the-5-essential-books-for-retailers
===
[00:00:00]
[00:00:00] So when we approach our business in this way, we, we avoid getting caught in the, the details and the details that hold us back in. The rules of retail are changing one by one. Corporate retailers are closing their doors, and some call it the death of retail, but those rules never applied to independent retailers like us.
[00:00:21] We're riding our own rules. We're here to answer the questions about how to grow your business, stay competitive, and still have a life. I'm Joshua, and this is The Retail Initiative Podcast. Hey, welcome back to the Retail Initiative Podcast. Today, what I want to share with you is my five. Favorite books that I think every retailer needs to read.
[00:00:43] Uh, the way that you invest in yourself is honestly one of the most important things that you can work on. Uh, a lot of times, like we, we want to get to the next level. We want to grow, we want to get there, and we think that we're just gonna figure it out. And a lot of [00:01:00] times, yes, like we probably can, it's gonna take a long time, but we're going to be able to figure it out with a lot of trial and error.
[00:01:07] But, Instead, what if we could learn from the people who've been there before, learn from their wins, learn from their mistakes, learn what they would do differently. And I think there's some things that we can pull from people, like where we can adopt their mindset and their approach to business. And I think some of those things are really challenging to adopt on your own.
[00:01:27] And so if you are the, the type to read books or listen to books, uh, these are amazing resources. What I love to do, and I, I've even done an episode on it, is talk about. The way that I read books and, and I typically have a few going on at once, and they served a different purpose. Like in the morning, I tend to rotate through these like staple books that I read again and again and again.
[00:01:49] Uh, and then I'll be reading a like tactical book or a new book. Around whatever. And then in the evenings, I love to read biographies and get [00:02:00] into stories of people that inspire me. Sometimes they're business people, sometimes they're political, sometimes they're just awesome historical figures. But it's something that I love to do because then I can really learn from them.
[00:02:11] But I'm also not like getting all these ideas for my business and trying to go to bed at the same time. Cuz that doesn't work. It's challenging and I'm sure you've been there before. So let's get to the five books that I think every single retailer needs to have in their library. Needs to have in Audible account needs to be reading.
[00:02:30] Um, so number one, and actually these are in no particular order. I just had to pick an order to go in. But number one is Delivering Happiness by Tony Shea. He's the founder of zappos.com. And in this book, uh, there's really two things that you're gonna learn that are incredible. One is his story of starting Zappos.
[00:02:48] If you think about when he started the idea of selling shoes online was absurd. Like everyone's just like, there's no way that you could do shoes online. Like people need to try 'em on, your returns [00:03:00] are gonna be outta control. And he did it anyway. And I think a lot of us face challenges and things that were like, that's absurd.
[00:03:06] There's no way that could work. But. It can just, we haven't figured out how to do it yet. And he is an amazing example of that. And then two, delivering happiness. The whole idea of a customer-centric business, the way he's put his customers first. And everything was unreal. And yes, like they ended up being acquired by Amazon, but they've kept their culture.
[00:03:32] Um, and, and that actually is another bit that you'll learn is the, the culture that he built at Zappos. And a lot of times the things that we want to do and when we were trying to get to the next level, if you can fix the culture and you can fix the way the team operates, that can unlock this new level for your business.
[00:03:49] Number two. And this has been my most recent read, and it probably is one of the best books I've read in years, and it is 10 X is Easier than two X by [00:04:00] Dan Sullivan and Ben Hardy. If you don't know Dan Sullivan, the guy's been around forever and he's one of the most influential business leaders out there.
[00:04:08] And the idea behind it is, You know, there's two mindsets that we can approach business. There's a 10 x mindset, like trying to grow times 10, and then there's two x mindset, which is like improvement. We're just trying to grow a little bit, and he, he talks about the fact that, you know, if when we look at like a two x mindset, how could, how could we improve our business?
[00:04:33] It generally is nuanced. There's a thousand ways to do it. We really can do exactly what we're doing now, but just more of it. We do exactly what we're doing now, but we just do more of it. But if we were to ask ourselves if we needed to grow times 10, whether it be we need to grow our business revenue by 10, we need to increase our clients' results by 10.
[00:04:57] We need to incl increase our client's satisfaction by [00:05:00] 10. We need to increase our marriage 10 times. If we start to ask ourself that question, it's much less nuance. The path to get there likely is not a thousand things. It's one or two things. It's one or two things that are gonna get to that serious level of growth.
[00:05:18] And all the details that we get caught up in become like obvious, should I do my own photos for my site? Well, what happens if it's gonna sell in store before it sells online? We waste it all that time. Those kind of questions are improvement questions. They are not, how do we really scale up? How do we really get to where I want my business to go?
[00:05:41] And so when we approach our business in this way, we, we avoid getting caught in the, the details and the details that hold us back. And, and he talks a lot about the 80 20 rule, that it's likely that 20% of your time produces 80% of your results. [00:06:00] And so to get to that next level, to get to the 10 x level that he talks about, we have to find a way to focus on the 20% as our 100%.
[00:06:09] We need to make that all that we do and then create systems and delegate the other pieces. And this book, if you leave today and you read one, that's the one to read. Uh, you pair that with this oth the other books in this series, there's two, they're not a part of this list, but one is who not how, which is all about instead of trying to figure out how to do everything.
[00:06:31] Figure out who you can partner with, who could do it for you, because it's likely that their skillset is what can get you to the next level rather than you just figuring everything out. Uh, and then the, the other one is the gap in the gain. Which is phenomenal. Uh, it's the idea that, you know, there's the gap when we're looking out on the horizon and we're seeing who we want to be, and we're constantly comparing ourselves against the horizon and this idea of who we could be rather [00:07:00] than looking back at your starting point and seeing how far you've come.
[00:07:03] Uh, so this series together is essential because, you know, trying to grow times 10 when you're comparing yourself against this hypothetical future version. Will be demoralizing and impossible. And if we're not asking ourselves who, rather than how it's going to just be a mess. Uh, and so that series has been so valuable for me and for a ton of other people.
[00:07:29] All right, so Delivering Happiness by Tony Shey. 10 x is easier than two X by Dan Sullivan and Ben Hardy. The next is Shoe Dog by Phil Knight. Phil Knight's the founder of Nike, and this is his memoir where he walks through the story of Nike. They are a phenomenal business and they have a fascinating story where, you know, he has had to pivot and adapt at so many stages of his business and the challenges.
[00:07:55] They faced were unreal. And despite what they are today, they were not [00:08:00] started as the super funded rich company. They were on a shoestring budget and they grew out of that, and they opened retail stores and all of these incredible things. And as a retailer, you can read
[00:08:16] really a mindset and approach of how he approached these challenges and created Nike, what it is today. But it didn't start that way. And I think a lot of us, we, we don't, we look at the end result and we don't think about the challenges they faced early on in Shoe Dog be beyond the inspiration. It's just a good book, like really good.
[00:08:38] Uh, so it's definitely one I would recommend. Next is Radical Candor by Kim Scott. If you are trying to grow, it's, there's likely a leadership. Gap that needs to happen. We, we need to level up in the way that we can grow, that we can lead our team because the way that we lead our team is one of the most important things about our [00:09:00] business.
[00:09:00] And so the idea behind radical Candor is the way that we lead our team and, and she. It has this like cross section idea, um, which is, you know, caring personally, really caring about your team and challenging directly. If you've ever faced this challenge of, you know, you're too nice, you're a rollover, you're a pushover, and your team doesn't respect you or.
[00:09:25] Like, no one does what I say and I'm, I'm doing this and I'm, and I'm telling them this, but no one's listening to me. This book is amazing for that. Um, because the idea is, you know, if you care personally but you don't challenge directly, she calls that ruinous empathy where you're empathizing with your team, but it is to your ruin and theirs.
[00:09:45] They are not going to get to that next level cause you aren't pushing them and they are not going to be productive employees. Because you're constantly dealing with every situation like Yeah, that makes sense. That makes sense. Rather than like, Hey, there's a role to do and we, we [00:10:00] need to do that. Um, and so we want to care personally.
[00:10:05] And then there's the other end, you know, where you're challenging directly, but you're not caring personally. And she calls that obnoxious aggression. And it's, it's this awful thing where you're just constantly eating at your employees and not caring about who they are. But when you mix caring personally and challenging directly in one, that's where radical candor comes in.
[00:10:24] And that's where you have profound change in your team members. And in yourself and in your business. So Radical Candor by Kim Scott, if leadership is something you're wanting to grow in, that is incredible. Also, I would say anything, literally any book by John Maxwell is phenomenal developing your leadership skills.
[00:10:44] And the last one is Traffic Secrets by Russell Brunson. Uh, Russell Brunson's one of the most influential people in my career, and this book is phenomenal cuz. He outlined some tactics that are honestly already relatively outdated through [00:11:00] Pinterest and through Instagram and through Facebook, but the bigger idea behind it.
[00:11:04] Is the framework that we can approach. Any social media, social media channel where we can look at the history of the platform, what the intention is, like their current goal, and then we can build our marketing around their goal on the platform. And so he teaches, teaches it through the tactics at that time.
[00:11:25] But you walk away understanding how do you approach Instagram today? How do you approach TikTok today or Pinterest or whatever, and. It is an incredibly valuable, valuable book for driving traffic to your store. Um, so again, that's Traffic Secrets by Russell Brunson. Um, so again, the list, and there are five books that I could not recommend more, especially for a retail community Delivering Happiness by Tony Shea.
[00:11:50] 10 X is easier than two X by Ben Hardy and Dan Sullivan, shoe Dog by Phil Knight. Radical Candor by Kim Scott and Traffic Secrets by Russell Brunson. [00:12:00] Uh, they're, they're all good audible books, actually. Traffic Secrets, you probably need to get the physical copy, but the rest are good, audible books or physical reads.
[00:12:09] I hope that these are helpful to you and serve you well, and I cannot wait to see you next time.
