Episode Details

Your sales aren't bad. So why does it suddenly feel like there is no money in the bank?

Hi, I'm retail strategist and founder of Resilient Retail Club, Catherine Erdly.

Every September and October I have the same conversation, and it is almost always with someone who is convinced they have done something wrong. You planned Christmas properly. You placed the orders. And now, right on cue, the invoices for all of that stock are landing while the Christmas sales that are supposed to pay for them are still months away. Your VAT, your wages and your rent carry on regardless. That is the Christmas cash flow pinch, and it turns up in the same fortnight every single year.

What I want you to understand is that this is not a mistake you made. It is the shape of a seasonal business. Retail runs on the gap between paying for stock and selling it, and Christmas stretches that gap wider than any other point in the year. It happens at the very top of the industry too. When I worked in big corporate retail we had a standing set of meetings for exactly this problem, with a name I have never forgotten, and the thing we were protecting was not the bank balance you would assume. At Paperchase we took half our year's revenue in the fourth quarter, sometimes more. You do not survive a shape like that on optimism.

So in this episode I take you through four things you can do over the next few weeks to ease the squeeze. Which stock is quietly holding your money to ransom, and how to get it out. How to build a Christmas buying budget so that every pound you spend has a job to do instead of being a hopeful just-in-case. How to reshape your delivery dates and your payment terms so the cash leaves your account later than it otherwise would. And the one thing not to do when the balance looks tight. By the end you will know exactly what to review this week, what to ask your suppliers for, and why September feeling like this is information rather than a verdict. Press play and I'll walk you through it.

CHAPTERS

00:00 The Christmas cash flow pinch (and why it isn't your fault)

05:20 Way one: free the cash trapped in old stock

07:57 Way two: buy with intention, not "just in case"

09:14 Ways three and four: flow your stock in, and don't panic

LINKS

Free Get Set for Christmas planner: https://www.resilientretailclub.com/christmas

Free cash flow planner: https://www.resilientretailclub.com/cashflow

Find out more about Stock Doctor: https://stockdoctor.net

All episodes of the Resilient Retail Game Plan: https://www.resilientretailclub.com/podcast/

Catherine on LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/catherineerdly

Faire (mentioned in this episode): https://www.faire.com

Mentioned in this episode:

Home and Gift Association is our sponsor this month

https://www.homeandgiftassociation.org.uk/