'Value is key', Kilcullen businesses told

Kilcullen business people at the trading strategy workshop.

People are being more careful about how they're spending money and they want to feel that they've got value, writes Brian Byrne. But 'that doesn't mean cheap', local business people heard at a workshop in Kilcullen last night.

The event, Peak Effective Trading Strategy for Quarter 4, was held in Fallons, hosted by the Kilcullen Business Group in association with Kildare County Council's Enterprise, Tourism and Economic Development Team. It was conducted by leadership coach and business strategist Miriam Simon.

The businesses present, inter alia, represented the local restaurant, bar and coffee shop sector as well as retail florists, beauty and optician services, off-licence, bathrooms and hardware, butchers and bookselling. Through the evening they were given tips on how to make the most of trading in the last months of the year, particularly through cooperation and networking.

"Business done in the last three months of the year can represent 60pc of your profit for the year if you are in retail or hospitality," Miriam Simon says. "It's the time to pull 'trading levers', the things that will ignite a customer, get them to want to buy." A consultant to some of the biggest businesses in Ireland, she believes that successful retailing is about 'good messaging, good marketing, and psychology'. And that these basics apply to all enterprises. 

"It's not really rocket science. There's an assumption that retail is standing behind the counter and selling somebody a pair of shoes, but all business is retail. Even myself, whether I'm being paid to speak, to consult for SMEs, or to be a Jiminy Cricket for bigger companies to go in and help them at strategy, I'm a retailer because I'm selling something."

Since the pandemic, according to Ms Simon, there has been a shift in the balance of power between large corporate businesses and the smaller retailer. "Prior to Covid, the balance was with the big players who had a huge amount of money. But the pandemic equalised things. Suddenly the small merchant had the power because they could make necessary changes faster. A small company in Kilcullen can be selling to anywhere in the world."

The workshop participants heard that two major global trends, sustainability and digitalisation, are impacting every business. "You need to lean into both of these. The general trend is that people are not buying stuff just for the sake of it any more — they are buying things that will be of actual value to them." While this comes in part because customers are more informed, Ms Simon suggests that they are also 'fatigued' in what has been a consumer society for a very long time. 

"As consumers we're much more sophisticated. We know when we're being sold something, and it's important that we're talked to as human beings by humans who are open and transparent, not by faceless corporates. The more you can connect on a human basis with the customer, the better you're going to do."

She adds that the place of the physical shop in an online buying era continues to be very relevant. "Shops are going to become even more important because the fact of the matter is you can't smell or taste or touch or physically try something online. And whilst online is trying to become softer, it's still a transactional experience, while the human face in the store is important." In the online world, the trend is also shifting from beautifully shot images of products to more realistic presentation, Ms Simon says. "Customers want to see people, they want to see faces, and they want to see them warts and all."

The ability for a small business to extend their reach beyond their immediate community has been facilitated by state supports over recent years, she says. "We were very clever as a country during the pandemic and we have adapted well. But from that we have to remember that we are all running two businesses now, at the 'shop counter' and beyond it. So, for example, you have a hair and beauty business and you're working a 60-hour week at that, and then you're going home and you're packing stuff until midnight for your online sales. You haven't anticipated that your online is a completely other business. You have to learn to do less, and do it properly." 

You also have to stay ahead of your game, not just go with what seems to be working well right now. "Quite often we start out in business and we are giving the customer what they want. Then, slowly over the years, we start to model the business around what suits us, and then we start selling only what we have. We need to always remember that if we get ahead of what the customer is looking for, we're going to win."

Salima Fazal Karim of Crean's Place Artisan Bakery; Andrew Gaynor, Economic Development Officer KCC; consultant Miriam Simon; and optician Nichola Kennedy, Kilcullen Business Group.

Photographs use Policy — Privacy Policy