29 | The Trading Mentality - from Aggressive Arcadia to Positive Patagonia

The Trading Mentality is an approach that is prevalent within the inner workings of some of the worlds biggest retailers. It’s an ideology that harks back to the days of market stall trading, with the message at its core being to “always be dissatisfied”. This mantra has been used as a tool to motivate businesses to pursue relentless sales growth and to endlessly maximise their profits, which is why the concept has become somewhat synonymous with some of the more ruthless and cutthroat business practices of retailers like Philip Green of the currently struggling Arcadia Group. It might then seem that assuming a trading mentality would be antithetical to the goals and direction of a small purpose-led business - but that’s not the case! Companies like Patagonia and Lush are two great examples of businesses with strongly held beliefs as well as having a strong trading mentality -for them, the two approaches work and support each other in tandem. So, in episode 29 of The Resilient Retail Game Plan, I want to discuss why the trading mentality is relevant to you, how it can help you think about your business differently and help you grow. We’ll break down what actually constitutes having a trading mentality and what it means for the ways we plan, review and react to changes in the marketplace; and I’ll cover how if we want to push for positive change in the retail industry that we should be focussing on establishing a strong ‘triple bottom line’ of people, planet and profits.

To reserve your place on the free online Stock Management course mentioned in this episode, please head to http://www.resilientretailclub.com/stock