I first met the impressive Linda Maslechko in her dual role of owning an award-winning retail apparel brand was a disruptor in its niche and serving the Canadian retail community on RCC's Board of Directors. Fast forward a few years, and her retail brand is no more. Still, the lessons learned from starting, growing and ultimately winding up her retail business are the cornerstone of Linda's new calling - business reinvention.
Welcome to The Voice of Retail. I'm your host Michael LeBlanc. This podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.
I first met the impressive Linda Maslechko in her dual role of owning an award-winning retail apparel brand was a disruptor in its niche and serving the Canadian retail community on RCC's Board of Directors.
Fast forward a few years, and her retail brand is no more. Still, the lessons learned from starting, growing and ultimately winding up her retail business are the cornerstone of Linda's new calling - business reinvention.
In a compelling interview, she takes us through her professional history and the process she now uses to merge experience and reinvention frameworks to help retailers and other businesses get ready for what comes next.
Thanks for tuning into this special episode of The Voice of Retail. If you haven’t already, be sure and click subscribe on your favourite podcast platform so new episodes will land automatically twice a week, and check out my other retail industry media properties; the Remarkable Retail podcast, the Conversations with CommerceNext podcast, and the Food Professor podcast. Last but not least, if you are into BBQ, check out my all new YouTube barbecue show, Last Request Barbeque, with new episodes each and every week!
I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company & Maven Media, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co! Have a safe week everyone!
About Linda
Linda Maslechko founded and scaled an award-winning retail apparel brand that was a disruptor in its niche. She has a sharp business acumen honed from years of experience as an entrepreneur, from driving growth to euphoric highs to developing the resiliency needed to manage the lows. She has taken that skillset to build a business coaching practice that has helped dozens of entrepreneurial businesses launch, pivot, reinvent and thrive.
In the past year, Linda studied under Dr. Nadya Zhexembayeva to become a Certified Reinvention Practitioner (one of only 200 in the world) and is a Chief Reinvention Officer for Reinvention Canada. Running a successful business amidst constant change can be overwhelming. Using the Reinvention Method, Linda helps companies learn new tools to create clarity amid uncertainty, turn disruption into an opportunity, and develop a reinvention mindset that will become their competitive advantage. These are the skills EVERY business needs to know.
Linda is also a passionate retail consultant, combining strategy with a “thing” for inventory and cash flow management to power growth and realize the possibilities. She is proud to be an Affiliate of Management One, serving clients in Canada and the US.
Linda is a frequent guest speaker at Canadian universities and business forums, an active alumnus, speaker, and GROW by EO Business Accelerator Coach with the Entrepreneurs’ Organization, and has been a featured speaker on The Reinvention Show, Easy Reinvention Lab, and the Reinvention Canada Summit.
You can connect with Linda on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/linda-maslechko-crp-24288a15/ or through the Reinvention Canada website: www.reinventioncanada.ca
About Michael
Michael is the Founder & President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc and a Senior Advisor to Retail Council of Canada as part of his advisory and consulting practice. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience and has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. He has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions with C-level executives and participated on thought leadership panels worldwide. Michael was recently added to ReThink Retail’s prestigious Top 100 Global Retail Influencers for a second year in 2022.
Michael is also the producer and host of a network of leading podcasts, including Canada’s top retail industry podcast, The Voice of Retail, plus the Remarkable Retail with author Steve Dennis, Global E-Commerce Tech Talks and The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois. Most recently, Michael launched Conversations with CommerceNext, a podcast focussed on retail eCommerce, digital marketing and retail careers - all available on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music and all major podcast platforms. Michael is also the producer and host of the “Last Request Barbeque” channel on YouTube where he cooks meals to die for and influencer riches.
Michael LeBlanc 00:05
Welcome to The Voice of Retail. I'm your host, Michael LeBlanc. This podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.
Michael LeBlanc 00:11
I first met the impressive Linda Maslechko in her dual role of owning an award-winning retail apparel brand that was a disruptor in its niche, and serving the Canadian retail community on RCC’s Board of Directors.
Michael LeBlanc 00:23
Fast forward a few years, and her retail brand is no more. Still, the lessons learned from starting, growing and ultimately winding up her retail business are the cornerstone of Linda's new calling - business reinvention.
Michael LeBlanc 00:34
In a compelling interview, she takes us through her professional history and the process she now uses to merge experience and reinvention frameworks to help retailers and other businesses get ready for what comes next.
Linda Maslechko 00:46
You know, one of the things we see with these tools about getting results is sometimes it helps get over a leadership strength or weakness in a business. So, when we look at, you know, you've got, I'm sure you know, these kind of people, they are absolutely great visionaries. They have ideas coming out of their mouths every two seconds. And their team just goes oh, you know, do this, do this, do this.
Michael LeBlanc 01:15
Linda, welcome to The Voice of Retail podcast. How are you doing this afternoon?
Linda Maslechko 01:18
I'm doing great, Michael, thanks very much for having me. I'm sure excited to be here.
Michael LeBlanc 01:22
Well, it's great to hear your voice you and I collaborated over was it, LinkedIn or something a couple of weeks ago, and I'm like, my goodness, I haven't talked to Linda in quite a while. I'm really looking forward to the conversation. So, it's really going to be super to catch up.
Linda Maslechko 01:34
Yeah, you were a voice from the past and I was excited to see you there. I served on Retail Council for, for a year or two, back in the early, early 20s. I guess, late 20s, rather.
Michael LeBlanc 01:47
Yeah.
Linda Maslechko 01:48
And so, that was that was great to be able to connect again.
Michael LeBlanc 01:52
Yeah. And that's where the two of us intersect. And now where am I reaching you today? My recollection was you were out West, like Calgary. But are you, -
Linda Maslechko 01:59
That's right.
Michael LeBlanc 02:00
Is that still where you're based?
Linda Maslechko 02:01
Yes. I'm based in Calgary here.
Michael LeBlanc 02:03
We've kind of jumped right in you and I know each other obviously, but the people listening do not. So, tell us a little bit about yourself and your background and what you do with your time today.
Linda Maslechko 02:12
Sure. Well, Michael, I became a retailer in 2005. And prior to that, I had a variety of careers. I'd been a stockbroker and VP of Marketing for a mutual fund company in Toronto. Then moved to Calgary. And during that time, raised a family I helped grow charter school gifted program, I built playgrounds, I designed dance costumes, I would say truly an entrepreneur at heart, because I never started any of those roles, having a clue what I was doing.
Linda Maslechko 02:45
So, in 2005, when my youngest daughter, she was then nine, she was really frustrated trying to find clothes that fit. And she said, ‘Mom, we should start our own company’. And I had no experience in retail. But that didn't stop me. I knew there was a dire need for clothing that fit preteen girls, growing bodies and active lifestyles. And I said,’Yes, we should’. And it was a need so compelling that we created a brand, a triple flip that reinvented how sizing worked for a growing body, and how in doing so we could help boost a girl’s self-esteem at such a critical time in her life, and body image.
Linda Maslechko 03:28
So, it grew quickly, from a single store in 2005, we did a million in sales, our very first year, we grew to 13 stores in five provinces across Canada, plus online, 60 pop-ups a year. The brand won awards and grew at attention from US investors. And so, we were planning a major expansion and, and looking for financing, looking for investors.
Linda Maslechko 03:55
And just as that was happening, things started to change and they were quite dramatic. When oil prices started crashing in 2015, so did the Canadian dollar, and we were producing about 75% of what we held in our store, our retail goods, and all of our production costs were in US dollars. So, this meant a 20% increase in our cost of goods. And I mean, that was nearly impossible to digest, -
Michael LeBlanc 04:26
Yeah, yeah.
Linda Maslechko 04:27
For a children's company because our $58 leggings would have to be priced at $80 and it just didn't make sense. What we, along with other retailers were facing at that time, you know, minimum wage across the country rose about 30%. And leases were locked in at a rate of increases that, you know, landlords often plan a 10 year, a 10-year stepped increase and those increases were no longer matching the market conditions, they were no longer realistic. So, we had all these things hitting us and it probably sounds kind of familiar, you know, these are the kinds of issues retailers face time and time again, and somethi-, and it's happening more frequently, you know, it can be fires, floods, it can be civil unrest blocking the road to your store.
Michael LeBlanc 05:16
Pandemics, (crossover talk), war. We just got a litany of, you know, as if, as if running any business isn't hard enough on a day-to-day basis that, you know, not getting easier, right?
Linda Maslechko 05:27
I-, it, it's not getting easier and, and change is happening faster. You know, these disruptions are happening more frequently. You know, in my story, these were just the things that were happening in that day and age. And there are many, many things, disruptive things, technology is one of them. You know, that when we started the company there, there was Facebook, there was no Instagram, there was no TikTok. You know you had to do things the old-fashioned way.
Linda Maslechko 05:54
And, and so our strategy for expansion was based on, you know, what we had at the time. But ultimately, Triple Flip, my company was forced to fold. We were unable to restore cash flow, given the market conditions. We did a lot of restructuring but we were unable to realize its potential, which was very sad at the time. I remember, a mom wrote in and she said, "What will my daughter wear, Triple Flip is the only brand that fits her, I'm going to have to st-, send her to a nudist colony".
Linda Maslechko 06:28
But, you know, what came out of that heartbreaking experience, for me, was just a compelling desire to help other businesses avoid the kind of suffering and loss of possibilities that happened with my business. And so, you know what I, I've been gi-, I was giving a speech one day, I was on a panel of female entrepreneurs, and they were all talk-, telling about their successes. And it was shortly after my company had closed, many didn't even know we were gone. And I said, ‘Well, I just closed down my $11 million company’. And the person next to me grabbed the mic and said, ‘Will you mentor me?’
Linda Maslechko 07:09
That began the start of my, my business as a business coach. And, and being able to help others, you know, they say you don't learn from experience, you learn from reflecting on your experience. And the shift and perspective I gained in the last few years in coaching and training myself, has helped me look at things in a whole new light.
Linda Maslechko 07:39
Perhaps the most significant change that, that I made. This past year, I did an intensive program of study with Dr. Nadia Zhexembayeva. She's known as "The Reinvention Guru". And she's developed what's called, "The Reinvention Method", it's a series of tools and strategies and things it, it takes together the best of, you know, change management, strategy, theories, and things like that. And behavior, you know, Cognitive Behavioral Development, Neuro Linguistic Programming, Appreciative Inquiry, you name it, it all comes together in a way that helps, helps companies and leaders reinvent. It's, it's to me, what has always been missing is a set of tools and strategies to deal with disruption and turn change into, into an opportunity, you know, I was taught, you should have a B Head, you know, this big giant goal in the, -
Michael LeBlanc 08:34
Yeah.
Linda Maslechko 08:35
Future that you're towards. And, you know, this, this just looks at it in a whole new way. Like, if you're only focusing on your B Head, what are you missing? You know, what do you need to do today, to be getting there? You know, solving your problems, planting the seeds.
Michael LeBlanc 08:51
Yeah, there's a whole bunch of interesting threads to pull on that. I want to start with a wh-, I want to get to, you know, how you discovered this framework and, and is that how you see it this as a framework to put in all your ideas. But you know, as you started your journey as an entrepreneur, I mean, I love, you know, retail sometimes been described as the accidental career, do you think, -
Linda Maslechko 09:10
Right.
Michael LeBlanc 09:11
Kind of, ironically, and I've talked to some other folks who, who say the same thing that in some ways, a lack of experience in retail actually made them more successful because they didn't arrive with a lot of preconceived notions. And, and whether it's your personal experience or the clients you talk to, is that Is that a thing? Like, can you have an idea that can with, with some great work and some great partners, like yourself, can you have an idea and then move forward without experience in a particular industry? Do you, is, is that a workable, consistently workable model, do you think?
Linda Maslechko 09:45
Well, yeah, yes, and no. First of all, I, I always used to, to be grateful that I-, I'm just an incessant learner. I'm like, super curious and, and I dig in and I like to get research and find ideas. and things. And so, I think that helped, helped me at the beginning because I wasn't just adopting bad habits and getting stuck in bad habits that don't always serve you can be a real problem. So, yes, a, a, a retailer starting out without, without that baggage, can do, can do great things. And we weren't doing, we weren't doing. I, I didn't have any companies to model after we are trading something new, -
Michael LeBlanc 10:30
All new, right?
Linda Maslechko 10:30
(crossover talk), It's never been done before.
Michael LeBlanc 10:31
Yeah, you are, yeah you were breaking new ground, for sure, right?
Linda Maslechko 10:33
Yeah, like I, I created a sizing range that nobody had seen before. Because I realized a 10-year-old could be an adult size. I, I've been designing costumes, I had 400 measurements, and no wonder they weren't fitting, the standard sizing wasn't fitting girls, because a 10-year-old, she can be an adult size and then she'd have to shop in an adult store. And that, what, what does that say to her?
Linda Maslechko 10:57
So, anyways, just being able to think clearly and freely to address what, what is the need at hand? And to be able to focus right on that. And, you know, that being said, you don't know what you don't know.
Michael LeBlanc 11:16
Right.
Linda Maslechko 11:17
And some of the greatest mentors in my career came into my life, not when I started the company, but, but halfway through. And they made enormous differences to, to how I saw my retail world and how I was able to work the metrics to make it a more efficient and profitable company.
Michael LeBlanc 11:37
Now, how did you find, I'm looking at Nadia's website, ‘The Reinvention Guru’, how did you two connect? How did you find her and, and you know, was that suddenly a light bulb went off, there's actually a light bulb on her site that this is the framework within which I want to work like talk a little bit about that journey?
Linda Maslechko 11:55
Well, I had, I was working with training in Appreciative Inquiry, which is about asking generative questions to get a more engaged and productive results from your team. And her name started to pop up. So, being my curious self, I, I followed down that rabbit hole, and I attended something called, ‘The Easy Reinvention Lab’. And it is a five-day, one hour a day workshop that she offers for free. And this happens, you know, four or five times a year. So, I went to this, and I was like mind blown. So, I, I needed t, to get more of this. And like in five hours, I was able to pull meaningful tools and get instant results from the people I was coaching, just by applying them to their, to their scenarios.
Linda Maslechko 12:48
So, I just, I just fell in love with this. So, I started taking the first course, which was over a course of seven weeks, and then started ta-, and then signed on for The Certified Reinvention Practitioner course. And there's a whole community that she's developed, of people who are interested in reinvention, invention, and speaking the same language.
Linda Maslechko 13:11
And, you know, if you want to take a listen to, to Nadia, go to her TED talk, and it is called, "How to Kill Your Company". And it is a brilliant TED talk, it gives the core seed of her ideas and, and how she came to invent The Reinvention Method. She's a scientist and an academic, and, you know, has worked for companies as big as Coca Cola, and, and, and has put together this program through, through years of testing, and, and improving and she's always reinventing the tools and getting feedback. And now there's this giant global community that is contributing to that.
Linda Maslechko 13:56
And one of the things that, that you'll hear about the pace of change, we're doing a, doing a study right now, which I invite all retailers to contribute to. The pace of change, 20 years ago, now, remember, when our parents would start with a company started career with a company, -
Michael LeBlanc 14:15
Yeah.
Linda Maslechko 14:16
And they would, you know, they'd be there their whole life, they graduate and get, graduate, they retire with their gold watch or rocking chair. And, you know, that's how slowly things were moving. Is that in a lifecycle of a company from growth to maturity, you know, in, in a 75 year old company, ya,- you know, might be 35 years before they have to reinvent themselves.
Michael LeBlanc 14:40
And what do you think, (crossover talk) of the key drivers of that? I, I, I talk about this a lot. I hear a lot about it. Some folks have said listen, it's there's some, like technology is just a very big umbrella. So, you know, is our lives actually moving faster? Is that an artificial construct in some ways? You know, for example, I a lot of people say, you know when le-, read a lot of marketing briefs is for the time pressed customer. And I'm like, you know, there's a lot of things that 20 years ago, were a lot harder to do. Like there is no, you know, if you wanted to go grocery shopping, you couldn't have it delivered to your door, like there seems to be some things that are more convenient yet, life as you say, is it, is it actually moving faster? Is business moving at a faster pace? And what's the core, what in your mind is, is the core reason for that? Why are things as big as business models moving faster than they did before?
Linda Maslechko 15:34
There are many reasons, and you know, you, you look at your, your ecosystem, all the things that are changing around you. Like I said, you know, when we started, there was no TikTok. And, and so you know, as it as time goes forward, technology has really shortened to the timeframe of change, and as has globalization. You know, when I grew up, I had a big set of encyclopedias in my house and that's how I did research. And now you have this, this mass contribution to information, you have Wikipedia, people contribute for free.
Michael LeBlanc 16:14
The skills have changed, right? I mean, -
Linda Maslechko 16:15
Right, that’s right.
Michael LeBlanc 16:16
I mean, when you and I were, I mean, when you and I were growing up trying to find information was the hard part now, you know, now (crossover talk), to distill well, it's it now you're trying to distill what's real, what's not real and sort out what's meaningful? That seems to be the key skill or challenge, right? Even like today, you mean, you look at the any of the social platforms today. You just don't know, sometimes you don't know what to believe, right?
Linda Maslechko 16:39
For sure. And I mean, that's part of why they do the study, because, you know, they ask 1000s of businesses around the world about their own reinvention and how they've had to move forward. You know, I don't know if you you've ever heard this quote, but the owner of Blockbuster once said, "Netflix is not even on my radar."
Michael LeBlanc 17:00
Yeah. I think I heard the UPS, or FedEx President say that about Amazon delivery as well, a couple of years ago.
Linda Maslechko 17:09
(crossover talk), Right, right. And so, you know, in the time of long, long cycles, you know, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". We don't have to do it. But now as cycle short, I mean, it shortened from to 15 years, about 10 years ago. And then there was one, the last study was done right before the pandemic ended and it had shortened to six years, which means that we have to be in reinventing at three years. And some industries even more often than that and retail, I think, is one of them.
Michael LeBlanc 17:39
Do you see in the model, the COVID era, as a great accelerant, you know, pouring gasoline on acceleration? Or do you have any other frame of reference? Like, did it, did it accelerate already existing trends, or do you think it's, it created something new as well? H-, how are you thinking about that?
Linda Maslechko 17:57
I do think it, it accelerated things. Some people don't, don't see the disaster until it hits them, there are opportunities to look ahead and anticipate that. And, I mean, you hear of all sorts of people who predicted a pandemic. And, you know, clearly the Canadian government wasn't one of them, because they shut down all of our biotech industry, to, to prepare for that, but, but when we look at it, the thing to keep in mind is disruption is going to happen.
Linda Maslechko 18:32
And so how do we, how do we create a mindset, avoid the traps of thinking that everything's going to stay the same? Because we know it's not. And it's going to happen sooner and sooner. And, you know, again, this is about getting stuck in a cycle of, you know, if we do A, B, C, and D we'll get we'll reach our goals. And that's in a long cycle that can happen, you know, but in a short cycle, where things are changing quickly, we need to be prepared to toss off the things that are no longer serving us and allow emergent strategies, we may not even know what they are yet, to come into our, our, our strategy to reach the future. So, it's more testing, more trying things, failing faster, if you will. But having a team that can, can brainstorm ideas, like ideas are a commodity now you can get them anywhere on the internet. So, it's how do we sort through those, prioritize them for our business, and really customize our approach? Because if, if we don't, if we don't break it, somebody else is going to,
Michael LeBlanc 19:49
Well, I love that last statement, because at least it's a good segue to my question, a series of questions around, how do you know when to reinvent? You know, business is going fine. What you've been doing before could be just, you know, doing well, you, you may or may not see something coming in the distance, there may or may not be a crisis. But, you know, I think you must, you must get two types of clients, some who are, you know, listen, ‘I'm in a crisis, so I need help’, and others who are like, ‘Ah, you know, business is fine, but maybe I should look at it’. I just think I was watching the video of you and the doctor with that Bison client that, th-, (crossover talk), that sold bison products. And I, it was a great discussion, actually, because we talk a lot about that in The Food Professor how, you know, you know, things could be going fine until they're not, kind of thing.
Linda Maslechko 20:35
Exactly.
Michael LeBlanc 20:36
How do you think about that? Like, you know, does it and as my, my other podcast partner, Steve Dennis says, you know, why does it take a crisis for retailers to innovate? Should they be innovating, and how do you know when to innovate? How do you know when something's coming around, that's going to disrupt you?
Linda Maslechko 20:51
So, one of the things we do with companies is, is we start with creating a company diagnostic, you know, we look at how do we, how do we anticipate how do we design and how do we implement in our company? And anticipating is kind of the look at what do we reinvent. Designing is, how do we reinvent? And then lastly, you know, the implementation and when do we reinvent?
Linda Maslechko 21:22
And so, you know, starting with, what do we reinvent? This helps companies, in this diagnostic we, we take a map, there, there are 15 different ways to reinvent in this particular tool. And I mean, it can be everything from customer service, to the customer itself, our processes, the market we're reaching out into, we start to look at this specifically to the company. And I mean, there are all sorts of different ways to change your business model to what, what add-ons, you have a freemium model, you know, they, they use all sorts of different ways to tweak their model and, and come out with a better result that serves them long term. It wasn't just a knee jerk reaction to, to COVID, it was actually things that let's them forward to the front of the market.
Linda Maslechko 22:14
So, using that map, I, I use it with every company I work with, because it, it's like a heat map, it shows us where to go. Where is the energy for adding value? And you know, I'm not there to make them, you know, bang their head against the wall and do something that, that doesn't feel right, we want to get motivated and be able to take action quickly to go after the low hanging fruit. So, this is how we prioritize what, and then we, we start to scrub how, and then we pla-, plan it on a strategy map. So, that we figure out when to reinvent. And it is not all done at once.
You know, one of the things we see with these tools about getting results is sometimes it helps get over a leadership strength or weakness in a business. So, when we look at, you know, you've got I'm sure you know these kind of people, they are absolutely great visionaries. They have ideas coming out of their mouths every two seconds. And their team just goes, oh, you know, do this, do this, do this. Now, these are the ways we're going to solve this problem. And the team jumps to go do that and then it fails. Why it's failing is because the time hasn't been spent in design. And we have other kinds of leaders who are perfectionists and they figure out the idea, figure out how to solve the problem. They spend all their time in design. Meanwhile, (crossover talk), they missed the market, -
Michael LeBlanc 23:51
The opportunity has passed, (crossover talk), the opportunity has passed, right, because you nail-. Are you, are you a fan of what do they call it, "the minimum viable product", idea? In other words,
Linda Maslechko 23:56
Yes.
Michael LeBlanc 24:00
I, I heard a lot of retailers told me, you know, they, they hemmed and hawed for literally 20 years about doing curbside then suddenly stood it up and in a week, -
Linda Maslechko 24:11
Right.
Michael LeBlanc 24:12
At the beginning of the COVID crisis. Yeah, when you're thinking about the concept of a minimum viable product, we're talking about when's the right time to go on an idea and start building out? How do you know when that right time is? Because if, you know, you're describing organizations that kind of are too frenetic, they're moving too fast against too many objectives. So, how do you know when, yes, it makes sense to do this, but not put not get it to the 100th degree of perfection? We can settle for less perfection, in the tradeoff for speed. What do you, how do you make those tradeoffs and how do you think about that?
Linda Maslechko 24:47
I think about it as everything as a test. And we're, you know the human mind, we can only focus intensively on things for so long. So, in 90 days, what can we do? What is, what is the highest impact, least effort to get this going and to test it and get some da-, data. So, you start with a 90-day plan and it's working towards a bigger goal with a range of outcomes, as I say, you might, it's, it's proven you a range of outcomes is much more successful than saying, I want to get to a million dollars. If you say I want to get anywhere from five, 500,000 to 2 million dollars, you're always going to end up more than your original goal. It's proven in studies with weight loss, actually, where you lose more weight if you if you have a range that you're going to.
Linda Maslechko 25:45
So, keeping this as part of the reinvention mindset, let's keep the range open of the outcomes that we will accept and be agnostic about what the actual solutions are, until we try and test and each quarter we're going to review and say, you know, what do we lose? What do we add? What do we keep going with? And so that's the strategy is don't get yourself tied up in knots about where you need to be in a year, let's start with the 90 days and do the best that we can with, with our minimum viable product and, and move forward.
Michael LeBlanc 26:20
What do you think of the most powerful forces of change, we need to realize today, we've touched on a couple of them, you know, everything from technology, goodness knows we've got some external forces bearing down upon us of change. But, you know, when you sit back and think about it in your work, what are those fundamental things? Is it the way we work? You know, we, we now have more gig economy, the, the speed of change, the computing possibilities, right? The cloud and other things allow small retailers, small businesses to do things that only big businesses used to be able to do. What, what are those key things in your mind that are those drivers of change that, that you and you need to recognize and we need to recognize?
Linda Maslechko 26:59
I am not going to answer your question. Because I think we can get we can get stuck and overwhelmed thinking about that big picture too much, I mean the world is an overwhelming place right now. And I can't predict what's going to, what it's going to be like in two years, or five years, or 10 years.
Michael LeBlanc 27:23
I can't predict what's going to happen next week, somedays,
Linda Maslechko 27:25
No, exactly. And so, you know, I think I think we would all just end up curled up in a ball if we have to think about that all the time. One of the things that I love to do is it's called a blue ocean strategy with, with my, my owner teams and owners and their teams, it takes a look at where have we been? Where are we now? And where do we think we're going to be? And this helps identify, so if we take, if we use this for our customers, you know, we think of our customers, before COVID. Location, location really mattered, they like to walk down the street and be able to walk in the store and buy something. And so, location was high importance to them that they had a store near them, then COVID happens, and location isn't important, as important as before, because the location is closed.
Linda Maslechko 28:32
So, the degree of reinvention that the, that the business needs to take to accommodate that change and client need, that's a more extreme change. And that's what we saw retailers do. They did curbside, they opened up on mass online stores, you know, so they could still continue to offer that product. So, that was a radical reinvention for some of them. Some of them already had online, and so it wasn't as much of a push to amp up there. And so, they just had to change in small ways.
Linda Maslechko 29:08
But now looking forward, we think, okay, what's happening to our customer now. So, one thing we know, inflation and gas prices are changing. So, our customer has increased demands on their, on their travel time, and that's going to be more expensive to do. It's going to be, they're going to have less disposable income because they're paying more for their groceries. So, what changes do we need to make them to accommodate that change that we see most certainly is coming.
Linda Maslechko 29:48
So, you know, if we were in the mindset, like okay, you know, our province has dropped all restrictions, it's going to be back to normal. Well, normal doesn't exist anymore and we need to be looking ahead and saying, ‘Okay, so, you know, my plan to expand and open three more stores, does that make sense or not make sense given what my customer is going to be looking for?’ They may be looking for less driving, right?
Linda Maslechko 30:16
So, so we look at our business model in the light of how we're meeting our customer needs. We may need to look, I mean as, as, a retailer, we may need to look at re-pricing things to accommodate for the cost of, of shipping to purchase the goods, the shipping to send out the goods, if they're buying online. All those things may be changing. So, what does that mean for our customer? Does it mean that they can't spend as much in our store, they're going to buy fewer products? Or do we need to adjust our product line? So, in our buying diamond of price points, we're offering now a, a new entry level price point to keep that customer. So, these are the tweaks is like each, each business will be different, what their customer needs. But it brings a very quick focus for the company to say what is important now? And what do we see coming in the future that's going to impact things once again? So, that's, that's one of my favorite tweaks.
Michael LeBlanc 31:22
Yeah, I mean, it's fantastic. I mean, it's so interesting around, you know, you read studies that, thanks to COVID your consumers on a global basis, they, they still intend to spend the same amount of money, but they want to buy less things. That's another countervailing force, right? Maybe I should have more, you know, go up in value not down. And there's so many decisions to make and lots of advice, from the last half an hour, let's wrap it up with your advice, summing it up two starts, one stop for all the listeners, two things they should start doing today, tomorrow and one thing they should probably stop doing, what do you think?
Linda Maslechko 32:00
Okay, I'll start with a start, reinvention is a process, it's not a project. So, like taking a shower, if we don't take a shower regularly, we're going to start to stink. So, make it part of the process in your company. Secondly, -
Michael LeBlanc 32:20
Take showers every day. Secondly, take showers every day, (crossover talk). And I'm we're here with my guest, Linda who's advising, (crossover talk), -
Linda Maslechko 32:28
Just giving you a hot tip. (crossover talk)
Michael LeBlanc 32:31
Hot tip, hot take.
Linda Maslechko 32:34
Secondly, is create a reinvention mindset to avoid the traps. You know, think about what am I blind to? If I am just head down all the time firefighting in the weeds, then what am I not seeing that's coming? Take the time to stand back and, and take a look at that. What am I focused on? If I am, as I said before, oh, everything's going to be good, it's going to all be back to normal la, la, la, you know, -
Michael LeBlanc 33:03
Yeah.
Linda Maslechko 33:04
Head in sand or head in the clouds just dreaming of, of a happy future. And you're missing what you need to be doing today, right now that can make a difference and add value to your company.
Linda Maslechko 33:15
And then what outdated strategies are you depending on? So, this is, you know, with my company, the strategy was to open more stores, reach more of our market as fast as we could, when in fact, we needed to be collapsing the number of stores and creating hubs so that we could manage our cash flow better and have inventory pooled in certain places. So, think about the strategies that you've set for yourself and are they going to serve you.
The (inaudible) is stop thinking that change happens, rarely. It's constant. So, this isn't just okay, when's the next distraction, we will be in the midst of disruption and change all the time. So, instead of reacting to it, find a response that will help carry you forward and ad-, adapt your processes, your services, find all those ways to, to make your company agile and nimble so that decisions can, can serve you.
Michael LeBlanc 34:19
All right, right on. Well listen, it's been great hearing your voice and for those who want to follow up, maybe learn a bit more about you or get in touch. How do they do that?
Linda Maslechko 34:29
Well, I am on LinkedIn, and Linda Maslechko, you can email me Linda.Maslechko@gmail.com. And you can also find me by connecting with Reinvention Canada, and they're on LinkedIn, website and so forth, and any of those ways and I'd be happy to have a conversation with you. And, (crossover talk), -
Michael LeBlanc 34:50
Oh fantastic. Yeah. I'm excited by the conversation. I mean, it's, I love the approach and, and the framework and, and you're tradecraft. And I'll put all those links in the show notes too so, folks can, can find that.
But until then, as I said, great speaking with you, thanks so much for joining me on The Voice of Retail. And I wish you much continued success and, and good luck in helping everyone who needs it because times, times are, times are interesting, and, and it sounds like you got a great framework to help us get through.
Linda Maslechko 35:21
Right. Thank you so much, Michael. It's been my pleasure.
Michael LeBlanc 35:23
Thanks for tuning into this special episode of The Voice of Retail. If you haven't already, be sure to click and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform so new episodes will land automatically, twice a week. And check out my other retail industry media properties, the Remarkable Retail podcast, Conversations with CommerceNext podcast, and The Food Professor podcast with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois. Last but not least, if you're into barbecue, check out my all-new YouTube barbecue show Last Request Barbecue with new episodes each and every week.
I'm your host, Michael LeBlanc, President of M. E. LeBlanc & Company Inc. and Maven Media. And if you're looking for more content or want to chat, follow me on LinkedIn or visit my website at meleblanc.co.
Have a safe week everyone.
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