Running a retail business can be hard. You don’t need to be told that. But if it was easy, everyone would do it. And that’s what this episode of Real Retail TV is all about.

It’s about exploring this idea that there are two opposites going on when you run a retail business. On the one side, there’s all of the goodness. There’s the fun, there’s successes, there’s exhilaration. On the other side, there’s problems, there’s stress, there’s opportunity.

And understanding how to manage those opposites is one of the keys to your success.

So before we begin to explore these opposites, I want to remind you that next Tuesday, the end of the month is the deadline for getting super early bird pricing on your tickets to the Retail Success Summit.

This year’s Success Summit is going to be absolutely awesome. You really owe it to yourself to be in that room. So there’s a link down below. Click there to learn more. Click there to register, but make a point of being there.

Okay, so let’s talk about this idea that there’s all sorts of dynamics that go on when you run a retail business. And I’ve been doing this a long time. I have been, I was a retailer for nineteen years, owned my own chain of kites and toy stores. And for almost twenty six years, I’ve been doing this.

And during that time, I’ve seen three different types of retailers. Let’s explore those types, how they act and what that means. And the first type of retailer is the whiners. And you probably know whiners.

There’s probably whiners. No, I’m sure there are whiners in your town. There are whiners in your industry.

Whiners find someone to blame for everything. It’s the government’s fault. It’s the economy’s fault. It’s their vendors fault.

It’s their customers fault. It’s everyone’s fault, but their own. And retail is incredibly hard for these people.

Those people, the whiners are dead man walking. They are going out of business. And because of the disruption that is happening in our world right now, they are going out of business soon faster rather than slower. So if you’re a whiner, now is the time to change. The second type of retailer is the hoper.

And hope is a wonderful emotion. I’m a very hopeful person. I’m a very optimistic person. But hope is not a strategy.

And when we talk about this idea that retail can be hard, hopeers have to understand that the emotions that go into being a hopeful retailer are not what is going to propel them you into the success that is deserved. Let me just say this. Let me jump off of my script here and say that I firmly believe that anyone who is an independent retailer right now deserves success. I mean, real success, financial success, lifestyle success, benefits, all of the good things that come from running a successful retail business, you deserve it. You have opened your store. You are learning, you are growing, you’re going through the hard times, the bad times, all of those things. And so you deserve all of the goodness that being a successful retailer entails.

But the problem with being a hoper is that if you don’t change, the world will run you over. Right now, if you hope that the market is going to somehow become what you want it to be, become what you hope it will be, you’re in trouble. If you hope that you open your doors in the morning and lots of customers will come in, you’re in trouble. If you hope that the people you hire are going to do a good job for you, you know that that ain’t always true. If you hope that your vendors are going to somehow treat you correctly all the time, you know that that’s not always true. So hope while valuable, while better than whiningness whiningness, is that a word is not enough in today’s changing world.

And the third type, and this is why I’m exploring this right now today, is because if you’re going to be successful in today’s world, if you’re going to have a successful retail business, you have to become a doer.

You have to embrace change.

You have to understand that disruption represents opportunity. You cannot sit back on your laurels. You cannot hope that things are going to somehow again, miraculously change and become what you want them to become. You have to understand that you are responsible for your success.

Nobody else is responsible for your success. Your vendors aren’t responsible. The economy isn’t responsible. You and only you are responsible.

See, recognize this disruption represents opportunity.

Every problem you have points to the need to develop a new skill. It points to the need to perhaps shed a self limiting belief point to the need for you to become a different kind of person, a different kind of business person who does things differently. You see, disruption and change and stress causes growth. There are two types of stress.

There is distress and there is eustress. Distress is bad stress. Distress is the kind of chronic stress that leads to health problems. Distress is the kind of stress that leads to, you know, to your business failing.

You stress is good stress. The metaphor here, and it’s the correct metaphor is think about your body. When you work out and you have a really good workout, your muscles are sore, aren’t they? Why are they sore? It’s because they are growing. They say no pain, no gain. And this is exactly true with you and your business.

Every time there is a problem that you react to correctly, every time there is a problem or a disruption that you choose to use as an opportunity, good things start to happen. You become better. And here’s the beautiful thing about that, too, is every time there is a tricky moment, either in the world, like right now, AI tariffs.

We’re in a conflict in Iran. Every time there is a problem, either on a granular level in your specific business or on a global level, Every time there’s a problem and you make the correct adjustments, you are better. And the things that you have learned and the processes that you create in the wisdom that you have acquired become part of you and your business.

It doesn’t go away. It becomes part of you who you are going forward. So I’m suggesting to you be a doer, embrace these changes, embrace these disruptions, embrace the problems.

This is your opportunity right now is your opportunity to go all in. Now is not the time to hold back. Now is not the time to be afraid.

Go all in. All in is the theme for this year’s Retail Success Summit. Why? Because right now there are so many opportunities. And when you go all in, you are positioning yourself for that better future.

Let me tell you a quick story. So back in the early eighties, downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan, where the Retail Success Summit is held every year.

It was depressed. It was not a nice place. I was living in Grand Rapids at the time and downtown was a place where people stayed away.

Urban Decay and Rich DeVos and Jay Vanandel, the two co founders of the Amway Corporation, which is based in West Michigan, decided to go all in on downtown.

They decided that the Amway Corporation and their individual wealth were going to be put to good use and they were going to revitalize downtown. And they decided to do that in the teeth of a recession.

And the business press was covering all of this. And one of the reporters asked Rich DeVos, you know, the economy is incredibly uncertain right now. We are in a recession. Why are you?

Why have you chosen to make this huge investment when there’s all of this uncertainty in the world? And Rich DeVos had a classic answer, and I’d like you to think about it. He said, I choose not to participate.

Choose not to participate in the fear. Choose not to participate in the uncertainty and the anxiety that comes with disruption.

Choose to go all in.

And now I’m going to use this as an opportunity to be a little self serving, because I care about your success. And I want you to come out of this time of uncertainty. This the emergence of AI in independent retail, the emergence of the importance of the customer experience, the beautiful future of independent retail. And I’m going to strongly encourage you to go all in on your future.

Register for the Retail Success Summit. If you’re feeling a little anxious about getting on a plane or you’re feeling a little anxious about investing that time and money, that anxiety, that little niggling feeling that’s there, that is the universe telling you to go all in. That is the universe telling you to get your butt in that seat, to be surrounded by other growth minded retailers, to really, really sit in there and let yourself be immersed in the wisdom of the teachers, be immersed in the energy of the room. Be there, be there, go all in.

Whiners aren’t going to be there. Whiners aren’t going to put up the money or spend the time. Hopers may be there. They may take a chance, but I can tell you that the room is going to be filled with doers and you should be a doer. If you’re a whiner right now, now’s the time to become a hoper. No. If you’re a whiner or a hoper, now is the time to become a doer.

Retail is hard, but it’s also good. It’s also valuable. It’s also meaningful. This is your time to go all in.

So I hope you found that helpful. If you have any comments, put them down below. I’d love to hear what you have to say. Again, there is a link to register down below. Oh, I have one more quick thing to say.

You take no risk when you register for the Retail Success Summit. If at the end of the first day, you’re not thrilled with what you’ve learned. If at the end of the first day, you aren’t excited, you don’t feel like being in that room is one of the best decisions you’ve ever made for your business. Come up and see somebody on our team. We’ll give you all of your money plus of all of your money back plus five hundred dollars Don’t be a hoper. I mean, don’t be a whiner. Don’t be a hoper.

Be a doer. All right, everybody. Take care. Bye bye.