The movie industry has been doing this for years. With a screenplay in hand, a movie production house pulls together a team of production specialists including grips, gaffers, boom operators, etc. to all assemble at a film shoot location over a few months to produce a film. Together, these experts piece together all of the components…
Creating a Strategic Business Plan Amid COVID-19
Business planning in any environment is important, but add in the myriad of challenges brought by the current COVID-19 pandemic, and strategic business planning becomes even more essential for convenience stores looking to succeed in this uncertain landscape. So, why is business planning so crucial? In a word, it provides clarity. Investing time in developing…
The Winds of Change
The winds of change can happen suddenly. One of the worst days of my life was learning that my mother had a stroke at the age of 58. I was 23 at the time, and was hardly prepared for a shock to my family that early in life. Forty-eight hours later, she was pronounced dead.…
Embracing the New World
Raise your hand if you had the word “pandemic” in your 2020 strategic plan. In a matter of a week, the world rapidly changed last spring. The pandemic is reaching further than any key worldwide event in the last several decades. How we interact with one another, how business is conducted, where we live and…
LinkedIn – The Power of Networking
When I started Gray Cat Enterprises in 2004, I was living in Chicago and for the first couple of years, all of my clients were based in Illinois. This was fine at the time, since I had a boatload of opportunities. Then, a buddy of mine told me about LinkedIn, so I looked into it…
Prepare for Tomorrow – Today
Nobody saw this coming. Just two months ago, we were in our 11th year of an economic expansion; unemployment was at a 50-year old low; and March Madness was right around the corner. Then the bottom fell out. With roughly one-third of the world’s population in a lockdown (just think about that for a moment),…
Managing the Retail Puzzle
You own a bunch of stores all varying in size and age. Over the years, product assortments and sets have come and gone, and you have ridden certain designs into the ground. Each of your stores needs a refresher, but you do not know where to start. How does a multi-unit operator approach this? This…
Technology Is Changing the Customer Experience
Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, famously said, “We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the next 10. Don’t let yourself be lulled into inaction.” Think how much has changed in the convenience store industry in the past 10 years. Restaurant-quality…
Food Marketing’s Secret Weapon: Sampling
I remember my first interview with a convenience store chain. I had just spent nine fast-paced years with Little Caesars Pizza as the national marketing director. We had grown from 1,300 stores to 5,000 stores in less than five years, and had revenues exceeding $3 billion. My role was to oversee all of the field…
Creating Customer Experiences, Not Transactions
Recently, I spoke for the sixth time at the M-PACT Show, which is the largest gathering place in the Midwest for energy and convenience industry leaders. It is one of my favorite places to present. This year’s presentation was called There’s a New Store in Town – Are You Ready for the Disruption? This was…