Five things I learned at Next Level

I wasn't sure what to expect when I showed up at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville on a cold January morning for Next Level. I had read about the event online and how it was inspired by the ANLA Management Clinic, but jointly organized between ANLA and OFA, and was looking forward to connecting with retailers and getting an idea of what was keeping them up at night.

I found that the event was an excellent networking opportunity, and the speakers were very knowledgeable. In fact, I liked what keynote speaker Barry Moltz had to say so much that I invited him to write a regular business advice column for Garden Center — check it out on page 39. In addition to the usual keynote and regular presentations and meals, Next Level offered participants the opportunity to meet in smaller groups of people with similar business goals in hubs. I chose to join the group of professionals in the hub “Reinvent My Business,” where we had the chance to discuss the presentations we had attended with our peers as well as share our challenges and solutions. Retailers expressed their interest in learning how to differentiate themselves from their competitors, frustration that customers don’t seem to want to purchase plant material if there aren’t flowers on it already and desire to keep having fun as they developed their business and increased sales.

Here are a few of the pointers I picked up in the three days of the event.

There are four main skills to develop to take your business to the next level, according to Barry Moltz, small business consultant.

Learn how to hire the right people. Your business depends on the successful execution of ideas that are carried out by the people you hire; choose the best personnel to maximize your business’ success.

Go out and meet the right people. No business owner can reach the highest level of success without doing some networking and learning from peers. Industry events and meetings are great places to do so.

Be able to sell to the right people. People buy things to solve a perceived “problem” that they may have. For example, in any economy, people buy painkillers, but not vitamins. Make sure you’re reaching the people looking to “solve” the problem of not having enough green in their lives, not wanting to feed their children grocery store produce, whatever it may be.

Understand that customer service is the way to differentiate. It is the only sustainable, competitive advantage that many garden centers have. It’s very difficult to compete on price with other, bigger box stores.

The actions you take to increase profits don’t necessarily have to be big or complicated.

Ken Lain, owner of Watters Garden Center in Prescott, Ariz., suggested the following simple actions to boost your bottom line: shop around for insurance, sell equipment, cut dues and subscriptions, sign all checks personally, verify credit card statements, simplify uniforms and refinance long term debt.

Setting up a strategic plan is essential to carrying out all other business plans.

A strategic plan sets the course for growth, lays the foundation for other plans and processes, aligns resources and reduces waste. It’s essential for a strategic plan to have short term key priorities, long-term areas of focus and a way to measure that progress.

People shouldn’t be put into positions of leadership if that’s not where their strengths are.

Jeni Britton Bauer, founder of Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream, explained to attendees that, while she founded the company, she doesn’t consider herself a natural leader; she’d prefer to stay on the creative side of the business. So she brought on John Lowe, an experienced businessman, to be the CEO of Jeni’s.

Sharing goals with peers is a good way to hold yourself accountable.

How many times have you told yourself you were going to make changes to improve your business, and not followed through with them? According to Stan Pohmer, garden center consultant, one of the best ways to assure that you’ll meet your goals is to share them with peers and form your own support group of sorts. We’ve seen that it works for people trying to lose weight or train for a marathon — why not try it for your retail business?