Member Article

Small Business Champion Gives Back To Struggling Retailers To Help Improve Cash Flow In Recession

A female entrepreneur who has worked in the retail industry since the age of 18, and has made a name for herself working for household names including; Debenhams, Smashbox and Crewroom; is giving her passion a new purpose this month, as she launches free support services for small independent retailers to help them thrive.

After spending 10 years working with the big brands, Emily Lyons, 31, has seen the highs and lows of retail, and experienced how these brands navigate recession - she felt passionately that she needed to share her abundance of knowledge that could help small businesses in retail navigate some of the current challenges.

Having quit Crewroom to launch her business, The Retailer Clinic, in December last year, Emily has been working to provide small and independent retailers access to tried and tested supply chain strategies and models used by the ‘bigger players’. She is now opening up her knowledge with free 1-2-1 personalised, ‘How to improve cash flow’ workshops, which will run online throughout the year, as a response to the current challenging trading conditions retailers are facing.

Emily is passionate about reaching as many small and independent businesses as possible to prevent them from the fate of so many others. “About 47 shops on average pulled down their shutters for the final time every day last year, according to analysis from the Centre for Retail Research (CRR). It found a total of 17,145 shops on high streets and in other locations closed for good over 2022. This is up almost 50% on the 11,449 shops closed in 2021, during the Covid pandemic.”

Emily is on a mission to create an impact by giving back to vulnerable and struggling businesses during these difficult times by sharing her knowledge via her free workshops.

Emily said; “I felt compelled to create this as many vibrant retail businesses will struggle to survive in 2023 and I want to share my knowledge with them and be of service. The Retailer Clinic is about demystifying supply chain management for small and independent retailers. It is about making supply chain management accessible, easy to understand and easy to implement -as often this can be a minefield and if you get it wrong all your profits disappear down the drain. Small retailers are put under lots of pressure from many angles from the buyers looking for the best price, to the suppliers wanting to up their prices and I am excited to help retailers get their back-of-house in order which is the lifeblood of the business.I want to be part of the solution for creating an environment where these businesses can thrive.”

“The best way I can give back to my fellow business owners is through my free ‘How to improve cash flow’ workshop. This is 1.5-hours of my time, in a private session which takes retailers through tried and tested supply chain methods used to improve cash flow.”

Emily blends her experience of working within the industry with her extensive MITx MicroMasters in Supply Chain Management knowledge, which is an advanced, professional, graduate-level foundation in Supply Chain Management.

Emily said, “Retailers need to look at the less visible parts of their business this year. 2023 is the year where resilient and efficient supply chains will bring in profit. Retailers must work on their back of house.”

Emily has worked in retail since she was 18, having spent her teens watching and being inspired by Mary Portas helping retailers and watching documentaries on “The Great British High Street”. She started her career at the Fashion Retail Academy which is an industry-led college Diploma in Fashion Retail, from there she went to work as a trainee buyer. And, whilst at University took a 4-day-per-week job working for a big makeup brand that had just launched in the UK. She worked on the counter which gave her a real insight into how the back-of-house affects the front-of-house.

She has worked for large and small retailers in their head offices where she was exposed to a range of supply chain challenges which were difficult to address, especially for small and independent retailers who have limited access to supply chain systems, experts, and support in part due to the cost. Emily is passionate about small and independent retailers and the unique offerings they bring to the UK in comparison to larger chain stores.

Known for her approachability, Emily wants all business owners to know that if they have pain points in their retail business, she is here to help.

She continues; “I think this is needed because small retailers often just plough on hoping these things won’t become a big issue or fatal for their business. However, supply chain problems really impact the resilience of a business, and retail businesses really must be resilient to be profitable post-covid.”

“This business is what my career path has been building up to! I have learnt so much from my retail career and my supply chain management qualification helped me to find solutions to the problems I had encountered working for retailers.”

Emily also offers bespoke support services and online mini-courses and masterclasses for retailers which address the pain points in their retail business. Emily knows that the supply chain is the lifeblood of a retail business.

“I help my audience to overcome operational and strategic issues in their supply chains, which lead to retail businesses being inefficient and unprofitable or less profitable than they should be. I help them to build businesses that can cope with stresses i.e. turbulent economic conditions.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Chocolate PR .