1
00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:06,960
Speaker 1: Hi, I'm Britney Saunders, and welcome to Big Business, the

2
00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:09,680
Speaker 1: place where business is far from boring. And today I'm

3
00:00:09,720 --> 00:00:13,120
Speaker 1: recording on gaddigul Land. Now I somehow manage to build

4
00:00:13,160 --> 00:00:16,040
Speaker 1: an empire from the garage underneath my house, and I'm

5
00:00:16,079 --> 00:00:18,360
Speaker 1: here to share it all with you, from the winds,

6
00:00:18,640 --> 00:00:22,919
Speaker 1: the mistakes, the challenging times and the funny moments in between. So,

7
00:00:23,000 --> 00:00:25,799
Speaker 1: whether you're in business yourself, perhaps you're not in the

8
00:00:25,840 --> 00:00:28,640
Speaker 1: game at all, maybe you're looking for some inspo, or

9
00:00:28,680 --> 00:00:31,440
Speaker 1: you just simply want to hear the tea, this is

10
00:00:31,480 --> 00:00:35,000
Speaker 1: the podcast for you. Coming up on today's episode, we

11
00:00:35,120 --> 00:00:39,120
Speaker 1: are going to be deep diving into Jean's West shutting

12
00:00:39,200 --> 00:00:43,200
Speaker 1: down and if you haven't heard, they're shutting the whole

13
00:00:43,240 --> 00:00:47,000
Speaker 1: thing down. And they are a dinosaur brand which has

14
00:00:47,040 --> 00:00:47,840
Speaker 1: been around.

15
00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:49,120
Speaker 2: For a really long time. That's what you call brands

16
00:00:49,120 --> 00:00:50,560
Speaker 2: that have been around for a really long time.

17
00:00:51,479 --> 00:00:52,479
Speaker 3: I'm old and.

18
00:00:54,640 --> 00:00:56,000
Speaker 2: We're going to be discussing it.

19
00:00:56,040 --> 00:00:59,440
Speaker 1: And also I'm going to share some of my thoughts

20
00:00:59,800 --> 00:01:03,840
Speaker 1: and some of my fears around potentially finding myself in

21
00:01:03,880 --> 00:01:06,720
Speaker 1: this same position one day, because it's a harsh it's

22
00:01:06,760 --> 00:01:10,080
Speaker 1: a harsh reality. Businesses are gonna end one day, and

23
00:01:10,120 --> 00:01:12,720
Speaker 1: that's just a scary reality that we deal with. And

24
00:01:12,959 --> 00:01:15,760
Speaker 1: before I jump into today's episode, I just want to

25
00:01:15,760 --> 00:01:16,479
Speaker 1: do a little reminder.

26
00:01:16,520 --> 00:01:18,760
Speaker 2: And you're going to get sick of me. You're going

27
00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:19,840
Speaker 2: to be sick of me.

28
00:01:20,520 --> 00:01:22,920
Speaker 1: But just in case you didn't hear like my last

29
00:01:22,920 --> 00:01:26,000
Speaker 1: bonus episode or see anything that I've posted on Instagram

30
00:01:26,040 --> 00:01:28,680
Speaker 1: in the last week or so, I have a book.

31
00:01:28,720 --> 00:01:29,840
Speaker 2: I have written a book.

32
00:01:29,880 --> 00:01:33,080
Speaker 1: I'm an author and my book is available for pre

33
00:01:33,200 --> 00:01:35,240
Speaker 1: order right now. Xander's going to leave a link in

34
00:01:35,280 --> 00:01:37,760
Speaker 1: the show notes. It's on book Topia. If you love

35
00:01:37,800 --> 00:01:40,000
Speaker 1: everything I do here on the pod, you will love

36
00:01:40,160 --> 00:01:43,000
Speaker 1: my book. So I just thought I would give my

37
00:01:43,000 --> 00:01:44,920
Speaker 1: book one more little shout out. But let's just jump

38
00:01:44,959 --> 00:01:52,760
Speaker 1: straight into today's episode. Well, Xander, did you know that

39
00:01:52,840 --> 00:01:57,680
Speaker 1: approximately sixty percent of Australian businesses fail within their first

40
00:01:57,800 --> 00:02:01,360
Speaker 1: three years, with many failing in the first year.

41
00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:04,040
Speaker 4: I actually did know that because I did business studies

42
00:02:04,040 --> 00:02:05,000
Speaker 4: in high school and I.

43
00:02:06,680 --> 00:02:07,960
Speaker 2: Did business studies too.

44
00:02:08,200 --> 00:02:08,919
Speaker 3: I hated it.

45
00:02:09,160 --> 00:02:10,200
Speaker 2: I loved it.

46
00:02:10,440 --> 00:02:12,560
Speaker 1: Did you have to like a make up like a

47
00:02:12,600 --> 00:02:14,880
Speaker 1: pretend business and have like a business plan?

48
00:02:15,080 --> 00:02:15,360
Speaker 3: Yes?

49
00:02:15,440 --> 00:02:15,960
Speaker 4: Yeah? Yeah?

50
00:02:16,200 --> 00:02:17,079
Speaker 3: What was mine?

51
00:02:17,160 --> 00:02:20,760
Speaker 4: I think I I think at the time, I still

52
00:02:20,760 --> 00:02:22,920
Speaker 4: wanted to be a dance teacher, Okay, and so I

53
00:02:22,919 --> 00:02:25,359
Speaker 4: think I like it was a dance school that was my.

54
00:02:25,400 --> 00:02:27,560
Speaker 1: I don't remember what mine was, but it makes me

55
00:02:27,680 --> 00:02:30,160
Speaker 1: wish that I still had like all my old school

56
00:02:30,320 --> 00:02:32,119
Speaker 1: I know stuff Cuz imagine.

57
00:02:31,880 --> 00:02:33,639
Speaker 4: Lost on the old house computer somewhere.

58
00:02:33,840 --> 00:02:36,440
Speaker 1: Imagine if I'd done a clothing label. I feel like

59
00:02:36,480 --> 00:02:39,960
Speaker 1: I could have, like now that I think about it. Anyway,

60
00:02:40,800 --> 00:02:44,519
Speaker 1: For those of you that didn't know that fact, sixty

61
00:02:44,560 --> 00:02:50,280
Speaker 1: percent of all Australian businesses fail within their first three years.

62
00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:53,960
Speaker 2: That is a very alarming statistic.

63
00:02:54,639 --> 00:02:58,040
Speaker 1: In financial year twenty twenty three to twenty twenty four,

64
00:02:58,600 --> 00:03:03,320
Speaker 1: there were four hundred thirty six thousand business entries and

65
00:03:03,600 --> 00:03:06,000
Speaker 1: three hundred and sixty two thousand exits.

66
00:03:07,600 --> 00:03:09,240
Speaker 3: That's like almost all of them.

67
00:03:09,440 --> 00:03:09,639
Speaker 4: Yes.

68
00:03:09,840 --> 00:03:13,079
Speaker 1: Yeah, So Jean's West, which we all know it has

69
00:03:13,120 --> 00:03:15,720
Speaker 1: been around for a really long time, they have announced

70
00:03:15,760 --> 00:03:20,080
Speaker 1: that they are going into administration and closing all of

71
00:03:20,160 --> 00:03:24,520
Speaker 1: their physical retail stores. And the shutting down of their

72
00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:30,760
Speaker 1: physical retail chain will impact six hundred employees across ninety stores.

73
00:03:31,160 --> 00:03:34,800
Speaker 1: It's saying here that the business will still operate online.

74
00:03:35,560 --> 00:03:38,240
Speaker 4: I have a lot of questions around this, and I

75
00:03:38,440 --> 00:03:40,560
Speaker 4: brought a few of them up too before we even started.

76
00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:45,880
Speaker 4: But from someone I'm not in business, so and you've

77
00:03:45,880 --> 00:03:48,800
Speaker 4: mentioned that they would have had leases for the ninety

78
00:03:48,880 --> 00:03:51,880
Speaker 4: stores still ongoing from a couple of years ago. But

79
00:03:52,040 --> 00:03:56,960
Speaker 4: like in my head, you know, four or five years ago,

80
00:03:57,280 --> 00:03:59,800
Speaker 4: they knew they were in trouble, they knew their own

81
00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:00,640
Speaker 4: over time.

82
00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:03,680
Speaker 1: They went into administration back in twenty twenty, I believe,

83
00:04:04,560 --> 00:04:07,480
Speaker 1: and then I think a parent company came in.

84
00:04:07,880 --> 00:04:10,960
Speaker 2: Yeah, it took over, took over, and then it's happened again.

85
00:04:12,440 --> 00:04:16,960
Speaker 4: Why with ninety stores across Australia and you're you're in

86
00:04:17,480 --> 00:04:21,960
Speaker 4: what it seems like some crippling financial struggles, why would

87
00:04:21,960 --> 00:04:25,359
Speaker 4: you not close down a large majority of those stores

88
00:04:25,360 --> 00:04:27,520
Speaker 4: to save costs and then move a lot of your

89
00:04:27,560 --> 00:04:28,440
Speaker 4: business online.

90
00:04:28,960 --> 00:04:30,160
Speaker 2: You think that that's what they would do.

91
00:04:30,440 --> 00:04:30,640
Speaker 3: Yeah.

92
00:04:31,240 --> 00:04:35,000
Speaker 1: Again, I'm not in any kind of position to be

93
00:04:35,839 --> 00:04:37,920
Speaker 1: giving advice, totally.

94
00:04:37,680 --> 00:04:40,280
Speaker 3: Done, but that's where my mind goes.

95
00:04:40,160 --> 00:04:42,720
Speaker 1: Me too, Like, the only thing I can think of

96
00:04:43,080 --> 00:04:46,400
Speaker 1: is how difficult it would be to get out of

97
00:04:46,400 --> 00:04:51,200
Speaker 1: so many leases, And in my experience, all of our

98
00:04:51,600 --> 00:04:54,880
Speaker 1: commercial retail leases that we sign are five years long.

99
00:04:55,320 --> 00:04:58,440
Speaker 1: But I wonder because Jean's West is so big, and

100
00:04:58,480 --> 00:05:00,640
Speaker 1: they've been around for so long, and they've had stores

101
00:05:00,640 --> 00:05:03,200
Speaker 1: for so long, I wonder if they're in ten or

102
00:05:03,240 --> 00:05:05,400
Speaker 1: fifteen or twenty year leases.

103
00:05:05,520 --> 00:05:08,119
Speaker 4: Because there's a Genes West store in almost every major

104
00:05:08,120 --> 00:05:09,040
Speaker 4: shopping so you go to.

105
00:05:09,120 --> 00:05:12,320
Speaker 1: Yeah, I also think I don't know a single person

106
00:05:12,320 --> 00:05:13,160
Speaker 1: that's ever shopped.

107
00:05:12,880 --> 00:05:16,479
Speaker 2: At Geans don't. I don't know anyone that's ever shopped

108
00:05:16,520 --> 00:05:17,080
Speaker 2: at Jeans West.

109
00:05:17,080 --> 00:05:18,840
Speaker 1: And there's so much that I could say here, because

110
00:05:19,320 --> 00:05:21,440
Speaker 1: I'm going to get into it, like what I would

111
00:05:21,440 --> 00:05:25,960
Speaker 1: do if I was Jean's West, But my only thought is,

112
00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:30,360
Speaker 1: like with ninety stores, like I can only imagine how

113
00:05:31,040 --> 00:05:34,080
Speaker 1: expensive it would be for them to shut them because

114
00:05:34,120 --> 00:05:37,080
Speaker 1: when you're breaking that lease, you've got to pay it out.

115
00:05:38,120 --> 00:05:40,400
Speaker 4: Yeah, does that depend on the contract you're in.

116
00:05:40,600 --> 00:05:40,920
Speaker 3: Yeah.

117
00:05:40,960 --> 00:05:43,400
Speaker 1: And again I can't speak for them because who knows

118
00:05:43,440 --> 00:05:45,760
Speaker 1: what their leases say, who knows how long their leases are,

119
00:05:45,800 --> 00:05:48,520
Speaker 1: But I could only imagine they're probably longer and bigger

120
00:05:48,560 --> 00:05:50,440
Speaker 1: than my little leases.

121
00:05:50,080 --> 00:05:50,680
Speaker 2: That I've got.

122
00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:55,479
Speaker 1: Yeah, but it's so expensive to break a lease, like

123
00:05:55,560 --> 00:05:58,080
Speaker 1: a regular lease, let alone a retail one, like I

124
00:05:58,120 --> 00:06:02,159
Speaker 1: can't even begin to imagine, And I'm gonna guess like

125
00:06:02,240 --> 00:06:04,800
Speaker 1: maybe that's why they haven't made the decision to shut them,

126
00:06:04,839 --> 00:06:06,640
Speaker 1: But I mean they've made the decision now.

127
00:06:07,880 --> 00:06:12,560
Speaker 4: From your perspective, obviously, Fates like nowhere near as big

128
00:06:12,560 --> 00:06:15,359
Speaker 4: as Jean's West had been yet yet.

129
00:06:16,160 --> 00:06:19,599
Speaker 2: Yeah, Okay, if I could handle that.

130
00:06:19,560 --> 00:06:23,680
Speaker 4: You know, right now, in the scale that Fate is at,

131
00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:27,000
Speaker 4: you would be comfortable with the five year lease that's

132
00:06:27,080 --> 00:06:28,520
Speaker 4: kind of like the standard.

133
00:06:28,880 --> 00:06:31,479
Speaker 1: Yeah, but even then that's a really scary thing to

134
00:06:31,640 --> 00:06:32,479
Speaker 1: sign totally.

135
00:06:33,080 --> 00:06:36,720
Speaker 4: But with their scale, Jean's West scale, do you think

136
00:06:36,760 --> 00:06:39,040
Speaker 4: it would be a common thing to sign a lease

137
00:06:39,120 --> 00:06:40,719
Speaker 4: that was a lot longer? Do you think that they

138
00:06:40,760 --> 00:06:42,359
Speaker 4: were probably felt safe to do that.

139
00:06:42,400 --> 00:06:44,559
Speaker 1: Actually, they could have some really long leases in place.

140
00:06:44,600 --> 00:06:46,680
Speaker 1: And again I don't know this for sure, but this

141
00:06:46,800 --> 00:06:48,960
Speaker 1: is the scary thing. And I know we've spoken about

142
00:06:48,960 --> 00:06:53,320
Speaker 1: this on the podcast before, but signing more and more leases,

143
00:06:53,600 --> 00:07:00,520
Speaker 1: you're extending the hopeful length of your business journey. So

144
00:07:01,279 --> 00:07:03,920
Speaker 1: I have all of my leases now for my five stores,

145
00:07:04,680 --> 00:07:08,359
Speaker 1: and the one that will be coming up first would

146
00:07:08,360 --> 00:07:13,080
Speaker 1: be our Westfield Miranda store. Yeah, because besides own Newcastle

147
00:07:13,080 --> 00:07:15,160
Speaker 1: one as well. But that's like with our cafe and everything.

148
00:07:15,200 --> 00:07:19,360
Speaker 1: So that's fine, but I don't know how long we've

149
00:07:19,360 --> 00:07:22,320
Speaker 1: been at Miranda now two years or maybe a bit more,

150
00:07:22,600 --> 00:07:25,000
Speaker 1: so that'll be the first lease that is like coming

151
00:07:25,080 --> 00:07:28,960
Speaker 1: up for either renewal or ending it. And then let's say,

152
00:07:29,800 --> 00:07:32,680
Speaker 1: now if I go and open another store, now, I'm

153
00:07:32,720 --> 00:07:35,960
Speaker 1: starting the five year cycle again, but starting it now.

154
00:07:36,760 --> 00:07:39,000
Speaker 1: It's not as if though, if I open a store

155
00:07:39,120 --> 00:07:43,480
Speaker 1: now Miranda and the store I open now will end

156
00:07:43,600 --> 00:07:46,160
Speaker 1: at the same time. So the more and more that

157
00:07:46,240 --> 00:07:49,760
Speaker 1: you pile onto your list of leases, like the longer

158
00:07:49,800 --> 00:07:53,920
Speaker 1: you're you're dragging your business out but in hopes that

159
00:07:53,960 --> 00:07:55,000
Speaker 1: you'll still be operating.

160
00:07:55,040 --> 00:07:56,120
Speaker 2: Then if you know what I mean.

161
00:07:56,680 --> 00:08:01,200
Speaker 1: And again, when it comes to having leases, you then

162
00:08:01,360 --> 00:08:03,760
Speaker 1: have to decide at the end, am I going to

163
00:08:03,840 --> 00:08:08,440
Speaker 1: commit to another five years or do I walk away

164
00:08:08,600 --> 00:08:11,120
Speaker 1: from the store. So like, for example, our Westfield Miranda

165
00:08:11,160 --> 00:08:14,680
Speaker 1: store in about two years time, will have to start

166
00:08:14,720 --> 00:08:16,680
Speaker 1: thinking like are we going to keep this going? Are

167
00:08:16,680 --> 00:08:20,000
Speaker 1: we going to commit to another five years in Miranda?

168
00:08:20,040 --> 00:08:23,880
Speaker 1: Because a lot can happen in five years, a lot

169
00:08:23,880 --> 00:08:27,200
Speaker 1: can happen in five days in business, and one of

170
00:08:27,240 --> 00:08:30,680
Speaker 1: the craziest things about business.

171
00:08:30,680 --> 00:08:32,000
Speaker 2: When it boils down to it.

172
00:08:32,160 --> 00:08:35,760
Speaker 1: I'm not guaranteed tomorrow in my business journey. Shit could

173
00:08:35,800 --> 00:08:39,199
Speaker 1: hit the fan overnight tonight and my business could collapse.

174
00:08:39,440 --> 00:08:42,880
Speaker 1: We could make one bad financial decision and boom fate

175
00:08:42,920 --> 00:08:45,440
Speaker 1: could be gone tomorrow. But then you've got these long

176
00:08:45,559 --> 00:08:49,679
Speaker 1: leases that you're committed to, and that's just one of

177
00:08:49,720 --> 00:08:54,440
Speaker 1: the most difficult things to deal with and sign yourself

178
00:08:54,520 --> 00:08:57,079
Speaker 1: up to. But that's the risk that we take when

179
00:08:57,320 --> 00:09:00,640
Speaker 1: we open retail stores, is we are confident enough that

180
00:09:00,679 --> 00:09:02,840
Speaker 1: we can keep that thing going for five years. Yeah.

181
00:09:03,360 --> 00:09:08,640
Speaker 4: From an outsider's perspective, looking at Jeans West and how

182
00:09:08,679 --> 00:09:12,679
Speaker 4: they've operated over the years, where do you think they

183
00:09:12,679 --> 00:09:17,200
Speaker 4: were sitting in terms of how people viewed them as

184
00:09:17,200 --> 00:09:20,080
Speaker 4: a business. Now do you think that they have kind

185
00:09:20,080 --> 00:09:23,080
Speaker 4: of they failed to kind of keep up. Yes.

186
00:09:23,280 --> 00:09:25,120
Speaker 2: The reason why Jean's West.

187
00:09:25,240 --> 00:09:27,920
Speaker 1: I believe the reason why Jeans West is shutting all

188
00:09:27,960 --> 00:09:29,400
Speaker 1: their stores is because.

189
00:09:29,080 --> 00:09:30,280
Speaker 2: They haven't done anything.

190
00:09:31,240 --> 00:09:34,840
Speaker 1: They haven't done a single thing to keep up with

191
00:09:35,080 --> 00:09:38,040
Speaker 1: the way that the world and social media.

192
00:09:38,480 --> 00:09:41,920
Speaker 2: Has changed, just aggressed instead.

193
00:09:42,120 --> 00:09:45,560
Speaker 1: They're a dinosaur brand that's been around forever. They've done

194
00:09:45,640 --> 00:09:47,439
Speaker 1: things the same all the time, and.

195
00:09:47,440 --> 00:09:48,559
Speaker 3: It has worked in the past.

196
00:09:48,640 --> 00:09:52,080
Speaker 1: It has worked, but it's changed so much now and

197
00:09:52,120 --> 00:09:55,559
Speaker 1: it's almost disappointing because at some point there they would have.

198
00:09:55,520 --> 00:09:58,319
Speaker 2: Had the money to change.

199
00:09:58,600 --> 00:10:01,560
Speaker 1: And God, like I wish if I wasn't running Fate,

200
00:10:01,640 --> 00:10:03,880
Speaker 1: I could go in and go all right, because at

201
00:10:03,880 --> 00:10:05,839
Speaker 1: the end of the day, they just need to level

202
00:10:05,960 --> 00:10:06,800
Speaker 1: up their marketing.

203
00:10:07,160 --> 00:10:10,840
Speaker 2: They need to switch it up. What is one cool.

204
00:10:10,760 --> 00:10:16,360
Speaker 1: Activational campaign that Jeans West has ever done?

205
00:10:18,200 --> 00:10:20,160
Speaker 2: I can't think of one, and.

206
00:10:20,120 --> 00:10:24,480
Speaker 1: It's so frustrating because Jeans West could be cool. I

207
00:10:24,559 --> 00:10:28,120
Speaker 1: was even thinking even the name Jeans West, like, I

208
00:10:28,120 --> 00:10:31,079
Speaker 1: feel like that's such a cool name. When we hear

209
00:10:31,160 --> 00:10:33,760
Speaker 1: Jeans West, we do think of like old. But God,

210
00:10:33,800 --> 00:10:36,199
Speaker 1: if they just did like a bit of a rebrand,

211
00:10:36,880 --> 00:10:40,000
Speaker 1: got a good marketing gun in even just a really

212
00:10:40,280 --> 00:10:42,199
Speaker 1: fire social media person.

213
00:10:42,559 --> 00:10:44,679
Speaker 2: They could flip that thing on its head.

214
00:10:45,160 --> 00:10:47,920
Speaker 4: I think a back fifteen years ago in my when

215
00:10:47,960 --> 00:10:51,240
Speaker 4: I was a teenager and I would go into Jeans

216
00:10:51,240 --> 00:10:53,679
Speaker 4: West and look for a pair of jeans or.

217
00:10:53,760 --> 00:10:54,920
Speaker 3: Whatever, a piece of clothing.

218
00:10:55,920 --> 00:10:58,400
Speaker 4: I would not now, I would never walk into that

219
00:10:58,400 --> 00:11:00,280
Speaker 4: store thinking I'd find something for me.

220
00:11:00,559 --> 00:11:01,679
Speaker 2: That's the other thing as well.

221
00:11:01,880 --> 00:11:06,600
Speaker 1: They need to realize that retail isn't what it used

222
00:11:06,640 --> 00:11:10,040
Speaker 1: to be. It's not just hanging clothes and folding them

223
00:11:10,040 --> 00:11:12,720
Speaker 1: on a table and having foot traffic coming in and buy.

224
00:11:13,880 --> 00:11:16,680
Speaker 1: You've got to create an experience in your stores.

225
00:11:16,720 --> 00:11:17,400
Speaker 2: And I think that's.

226
00:11:17,280 --> 00:11:21,800
Speaker 1: Another part of why they're shutting down all their stores,

227
00:11:22,080 --> 00:11:24,079
Speaker 1: because their stores are bland.

228
00:11:24,320 --> 00:11:26,160
Speaker 2: It's styles haven't changed.

229
00:11:26,200 --> 00:11:28,800
Speaker 1: It's not an experience. But don't get me wrong, people

230
00:11:28,840 --> 00:11:31,560
Speaker 1: love jeans like jeans is one of our number one

231
00:11:31,600 --> 00:11:35,120
Speaker 1: selling categories at FATE. People love jeans. They could have

232
00:11:35,280 --> 00:11:38,600
Speaker 1: really like made their whole brand about having the best

233
00:11:38,679 --> 00:11:41,920
Speaker 1: gens ever. I would love if I didn't, if it

234
00:11:41,960 --> 00:11:43,840
Speaker 1: wasn't so busy, I would love to go in and

235
00:11:43,920 --> 00:11:46,679
Speaker 1: try and help Jeans West hire me as your brand

236
00:11:46,720 --> 00:11:49,880
Speaker 1: and marketing coordinator. I would love to flip that thing

237
00:11:49,920 --> 00:11:53,200
Speaker 1: on its head. And it's just disappointing, you know, And

238
00:11:53,280 --> 00:11:56,360
Speaker 1: I'm sad for any business that shuts down. But at

239
00:11:56,360 --> 00:11:59,960
Speaker 1: some point they would have had the funds to full

240
00:12:00,200 --> 00:12:04,160
Speaker 1: rebrand and change up their stores, make it an experience,

241
00:12:04,679 --> 00:12:06,960
Speaker 1: kill it on social media. Like they had the funds,

242
00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:09,920
Speaker 1: they had the people, they had the resources. But they're

243
00:12:10,000 --> 00:12:13,240
Speaker 1: just so stuck in their old dinosaur ways that they

244
00:12:13,240 --> 00:12:15,440
Speaker 1: didn't do anything about it. And I don't know who

245
00:12:15,520 --> 00:12:17,840
Speaker 1: runs Jean's West, but it's probably like a board of

246
00:12:18,280 --> 00:12:21,160
Speaker 1: directors that are seventy years old or something, you know.

247
00:12:22,080 --> 00:12:25,360
Speaker 1: And it's just a prime example of, you know, a

248
00:12:25,400 --> 00:12:28,760
Speaker 1: brand that's been around forever that just doesn't have it

249
00:12:28,800 --> 00:12:30,920
Speaker 1: in them to keep up with how much the world

250
00:12:31,000 --> 00:12:33,760
Speaker 1: and retail and shopping and e commerce is changing.

251
00:12:35,280 --> 00:12:40,319
Speaker 2: And that's what I honestly think.

252
00:12:41,040 --> 00:12:42,160
Speaker 3: A hypothetical for you.

253
00:12:42,360 --> 00:12:46,800
Speaker 4: Yeah, say, for example, God Forbid Fate found itself in

254
00:12:46,880 --> 00:12:50,840
Speaker 4: some financial difficulties yep, which meant you needed to scale

255
00:12:50,960 --> 00:12:53,240
Speaker 4: back to save the business?

256
00:12:53,559 --> 00:12:53,760
Speaker 3: Yep.

257
00:12:54,280 --> 00:12:56,480
Speaker 4: How would you go about that? What would your first

258
00:12:56,480 --> 00:12:59,480
Speaker 4: steps be? And I realized this is dependable on how

259
00:12:59,520 --> 00:13:03,280
Speaker 4: bad it is. Yeah, but give us an example of

260
00:13:03,600 --> 00:13:06,440
Speaker 4: the steps you would take to ensure the business survived.

261
00:13:07,120 --> 00:13:10,960
Speaker 1: Firstly, I would obviously speak with our accountant, and we

262
00:13:11,080 --> 00:13:14,200
Speaker 1: do this often and we always look at and know

263
00:13:14,360 --> 00:13:17,520
Speaker 1: our numbers. But I'd be chatting with our accountant straight away.

264
00:13:17,880 --> 00:13:20,680
Speaker 1: I'd be finding out where we're going wrong. I'd be

265
00:13:20,760 --> 00:13:23,160
Speaker 1: finding out what's making us lose money?

266
00:13:23,679 --> 00:13:24,640
Speaker 2: Is it the stores?

267
00:13:24,960 --> 00:13:27,960
Speaker 1: Is it you know, head office, like, I'd find out

268
00:13:27,960 --> 00:13:31,440
Speaker 1: where we're losing money and then, sadly, what you would

269
00:13:31,520 --> 00:13:35,719
Speaker 1: have to do is look at stripping back. So if

270
00:13:35,760 --> 00:13:38,920
Speaker 1: it was stores, for example, and we weren't making enough

271
00:13:38,960 --> 00:13:41,200
Speaker 1: money in the stores and the business was going backwards,

272
00:13:41,559 --> 00:13:43,680
Speaker 1: you'd have to look at shutting some of them down.

273
00:13:43,840 --> 00:13:46,000
Speaker 1: And we see stores shut down all the time. It's

274
00:13:46,200 --> 00:13:50,320
Speaker 1: hard to own a store. It is so expensive. Once

275
00:13:50,440 --> 00:13:54,920
Speaker 1: I knew that, and once I knew what I needed

276
00:13:54,920 --> 00:13:58,120
Speaker 1: to do, once I knew where I was losing.

277
00:13:57,840 --> 00:14:00,760
Speaker 2: Money, I would turn it into a marketing campaign.

278
00:14:02,320 --> 00:14:05,880
Speaker 1: I have always been so proud of being open and

279
00:14:05,960 --> 00:14:10,200
Speaker 1: honest with our Fate community, with my community here on

280
00:14:10,320 --> 00:14:14,600
Speaker 1: big business. I would be completely honest and share my journey.

281
00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:17,440
Speaker 1: I would take it to social media and I would say,

282
00:14:17,640 --> 00:14:21,040
Speaker 1: this is happening in my business, and this is literally if.

283
00:14:20,840 --> 00:14:23,480
Speaker 2: This happens like, this is exactly what I'd fucking do.

284
00:14:24,280 --> 00:14:26,160
Speaker 1: If Fate ever is in that kind of position, I

285
00:14:26,160 --> 00:14:27,360
Speaker 1: would take it to our community.

286
00:14:27,360 --> 00:14:28,240
Speaker 2: I would tell them.

287
00:14:28,400 --> 00:14:30,840
Speaker 1: What we're going through, and I would talk to them

288
00:14:31,040 --> 00:14:33,680
Speaker 1: about what we're going to do to try and keep

289
00:14:33,680 --> 00:14:37,320
Speaker 1: ourselves afloat. And you see, it's so sad, but you

290
00:14:37,360 --> 00:14:40,120
Speaker 1: know how you see so many businesses like let's say

291
00:14:40,160 --> 00:14:44,760
Speaker 1: a local cafe for example, they're in financial hardship and

292
00:14:44,800 --> 00:14:47,480
Speaker 1: they go to their Facebook page and you've seen like

293
00:14:48,280 --> 00:14:52,760
Speaker 1: posts of business owners say it's with heavy hearts that

294
00:14:52,800 --> 00:14:56,160
Speaker 1: we're closing next weekend, and then you see this uproar

295
00:14:56,360 --> 00:14:59,560
Speaker 1: of community saying, no, you make the best pies.

296
00:15:00,040 --> 00:15:02,320
Speaker 4: Happened for a few places here in Sydney and all

297
00:15:02,320 --> 00:15:05,600
Speaker 4: of a sudden, the community.

298
00:15:04,680 --> 00:15:06,880
Speaker 2: Like when I've seen it a million times.

299
00:15:06,920 --> 00:15:09,760
Speaker 1: I remember it happened with yogat Land, but did you

300
00:15:09,760 --> 00:15:13,520
Speaker 1: have yogat Land was at just Newcastle thing, so this

301
00:15:13,680 --> 00:15:16,520
Speaker 1: was before Yochi and everything, but there was we had

302
00:15:16,520 --> 00:15:17,400
Speaker 1: this yogurt Land.

303
00:15:17,440 --> 00:15:21,720
Speaker 2: I think there was two of them. Yeah, I think so, yeah, yeah,

304
00:15:21,720 --> 00:15:23,120
Speaker 2: because that would have been so hard for them.

305
00:15:24,160 --> 00:15:25,120
Speaker 4: They can't do one line.

306
00:15:25,360 --> 00:15:29,520
Speaker 1: No, But I remember, you know they're announcing on their Facebook,

307
00:15:29,800 --> 00:15:32,600
Speaker 1: you know, yoga Land shutting down on in four weeks

308
00:15:32,720 --> 00:15:35,080
Speaker 1: or whatever, and then there was just this uproar of

309
00:15:35,120 --> 00:15:38,360
Speaker 1: support from the people that love yogat Land. So I

310
00:15:38,360 --> 00:15:40,960
Speaker 1: would do the same, but I would do it not

311
00:15:41,080 --> 00:15:43,520
Speaker 1: a week before we're shutting half the company down.

312
00:15:43,560 --> 00:15:46,480
Speaker 2: I'd try and let my community know as soon as I.

313
00:15:46,400 --> 00:15:51,040
Speaker 1: Could, because like the power of community is like nothing else,

314
00:15:51,560 --> 00:15:53,600
Speaker 1: and I'd at least just give it a shot and

315
00:15:53,680 --> 00:15:56,840
Speaker 1: be honest with everyone and say, this is what we're experiencing,

316
00:15:57,400 --> 00:15:58,880
Speaker 1: this is what we're going to do in hopes to

317
00:15:58,960 --> 00:16:01,560
Speaker 1: kind of keep this brand going and a float. I'd

318
00:16:01,600 --> 00:16:04,480
Speaker 1: ask my community for feedback, where are we going wrong?

319
00:16:04,560 --> 00:16:08,040
Speaker 1: What can we improve on, and I'd hear it from them.

320
00:16:08,360 --> 00:16:11,440
Speaker 4: I think people wouldn't do that because they probably feel

321
00:16:11,440 --> 00:16:13,640
Speaker 4: a shamed that our business is failing.

322
00:16:13,320 --> 00:16:14,000
Speaker 2: One hundred percent.

323
00:16:14,200 --> 00:16:16,720
Speaker 1: But like I said at the start of this episode,

324
00:16:16,720 --> 00:16:19,840
Speaker 1: like sixty percent of businesses fail in the first three years,

325
00:16:19,880 --> 00:16:22,800
Speaker 1: with most of them failing in the first I think

326
00:16:22,880 --> 00:16:26,800
Speaker 1: we've got to lose this sense of like this fear

327
00:16:26,880 --> 00:16:29,280
Speaker 1: of people thinking that we're a failure, because I think

328
00:16:29,520 --> 00:16:32,920
Speaker 1: even if you start a business and it lasts for

329
00:16:32,960 --> 00:16:34,960
Speaker 1: three years, let's say, and then you have to shut

330
00:16:35,000 --> 00:16:37,200
Speaker 1: it down because it's just too hard to keep it going,

331
00:16:37,360 --> 00:16:39,840
Speaker 1: I think that's something worth being so proud of instead

332
00:16:39,840 --> 00:16:41,240
Speaker 1: of feeling like you've failed at.

333
00:16:41,240 --> 00:16:42,400
Speaker 2: Because you.

334
00:16:43,880 --> 00:16:47,520
Speaker 1: Had an idea and you brought it to life and

335
00:16:47,560 --> 00:16:50,760
Speaker 1: you gave it a go. But we're just so worried

336
00:16:50,760 --> 00:16:52,760
Speaker 1: about what people would say and it's not to say

337
00:16:52,800 --> 00:16:56,800
Speaker 1: if Fate ever finds us in that scenario at some

338
00:16:56,960 --> 00:16:57,520
Speaker 1: stage in.

339
00:16:57,480 --> 00:16:59,440
Speaker 2: My life, of course I'll feel like a failure.

340
00:17:00,040 --> 00:17:02,120
Speaker 1: But if I'm ever going to go through a really

341
00:17:02,120 --> 00:17:06,320
Speaker 1: difficult financial stage with fate, I would want my community

342
00:17:06,359 --> 00:17:08,600
Speaker 1: to know what we're going through, and I would want

343
00:17:08,600 --> 00:17:11,960
Speaker 1: them to help us to maybe try and pick ourselves

344
00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:14,479
Speaker 1: up again. And not by I mean not just shopping

345
00:17:14,520 --> 00:17:17,000
Speaker 1: with us, but giving us feedback, letting us know what

346
00:17:17,040 --> 00:17:20,480
Speaker 1: we can improve on or fix or level up to

347
00:17:20,640 --> 00:17:22,760
Speaker 1: make shopping with us more enjoyable.

348
00:17:23,320 --> 00:17:28,240
Speaker 4: Something you just said resonated with me. You said community.

349
00:17:28,280 --> 00:17:33,000
Speaker 4: Then do you think Jeans West has failed to establish

350
00:17:33,240 --> 00:17:34,679
Speaker 4: their own community?

351
00:17:34,960 --> 00:17:38,560
Speaker 1: Yes, Jean's West doesn't have a community. I don't know

352
00:17:38,680 --> 00:17:42,680
Speaker 1: one person. And again it might be the different demographic,

353
00:17:42,920 --> 00:17:45,240
Speaker 1: but I don't know one person that has ever gone

354
00:17:45,240 --> 00:17:47,520
Speaker 1: and shopped at Jean's West. And I feel as if

355
00:17:47,560 --> 00:17:48,920
Speaker 1: though people.

356
00:17:48,760 --> 00:17:51,640
Speaker 2: Our age like thirties, forties.

357
00:17:51,200 --> 00:17:53,080
Speaker 1: Even people in their twenties, like we all love a

358
00:17:53,119 --> 00:17:56,080
Speaker 1: good pair of geens, I feel like they've failed to

359
00:17:56,240 --> 00:18:00,240
Speaker 1: capture that market. But Jean's West could be so cool.

360
00:18:00,359 --> 00:18:02,440
Speaker 1: I think Jean's West is such a cool brand name

361
00:18:03,400 --> 00:18:07,520
Speaker 1: like West yeah, like it's so it's so cool. I

362
00:18:07,640 --> 00:18:09,840
Speaker 1: just feel like they've missed the mark and they've just

363
00:18:09,880 --> 00:18:13,280
Speaker 1: been too stuck in their traditional ways, traditional retail.

364
00:18:13,680 --> 00:18:16,160
Speaker 2: They've got to get with the times now.

365
00:18:16,200 --> 00:18:19,000
Speaker 1: On all of this, we've seen a lot of other

366
00:18:19,400 --> 00:18:22,800
Speaker 1: businesses and brands shut down recently, and like over the

367
00:18:22,880 --> 00:18:27,480
Speaker 1: last year, Ali Fashion has collapsed and I've got here

368
00:18:27,520 --> 00:18:30,120
Speaker 1: off Google, owing as much as fifty eight million dollars

369
00:18:30,520 --> 00:18:33,680
Speaker 1: one hundred and fifty eight stores across Australia and online

370
00:18:33,760 --> 00:18:38,920
Speaker 1: they employed sixteen hundred Oh Ali Yeah, Ali Oh.

371
00:18:39,359 --> 00:18:41,919
Speaker 3: I'm not that I've ever shopped there, but I know yeah.

372
00:18:41,680 --> 00:18:43,199
Speaker 2: And again that's been around for ages.

373
00:18:43,240 --> 00:18:45,880
Speaker 1: Like I used to go there when I was fourteen

374
00:18:45,880 --> 00:18:48,199
Speaker 1: and fifteen to get a ten dollar dress to wear

375
00:18:48,280 --> 00:18:49,119
Speaker 1: to the school disco.

376
00:18:49,400 --> 00:18:52,960
Speaker 4: I just it just is so I'm not in business,

377
00:18:53,000 --> 00:18:57,000
Speaker 4: but it's so crazy to me that these huge companies

378
00:18:57,320 --> 00:19:00,399
Speaker 4: are finding themselves in these positions where we're actually shutting

379
00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:01,080
Speaker 4: the whole thing down.

380
00:19:01,160 --> 00:19:03,159
Speaker 1: Well, I think the other thing as well is this

381
00:19:03,320 --> 00:19:08,120
Speaker 1: is an example of a brand or a business growing

382
00:19:08,240 --> 00:19:11,200
Speaker 1: too big and to keep it it's out of control.

383
00:19:11,440 --> 00:19:14,119
Speaker 1: And this is what I'm so mindful of is you

384
00:19:14,160 --> 00:19:16,760
Speaker 1: can grow a business, and it can be booming stores

385
00:19:16,760 --> 00:19:19,960
Speaker 1: bing bang bong stores opening up everywhere, but then it

386
00:19:19,960 --> 00:19:22,440
Speaker 1: can become just out of control that the whole thing

387
00:19:22,440 --> 00:19:26,320
Speaker 1: can just collapse and it's so big beyond you. You've

388
00:19:26,359 --> 00:19:29,040
Speaker 1: lost the control that you don't you can't save it

389
00:19:29,119 --> 00:19:31,480
Speaker 1: because there's too many working parts to it.

390
00:19:31,840 --> 00:19:34,320
Speaker 2: And my community is always saying open.

391
00:19:34,160 --> 00:19:36,439
Speaker 3: More stores, grow too fast.

392
00:19:36,560 --> 00:19:39,680
Speaker 1: Yeah, but I'm so careful with what I do, and

393
00:19:39,720 --> 00:19:42,000
Speaker 1: people even say slow down. I'm like, come on, I'm

394
00:19:42,000 --> 00:19:45,080
Speaker 1: managing what we're doing fine. But that's the really scary

395
00:19:45,119 --> 00:19:47,400
Speaker 1: thing about committing to another five year lease on top

396
00:19:47,440 --> 00:19:49,439
Speaker 1: of another five year lease and another one, and all

397
00:19:49,440 --> 00:19:51,960
Speaker 1: of a sudden, you've stretched your business out to maybe

398
00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:54,600
Speaker 1: the next ten years in hopes that you're going to

399
00:19:54,640 --> 00:19:57,640
Speaker 1: make it, And it's just you've got to be so careful, like, yeah,

400
00:19:57,640 --> 00:19:59,520
Speaker 1: you want to grow and be big and successful and

401
00:19:59,560 --> 00:20:01,159
Speaker 1: more money and more figures.

402
00:20:01,080 --> 00:20:04,119
Speaker 4: But that initial demand might diminish and then you're stuck

403
00:20:04,200 --> 00:20:06,000
Speaker 4: here with expenses exactly right.

404
00:20:06,040 --> 00:20:08,520
Speaker 1: And that's what we've seen with Ali Jean's West and

405
00:20:08,560 --> 00:20:11,160
Speaker 1: all these other brands that are going bust. We also

406
00:20:11,200 --> 00:20:13,640
Speaker 1: had the same with Millers and nony Be again. They've

407
00:20:13,640 --> 00:20:15,800
Speaker 1: been around for a really, really long time. Like I

408
00:20:15,840 --> 00:20:18,160
Speaker 1: remember Grannie shopping there when I was little.

409
00:20:18,560 --> 00:20:19,880
Speaker 3: Did Rivers shut as well?

410
00:20:19,920 --> 00:20:23,359
Speaker 2: We've got rivers bar dough. If you remember Bardo, I

411
00:20:23,400 --> 00:20:26,520
Speaker 2: remember the girl grew you best better?

412
00:20:28,880 --> 00:20:32,280
Speaker 3: What's what's the other? One? Is a need's a bad?

413
00:20:32,840 --> 00:20:34,080
Speaker 3: You know? Okay?

414
00:20:34,400 --> 00:20:36,639
Speaker 2: I think I only knew the one song I'll tell

415
00:20:36,640 --> 00:20:37,880
Speaker 2: you who? I love Sophie, Mum.

416
00:20:37,920 --> 00:20:40,560
Speaker 3: I love son love Sophie.

417
00:20:40,720 --> 00:20:44,000
Speaker 2: Can we get her on here? Have you met her?

418
00:20:44,400 --> 00:20:44,640
Speaker 3: No?

419
00:20:44,760 --> 00:20:46,880
Speaker 4: I would die? And you know what she always every

420
00:20:46,880 --> 00:20:49,480
Speaker 4: time she does. She did it on the bloody uber

421
00:20:49,480 --> 00:20:52,480
Speaker 4: eats ads. She put down her pop album she released

422
00:20:52,840 --> 00:20:56,359
Speaker 4: and it infuriates me because her only in one solo

423
00:20:56,440 --> 00:20:58,119
Speaker 4: album is fucking phenomenal.

424
00:20:58,200 --> 00:20:59,080
Speaker 2: I need to listen to her.

425
00:20:59,160 --> 00:21:01,159
Speaker 3: She always puts it down. I'm like, no, shut the

426
00:21:01,200 --> 00:21:02,280
Speaker 3: fuck up. It is amazing.

427
00:21:02,320 --> 00:21:05,320
Speaker 4: Sorry, this is a business podcast on a music podcast.

428
00:21:06,240 --> 00:21:10,040
Speaker 2: There was also Sanity music stores. How devastating for them,

429
00:21:10,400 --> 00:21:12,600
Speaker 2: but like understandable, but imagine.

430
00:21:12,200 --> 00:21:15,600
Speaker 1: The guy that created Sanity and then Spotify comes out.

431
00:21:15,520 --> 00:21:18,280
Speaker 4: Because at the time you're thinking, oh, well, no one's

432
00:21:18,280 --> 00:21:22,560
Speaker 4: ever going to stop buying music, HM and lo and behold, so.

433
00:21:22,520 --> 00:21:25,480
Speaker 1: In twenty twenty three, Sanity announced that they were closing

434
00:21:25,520 --> 00:21:28,600
Speaker 1: all of their remaining fifty physical stores.

435
00:21:29,920 --> 00:21:31,199
Speaker 4: Do you know what I would have done it by,

436
00:21:31,320 --> 00:21:35,239
Speaker 4: was them? What I would have completely shifted to a

437
00:21:35,359 --> 00:21:36,320
Speaker 4: vinyl business.

438
00:21:36,640 --> 00:21:38,080
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, because vinyls are cool.

439
00:21:38,200 --> 00:21:38,440
Speaker 3: Yeah.

440
00:21:39,040 --> 00:21:41,520
Speaker 4: The thing is, it's all in hindsight, because.

441
00:21:41,440 --> 00:21:45,080
Speaker 1: And also, like these brands have been around forever, like Sanity,

442
00:21:45,240 --> 00:21:48,600
Speaker 1: Jeans West, I mean, they've probably had lots and lots

443
00:21:48,640 --> 00:21:51,159
Speaker 1: of owners. Like it's not just owned by one person

444
00:21:51,200 --> 00:21:53,399
Speaker 1: that's running the whole thing. But when you've been around

445
00:21:53,440 --> 00:21:55,760
Speaker 1: for that long, you're probably just fucking done with it.

446
00:21:56,200 --> 00:21:59,080
Speaker 1: And if you've gone through that much hardship that you just.

447
00:21:59,080 --> 00:22:00,479
Speaker 3: Don't you're already in trouble.

448
00:22:00,640 --> 00:22:02,760
Speaker 1: Yeah, you don't have it in you to go all right,

449
00:22:02,840 --> 00:22:05,000
Speaker 1: let's rebrand and like change it all up.

450
00:22:05,320 --> 00:22:06,760
Speaker 2: There's so many things to consider.

451
00:22:11,080 --> 00:22:14,680
Speaker 1: I think one of the scariest things about reading this

452
00:22:14,760 --> 00:22:18,760
Speaker 1: and my friend Tara, who owns Proud Poppy, who we've

453
00:22:18,760 --> 00:22:20,400
Speaker 1: had on the pod already if you want to listen

454
00:22:20,440 --> 00:22:23,679
Speaker 1: to that episode from a little while ago. She shared

455
00:22:23,720 --> 00:22:26,119
Speaker 1: something on her story the other day saying, oh, Jeans

456
00:22:26,160 --> 00:22:28,880
Speaker 1: West is shutting down and I'm just opening my next

457
00:22:28,920 --> 00:22:29,720
Speaker 1: door next week.

458
00:22:29,880 --> 00:22:32,000
Speaker 2: Like it's fucking scary.

459
00:22:32,240 --> 00:22:37,720
Speaker 1: And it's one thing to be super confident and think, oh,

460
00:22:37,760 --> 00:22:40,800
Speaker 1: that's never going to happen to me, But the reality

461
00:22:40,920 --> 00:22:43,240
Speaker 1: of it is, one day my business is going to

462
00:22:43,280 --> 00:22:48,280
Speaker 1: shut down. Because again, most businesses don't even make it

463
00:22:48,600 --> 00:22:54,560
Speaker 1: through the first three years. What businesses, especially solo owned businesses,

464
00:22:55,040 --> 00:22:56,320
Speaker 1: make it for a lifetime.

465
00:22:57,040 --> 00:23:00,000
Speaker 4: It's actually hard to think of a lot of businesses

466
00:23:00,200 --> 00:23:05,919
Speaker 4: who expand more than one store. Yeah, think of all

467
00:23:05,920 --> 00:23:09,840
Speaker 4: the cafes you go to, a lot of them, there's.

468
00:23:09,400 --> 00:23:13,760
Speaker 1: Not multiple Yeah, solo owned businesses. I feel like it's

469
00:23:14,080 --> 00:23:16,879
Speaker 1: rare to see. And by that I mean like me,

470
00:23:16,960 --> 00:23:19,960
Speaker 1: for example, I just own Fate. There's no investors, there's

471
00:23:19,960 --> 00:23:23,359
Speaker 1: no board of directors. If you were to or if

472
00:23:23,440 --> 00:23:25,680
Speaker 1: I were to have someone come in and take most

473
00:23:25,760 --> 00:23:27,919
Speaker 1: of Fate off me and have a board of directors

474
00:23:28,040 --> 00:23:31,160
Speaker 1: and get money injected into it, maybe Fate would last

475
00:23:31,359 --> 00:23:34,840
Speaker 1: longer than just me on my own doing it because

476
00:23:34,880 --> 00:23:36,919
Speaker 1: I'm just obviously figuring out how to.

477
00:23:36,960 --> 00:23:38,760
Speaker 2: Keep it afloat all on my own with AJ.

478
00:23:40,320 --> 00:23:45,760
Speaker 1: But it's a harsh and scary reality and I haven't

479
00:23:45,880 --> 00:23:48,800
Speaker 1: thought about it a lot, but I have more recently

480
00:23:49,200 --> 00:23:51,040
Speaker 1: with all these stores closing down.

481
00:23:51,600 --> 00:23:54,000
Speaker 2: One day, fate is going to end, and it's going

482
00:23:54,080 --> 00:23:58,639
Speaker 2: to end in my lifetime, but it might not. But

483
00:23:58,680 --> 00:24:00,720
Speaker 2: what are the fucking odds that's no?

484
00:24:00,720 --> 00:24:04,199
Speaker 3: You are right, yeah, yeah, that it is.

485
00:24:04,320 --> 00:24:07,359
Speaker 1: Yeah, but I will obviously always be optimistic and hope

486
00:24:07,400 --> 00:24:09,320
Speaker 1: that I can make fate last to the end of

487
00:24:09,320 --> 00:24:12,840
Speaker 1: my life. But that is that would be a success

488
00:24:12,880 --> 00:24:15,240
Speaker 1: story that no one's ever fucking heard of, Like a

489
00:24:15,280 --> 00:24:17,280
Speaker 1: young girl just start in this clothing brand and she

490
00:24:17,359 --> 00:24:20,080
Speaker 1: makes it last her whole life. And it's just one

491
00:24:20,080 --> 00:24:23,840
Speaker 1: of those things like that you stop and think of

492
00:24:23,880 --> 00:24:26,600
Speaker 1: and go holy shit, like Fate's going to end one day.

493
00:24:27,560 --> 00:24:30,960
Speaker 1: And this is why you see so many business owners

494
00:24:31,400 --> 00:24:33,800
Speaker 1: grow their company to a certain point and then they

495
00:24:33,880 --> 00:24:37,040
Speaker 1: sell it because a lot of people see it as

496
00:24:37,480 --> 00:24:39,879
Speaker 1: you're better to build something up and sell it and

497
00:24:39,960 --> 00:24:42,600
Speaker 1: walk away with heaps of money so that you don't

498
00:24:42,640 --> 00:24:44,240
Speaker 1: have to worry about being there.

499
00:24:44,040 --> 00:24:46,720
Speaker 2: For its downfall. Let someone else deal with the downfall.

500
00:24:46,960 --> 00:24:49,480
Speaker 1: That's why people sell businesses because they walk away at

501
00:24:49,520 --> 00:24:52,159
Speaker 1: the peak, they get all their money, and who cares

502
00:24:52,280 --> 00:24:55,679
Speaker 1: about the rest? Who cares what happens after that? And

503
00:24:55,760 --> 00:24:57,600
Speaker 1: I don't know if I'm ever going to do that,

504
00:24:58,760 --> 00:25:01,440
Speaker 1: or if I'm just going to see it out right

505
00:25:01,520 --> 00:25:02,120
Speaker 1: until the end.

506
00:25:03,280 --> 00:25:06,080
Speaker 4: For something that you've built from the ground up, Yeah,

507
00:25:06,119 --> 00:25:08,600
Speaker 4: it would be hard to envision would I actually sell

508
00:25:08,640 --> 00:25:10,520
Speaker 4: it or would I actually be the one too?

509
00:25:13,040 --> 00:25:15,919
Speaker 1: And that would be devastating. I know we had Christian

510
00:25:16,040 --> 00:25:18,920
Speaker 1: Hull on the pod and he talked to us about

511
00:25:19,160 --> 00:25:20,440
Speaker 1: closing down his business.

512
00:25:20,840 --> 00:25:22,120
Speaker 2: But I would love.

513
00:25:22,040 --> 00:25:25,560
Speaker 1: To get someone on here who has had a business

514
00:25:25,600 --> 00:25:28,440
Speaker 1: for a long time, maybe someone who has had retail

515
00:25:28,520 --> 00:25:31,760
Speaker 1: as well, and talk to them about what that was like,

516
00:25:32,200 --> 00:25:34,960
Speaker 1: because it would be a bittersweet to watch.

517
00:25:34,840 --> 00:25:38,680
Speaker 2: Your business end, but it would also be devastating.

518
00:25:39,160 --> 00:25:39,720
Speaker 4: Yeah.

519
00:25:40,080 --> 00:25:42,840
Speaker 1: So I get why people sell their businesses and walk away,

520
00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:44,040
Speaker 1: because then you can just be like.

521
00:25:44,080 --> 00:25:46,240
Speaker 2: Yay, and then you just forget about it.

522
00:25:47,480 --> 00:25:49,280
Speaker 1: And it's just weird to think, like, one day I'm

523
00:25:49,280 --> 00:25:51,320
Speaker 1: going to have to make one of those two decisions,

524
00:25:51,359 --> 00:25:54,600
Speaker 1: selling fate to someone else or just watching it fail.

525
00:25:56,160 --> 00:25:58,560
Speaker 1: And that's fucked up to think, but that's the truth.

526
00:25:59,200 --> 00:26:01,160
Speaker 1: But then I think, I think what it all boils

527
00:26:01,200 --> 00:26:03,800
Speaker 1: back to at the end of the day is we

528
00:26:03,960 --> 00:26:07,679
Speaker 1: need to be starting businesses and running businesses to enjoy

529
00:26:07,840 --> 00:26:11,879
Speaker 1: every moment of the journey, not for the exit, and

530
00:26:11,960 --> 00:26:13,520
Speaker 1: a lot of other people will tell you otherwise.

531
00:26:13,640 --> 00:26:14,280
Speaker 2: No, it's all.

532
00:26:14,200 --> 00:26:16,720
Speaker 1: About the exit strategy and getting out when it's at

533
00:26:16,720 --> 00:26:18,600
Speaker 1: its peak and making the most amount of money.

534
00:26:19,200 --> 00:26:20,199
Speaker 2: But I don't know about that.

535
00:26:20,280 --> 00:26:23,840
Speaker 1: For me. I think I would want to ride the

536
00:26:23,880 --> 00:26:25,880
Speaker 1: wave right until the very end.

537
00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:27,800
Speaker 2: And when is that going to be? Who knows.

538
00:26:28,119 --> 00:26:32,320
Speaker 1: That's the beauty of business and the game is. I

539
00:26:32,359 --> 00:26:36,120
Speaker 1: am not guaranteed tomorrow with Fate. It could all crumble

540
00:26:36,280 --> 00:26:41,640
Speaker 1: overnight just with one bad mistake. It could be next year,

541
00:26:41,760 --> 00:26:43,840
Speaker 1: It could be in three years when all of our

542
00:26:43,880 --> 00:26:47,040
Speaker 1: stores leases are coming to an end. It could be

543
00:26:47,040 --> 00:26:50,199
Speaker 1: in twenty years. I have no idea what the future

544
00:26:50,200 --> 00:26:53,040
Speaker 1: holds for Fate. I can make projections based off how

545
00:26:53,040 --> 00:26:55,760
Speaker 1: we're going at the moment, but also the world changes,

546
00:26:56,280 --> 00:27:00,119
Speaker 1: shit happens. So it's just a really eye opening thing

547
00:27:00,160 --> 00:27:01,440
Speaker 1: to think about.

548
00:27:01,720 --> 00:27:02,440
Speaker 2: And I won't lie.

549
00:27:02,880 --> 00:27:06,040
Speaker 1: It is scary seeing all of these retailers that have

550
00:27:06,080 --> 00:27:08,919
Speaker 1: been around for a long time shutting down, And if anything,

551
00:27:08,920 --> 00:27:11,679
Speaker 1: I think it's a reminder to me and other business

552
00:27:11,680 --> 00:27:14,200
Speaker 1: owners out there, especially if you are in retail, how

553
00:27:14,240 --> 00:27:18,239
Speaker 1: can we make our experience different and how can we

554
00:27:18,320 --> 00:27:21,879
Speaker 1: keep ourselves afloat. You actually shared something with me the

555
00:27:21,920 --> 00:27:26,760
Speaker 1: other day that I thought I would end on about AI. Me.

556
00:27:27,200 --> 00:27:28,600
Speaker 4: Yeah, okay, you.

557
00:27:28,560 --> 00:27:32,240
Speaker 1: Shared it with me on TikTok, and it had me

558
00:27:32,320 --> 00:27:37,440
Speaker 1: thinking with how much AI is taking over and how

559
00:27:37,560 --> 00:27:44,679
Speaker 1: everything is becoming artificial, from images to videos, email marketing

560
00:27:44,680 --> 00:27:47,800
Speaker 1: that we get from brands. It's all becoming so AI.

561
00:27:48,119 --> 00:27:50,000
Speaker 1: And you know, it's getting to the point where now

562
00:27:50,320 --> 00:27:52,840
Speaker 1: there's so much fake stuff out there that you don't

563
00:27:52,840 --> 00:27:55,840
Speaker 1: know what's real and what isn't. And you shared this

564
00:27:55,920 --> 00:27:58,800
Speaker 1: video with me that said, with the rise of AI

565
00:27:59,000 --> 00:28:04,520
Speaker 1: and everything being fake, this person thinks that in person

566
00:28:05,240 --> 00:28:10,080
Speaker 1: experiences are going to become more popular because with everything

567
00:28:10,119 --> 00:28:12,040
Speaker 1: being fake on the internet, people are going.

568
00:28:11,960 --> 00:28:13,679
Speaker 2: To lose their trust and not going to believe it.

569
00:28:13,720 --> 00:28:14,600
Speaker 2: Then you're not going to believe it.

570
00:28:14,640 --> 00:28:16,760
Speaker 1: You're not going to want to shop with every brand

571
00:28:16,760 --> 00:28:20,280
Speaker 1: that's emailing you because everything just sings fake and people.

572
00:28:20,359 --> 00:28:22,040
Speaker 4: I already feel that way a lot of the time.

573
00:28:22,080 --> 00:28:25,639
Speaker 4: If I'm being sold to online, I'm like, I actually

574
00:28:25,640 --> 00:28:27,639
Speaker 4: want to speak to a person because I don't quite

575
00:28:27,840 --> 00:28:30,160
Speaker 4: trust what I'm reading or what I'm seeing.

576
00:28:30,280 --> 00:28:33,280
Speaker 1: So maybe hopefully it could be a good thing. With

577
00:28:33,359 --> 00:28:37,560
Speaker 1: the rise of AI and everything being fake online, maybe

578
00:28:37,600 --> 00:28:40,720
Speaker 1: people will be seeking that in person connection more and

579
00:28:40,800 --> 00:28:44,160
Speaker 1: taking it back to the roots of retail. And so

580
00:28:44,280 --> 00:28:47,720
Speaker 1: maybe that's when brands like myself and other retail business

581
00:28:47,760 --> 00:28:50,640
Speaker 1: owners can step up and be the one there to

582
00:28:50,720 --> 00:28:54,640
Speaker 1: offer that in person service and we can pivot and

583
00:28:54,800 --> 00:28:59,000
Speaker 1: make it amazing so that people can escape the crazy

584
00:28:59,040 --> 00:29:02,920
Speaker 1: online AI world and come in store and just have

585
00:29:03,000 --> 00:29:04,320
Speaker 1: a good old fashion shop.

586
00:29:05,200 --> 00:29:07,240
Speaker 2: So that's that for you.

587
00:29:07,800 --> 00:29:10,520
Speaker 1: As always, thank you so much for tuning in to

588
00:29:10,520 --> 00:29:14,040
Speaker 1: today's episode of Big Business. Please rate me five stars

589
00:29:14,080 --> 00:29:15,960
Speaker 1: if you haven't already. And I thought I would also

590
00:29:16,120 --> 00:29:20,080
Speaker 1: do a reminder that I have written a book. If

591
00:29:20,080 --> 00:29:22,080
Speaker 1: you follow me on Instagram you will see I'm not

592
00:29:22,120 --> 00:29:24,000
Speaker 1: shutting up about it at the moment, but I just

593
00:29:24,000 --> 00:29:25,520
Speaker 1: thought I would do a reminder again.

594
00:29:26,080 --> 00:29:29,000
Speaker 2: Xander will leave a link to book.

595
00:29:28,800 --> 00:29:31,160
Speaker 1: Topia in the show notes, or you can literally just

596
00:29:31,240 --> 00:29:32,960
Speaker 1: jump on the book Tope your website and pretty sure

597
00:29:32,960 --> 00:29:34,440
Speaker 1: there's a banner of me there. You can type in

598
00:29:34,480 --> 00:29:36,640
Speaker 1: my name. Please pre order my book. If you love

599
00:29:36,720 --> 00:29:40,120
Speaker 1: my podcast, you will love reading my book. Or if

600
00:29:40,200 --> 00:29:42,400
Speaker 1: you know someone that's at the start of their business

601
00:29:42,520 --> 00:29:45,080
Speaker 1: journey or maybe they're even just thinking of starting a

602
00:29:45,120 --> 00:29:47,160
Speaker 1: business or pursuing something on their own.

603
00:29:47,400 --> 00:29:49,320
Speaker 2: I feel like my book would be a great gift

604
00:29:49,560 --> 00:29:50,160
Speaker 2: to give.

605
00:29:50,000 --> 00:29:53,320
Speaker 1: To someone who's looking for some inspiration. As always, I'm

606
00:29:53,320 --> 00:29:57,240
Speaker 1: going to wrap up today's episode with a tip of

607
00:29:57,320 --> 00:29:59,520
Speaker 1: the week, And you know what, My tip of the

608
00:29:59,560 --> 00:30:03,920
Speaker 1: week is to be completely different to the theme of

609
00:30:03,960 --> 00:30:08,160
Speaker 1: today's episode. And it's actually a tip that the interview

610
00:30:08,240 --> 00:30:11,400
Speaker 1: Boss Girls said when they were here on my pod,

611
00:30:11,680 --> 00:30:14,000
Speaker 1: and I don't remember exactly how it goes or if

612
00:30:14,000 --> 00:30:16,720
Speaker 1: it is a quote that I could actually directly quote

613
00:30:16,760 --> 00:30:19,440
Speaker 1: from someone. Maybe we can try and search it up online.

614
00:30:19,960 --> 00:30:24,200
Speaker 1: But it's a tip for everyone that is employed, so

615
00:30:24,280 --> 00:30:26,880
Speaker 1: it's not a tip for business owners. And the tip

616
00:30:26,960 --> 00:30:29,800
Speaker 1: is when she said it, it's stuck with me. When

617
00:30:29,800 --> 00:30:33,000
Speaker 1: you're employed anywhere, especially if it's somewhere where you're wanting

618
00:30:33,040 --> 00:30:35,760
Speaker 1: to build a career and kind of grow with the company.

619
00:30:36,360 --> 00:30:39,360
Speaker 1: She said, there's always going to be a group of

620
00:30:39,400 --> 00:30:44,800
Speaker 1: people talking about you and your career in another room.

621
00:30:46,480 --> 00:30:50,600
Speaker 1: Make sure that at least one person in that room

622
00:30:50,880 --> 00:30:53,160
Speaker 1: is going to be the one that is vouching for

623
00:30:53,240 --> 00:30:56,320
Speaker 1: you and is on your team. And I feel like

624
00:30:56,360 --> 00:31:00,000
Speaker 1: that is just such a powerful piece of advice because

625
00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:03,600
Speaker 1: as the person that's in the other room, that is

626
00:31:03,640 --> 00:31:08,800
Speaker 1: so true. Like your managers, your bosses, your hr your CEOs,

627
00:31:09,440 --> 00:31:12,360
Speaker 1: they're always going to be talking about you and how

628
00:31:12,400 --> 00:31:14,360
Speaker 1: you're doing at work and the things that you're maybe

629
00:31:14,400 --> 00:31:17,160
Speaker 1: doing really right or the things that you're doing really wrong,

630
00:31:17,480 --> 00:31:17,960
Speaker 1: or the.

631
00:31:17,880 --> 00:31:20,000
Speaker 2: Behaviors that you're maybe participating in.

632
00:31:20,480 --> 00:31:23,520
Speaker 1: There's always going to be someone that's talking about you

633
00:31:23,560 --> 00:31:25,960
Speaker 1: and your career when you're not in the room. So

634
00:31:26,120 --> 00:31:29,680
Speaker 1: be mindful of that and do everything in your power

635
00:31:29,880 --> 00:31:32,200
Speaker 1: to make sure if you love, if you love your

636
00:31:32,240 --> 00:31:34,120
Speaker 1: job and you want to grow, make sure that someone

637
00:31:34,120 --> 00:31:35,600
Speaker 1: in that room is going to be on your team

638
00:31:35,800 --> 00:31:38,760
Speaker 1: and be the one rooting for you saying yes, we

639
00:31:38,760 --> 00:31:41,040
Speaker 1: should promote this person, yes we should give this person

640
00:31:41,040 --> 00:31:44,360
Speaker 1: a pay rise, because it's just something I guess employees.

641
00:31:44,000 --> 00:31:46,480
Speaker 2: Wouldn't think of. And when the interview boss girls said

642
00:31:46,480 --> 00:31:47,840
Speaker 2: that to me, I was like, oh, yeah, that's a

643
00:31:47,880 --> 00:31:52,240
Speaker 2: fucking good one. That's so true. So be mindful all your.

644
00:31:52,080 --> 00:31:56,720
Speaker 1: Employees out there, and always remember that. Anyway, I better

645
00:31:56,720 --> 00:31:59,200
Speaker 1: head off, but thanks for listening, and remember to make

646
00:31:59,240 --> 00:32:01,840
Speaker 1: sure you chase after your dreams as if they owe

647
00:32:01,880 --> 00:32:04,600
Speaker 1: you money,