As it is the New Year, it is about the New You.

As you have decided to create a 20/20 vision in 2020, your eyes may spot what one of our Team members saw on the grass at the largest Royal London Park.

At Retail, we do not have a 20/20 vision.
The UK has shown many casualties in 2019 on the high street and it is the continuation of closures over the past few years with small and big names such as
Matalan
Block Buster
BHS 
Orla Kiely
ToyRUs
and specifically in 20219
Gerry Weber
House of Fraser
Jack Wills
Khaadi Fashion
Links of London
LK Bennett
Mamas and Papas
Mothercare
Pretty Green
Stefanel UK
and many more smaller companies of course.
Charlotte Olympia, Miss Pap, ... 

In the USA, at the end of December, the Creditors took ownership of Tom Shoes.
In the USA, Roberto Cavalli closes as its investor will not put more money in the company.

...

We are not wrong when we mention reasons such as
* We are spending less due to the uncertainty of the economy
* We are not shoppers as we were before
* We face competition from the digital world and the likes of Amazon, Boohoo, Net A Porter
* We have been pushing retail brick and mortar stores for many years and now we have to close a few
...
However, we do no mention ...

To you, the Family and Friends,
Happy, Healthy and Prosperous NEW YEAR 2020.

We wish to confirm that Brand Successes in 2019 have shown that

1 business owners made sure they had a sounding board joining them in the journey.

2 businesses invested in people's training, personal development and management skills.

3 people have invested more in processes to build strong foundations and have innovated in product development, sales processes, new marketing approaches to connect with clients ...

4 brands and retailers have taken on board critical thinking, developed a learning strategy for the management team and the front line staff 

YOU CAN DO THE SAME.

How can we help you?
We can develop a road map and content for all budget as long as you are open to taking the learning online with online courses.
It can start from £50 a month.

Very often, 2 opposite feelings make us take action:

Pain or
Pleasure

Think about a business decision you took recently.
What got you to take action?
What is the pleasure or passion to move forward,  make more money, connect with better projects or people, have a more fulfilling life?

or 

What is the pain that you were going through? You need to stop the fact that you were not happy, having cash flow issues?

We are here to help you identify the reasons and implement the solutions. 

PS - This does ALSO apply to the Boutiques you connect with.
Are they trying to please themselves with an exciting new brand, new design, new price point, new customer segment thanks to your Brand?   PLEASURE

Are they trying to fix a problem they are having with another Brand not having the right styles, the right designs, the right price point, the right partnership agreement, the right agent who does not put pressure ...?  PAIN

What gap are you filling up?

When Simon Sinek asked the Navy Seals how they select the best of the best, they explained that they needed to rate the person to be rated on those 2 criteria

Performance

Trust

With the Navy Seals, they will privilege Trust over Performance.
SEE THE VIDEO NOW.

In Business, we seem to have the opposite metric analysis and this create organisations that will fail in the long term.

Do you agree?

Simon Sinek - Navy Seal Recruitment process

Simon's quote: "Leaders are the ones who have the courage to go first and open a path for others to follow."

PS - Do you need help or support to identify the High Trust people and get them to be Higher Performers?
WhatsApp +44 7951 198 769

A few days have passed since the first part of this Fashion and Cooking blog post.
You have therefore dedicated time and efforts to come up with some recipes.
As we mentioned in Part I, you need to have
* An image of the final product
* The recipe - step by step process to prepare the dish and bring consistency to your dish
* The ingredients - Those may vary depending on who will eat and if you wish to appeal to the palate of the person tasting the dish!

The Image: The Vision - The Products - The Measurable Goals

What is your project all about.
What sales goals do you have
What products will you be selling and to whom
What sales channel will you use? Which country will you be selling into
...

The Recipe: The processes to get the results you are expecting

If you are developing a wholesale and trade show sales approach, what process will you use to build the sales, leads, contacts...
what process will you use to train your staff, work with agents & other partners
what process will you use to id...

Have you noticed that the Fashion Industry has become more complex and unpredictable?

Wholesale, Retail, Online, Popup, D2C, B2B platforms, Marketplaces...
Many Young Designers or StartUps believe that success is ALL about the product. Clients tell us that the product is only 15% - Some Clients and Prospects say 25% and very infrequently do we hear 50% or above.

So how do we fix that? How do we become better at forecasting our own future?

One easy answer is what our Successful Clients do:
MEASURE THINGS 3 TIMES, ALWAYS!

1. You measure the first time to ensure it is the right project and the right priority for the business. 
Time is a limited resources, you must, therefore, focus on the key top-level priorities for the Brand or Retail stores/ Online.

2. You measure the second time to set up a minimum standard the business must reach.

3. You measure the third time to work hard on reaching the minimum standard and you measure the results. If you have reached the minimum standard, you c...

It all started as we were working with a Client who loved cooking and Fashion of course.

Part of the work we were doing together, we asked a few questions and we shared a few top tips and among those, we said:

* Close your eyes and tell us what you see in the future. If a Journalist was to interview you in 10 years and asking you to describe your journey and what you have managed to build over the period, what would you say? 
The Designer started creating a picture of the final product and a picture of what she wanted.

* As you are building a wholesale strategy and looking to attend trade shows, what would be the step by step process you would apply to make the trade show investment a success. Also share with us the time line.

The Designer started drafting the blueprint to effectively pick up orders at the show.

* As you set up the trade show action plan, you will need tools such as price list, emailing, calling, imagery, social media... please list them all.

The Designer started pu...

LFW, PWF and other cities fashion weeks are great events to build a relationship with Buyers and Consumers.
However, such events must be prepared.

You know the famous business quote:
"Fail to prepare and you prepare to fail!"

One day, a Designer told us that without preparation, such events can end up just being "an ego trip".
Do you feel the same? 
Don't do it again if you only have a "hope strategy".

Set some clear measurable goals otherwise a British Designer told us that, in the absence of results, the "event was as expensive as taking a store in Mayfair/ Bond Street".
Mayfair is one of the most expensive part of London.
Paying £3000 for 3 days means that you are paying a rent of around £360 000/ year (x120) for a 10m2.  

As you can see, even the best in class like London Fashion Week will need to clean up.
What do you need to clean up in your business?

We are here to help. Our Fashion VIP Service is the preferred 121 product for Young Designers and Start-Ups.

RESOURCES
London Fashio...

The London Fashion Business Academy is the brainchild of Thierry Bayle, Founder of Global Fashion Management (GFM).

GFM offers many posts on Wholesale (B2B), Retail (B2C), Buying ...
Instead of repeating the blog posts from GFM to the LFBA, you recommend you visit the FREE Business Blog on the GFM web site. 

 VISIT THE GFM RETAIL BLOG POSTS HERE.