Hey. It’s Bob Negen. And in this episode of Real Retail TV, I’m going to share a story about a business meeting that changed my life, and I think it might change yours too. But before we get to that, there is still time for you to register for the Retail Success Summit. It’s virtual.

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So register right now.

It was in one of those periods where my retail business, the Mackinac Kite company, was in, well, what shall we say, severe financial distress.

I mean, we were going broke, and I didn’t know what to do about it.

And I was a member of a business networking group at the time called ProfNet, and our financial adviser was also a member of that group. And after a meeting, I pulled Jay aside and I go, Jay, man, my business is going down the tubes. I wanna protect my assets. What can I do?

I mean, I would the the stress was at eleven, not ten, eleven for those of you who have seen the movie Spinal Tap. And Jay said, hey. I know this guy. Would you like to meet this guy?

And, you know, sure. I’ll meet that guy. You know? I mean, what is anybody going to do?

I I didn’t know. But I was grasping at straw straws. I liked and respected Jay. So, yeah, I’ll meet your guy.

Then I took my dog, Buddy, for a walk, nice long walk. And during that walk, I decided to pull the plug on our business.

I mean, it was I don’t know how we can save this thing. It’s done. So, I was going home and I was going to tell Susan the decision, call my brother Steve, who was my partner, the decision, you know, sort of get him to sign off on it, but it was done. Well, I come into the apartment, and Susan’s on the phone with this guy, Tom Williams, Jay’s guy.

And so Susan gives me the phone, and Tom Williams asks me a whole series of very pointed questions. And, of course, because I have been doing thinking about how to save this business for so long and so intensely, I knew all of his answers right away. And then all of a sudden, he very calmly says, well, Bob, I think we can save your business.

Okay.

He says, can you come to Grand Rapids? We live in Grand Haven, forty five minutes away. And I said, sure. I can come to Grand Rapids. He said, well, when can you come? I said, mister Williams, it takes forty five minutes to get to Grand Rapids. I can get there in about twenty.

You know, he laughed, but we went right there. Brother Steve, Susan, and I went to visit Tom Williams.

And so we’re, you know, telling him all of these problems. Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. And he just kept shrugging his shoulders and saying, it’s just business.

It’s just business. And then we’d say, but but you don’t understand. We you know, our vendors are our friends, and we owe them all this money. And, you know, I mean, we had a whole litany of problems that seemed to be unsolvable.

And Tom Williams just kept shrugging his shoulders and saying, it’s just business.

It’s just business.

And we were driving back and it all of a sudden, it really struck me that Tom Williams was right.

It’s just business.

And that lesson has pulled me through so many stressful times. I have shared that lesson, shared that story with so many people who are under duress, and there’s always a sense of comfort that comes from hearing somebody affirm that it’s just business.

You see, your success as a person is not determined by your success as a business person, as a retailer.

The success of your store is not a reflection on your intelligence.

Recognize this. First and foremost, you are a mother, a father, a son, a daughter, a husband, a wife, a friend, a lover. You matter despite anything that might be happening in your store.

And I get that right now, things are stressful and things are uncertain, and all of that uncertainty creates anxiety.

But that’s why I wanted to share this story with you. Because when you start to feel that anxiety, when you wake up in the middle of the night thinking about what you can do for your business, with your business, remember, it’s just business.

Alright, you guys. It’s Bob Negen. I love you. We’ll talk to you next week. I hope that you choose to register for the Retail Success Summit. Registration is still open, and it’s just business, but you’ll be a lot better at business if you go to the Retail Success Summit. So register now.