your stock? Elevate your social media? Improve your visual messaging? Save time with meetings? There’s literally a small business app for that.
“Some of the apps you can use these days are amazing, I test out so many apps and I have a whole list for retailers, there is an app for just about anything and it will help them to stay ahead of the game.”
Product buying is another topic close to Templar’s heart. If you’re buying products to sell—do you have buying skills? When you visit trade fairs do you have a plan or are you working on the ‘oooh ahhh, that’s nice’ principle? Getting your stock mix right is crucial in running a successful retail business.
“Business is not the same as it used to be. We are never going to go back to normal, we are going to go back to different. Stock your bestsellers, stock trend items and put a program in place that if stock hasn’t moved in four weeks you start discounting, promoting, marketing, bundling, etc, don’t let it sit there and age, because it’s dead money.
“How are you paying for your stock? Know that logistically you are not going to get your stock when you think you’re going to get it. Supply and freight delays are still a big issue today. What type of relationship do you have with your suppliers?”
Templar mentions that opening times for stores have changed as well due to the pandemic.
“Friday, Saturday and Sunday (and maybe Monday) used to be top days, but not anymore. Do you need to be open seven days a week? Have you looked at your cash flow, have you looked at your quietest days? There is a whole stack of businesses out there that have to make these changes to survive.
“Keep your customers up to date via social media. While Facebook is good for telling a story, Instagram is great to promote products and it drives people to the stores,” she reiterates.
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