Writing
a blog means that lots of articles come across your desk. They are all worthy
in some way and even if you struggle with the conclusion of the writer there
are usually some gems you pick up along the way. The great thing about writing
is that you get to embrace the ideas that make sense to you and then weave them
them into a new creation. And if that isn't a great lead in to a discussion on
innovative entrepreneurship, I don't know what is.
Traders
at QVM are faced with many pieces of information about retailing. We are going
through a period of extreme change and new ways of establishing profitable
relationships with our customers are popping up all over the place. We have the
obvious ones like website's, and social media engagement. We have new contacts
with local and overseas suppliers just an email or two away, and we have
ancillary services like EFTPOS, PayPal and Square, to smooth out the customer
connection. We have access to home printing of business cards, leaflets, and a
whole range of promotional materials including low-cost, large format banner
printing at your nearest office supply store. We have in-house marketing
assistance and support grants, as well as a multitude of external business
courses. There are many sources for market traders to weave their own little
piece of retail magic.
"But
it is all so hard right now" I hear you say. And you are right, it is
hard, but this is where Nutella comes in. What is arguably one of the most
popular snacks in the world came about through adversity. In the 1940's a world
war helped disrupt supplies of cocoa and Italian Pietro Ferrero created a
spread that used less cocoa and more hazelnut. It is now a major ingredient on
breakfast tables across the globe. In fact the seeds for that combination went
back to Napoleon's era but that is another story. The point is that adjusting
to adversity is often the seed for new innovation and opportunity. Pietro
Ferrero didn't start large scale manufacturing of Nutella until 1951 so these
things don't happen overnight but, to state the obvious, if we don't get
started they are never going to happen.
The
advantage for small market traders lies in our flexibility. There are many
things we can try at comparatively low cost and with close attention and
perseverance we can expect results. Good luck with weaving your own little
piece of retail magic.