Ep. 162 What the Savvy Shopkeeper Quiz Is Teaching Me About Indie Retailers

It’s the first anniversary of the Savvy Shopkeeper Quiz! In that time, nearly a thousand brick-and-mortar store owners have taken the quiz.

The quiz helps retailers identify what stage of their shopkeeping journey they’re in AND gives them a comprehensive roadmap of resources to help them work less, profit more, and grow.

Read on to learn what the quiz has taught me about indie retailers.

Why I Created the Savvy Shopkeeper Quiz

The quiz has become an incredibly valuable resource for the Savvy Shopkeeper community! There are a few reasons why I created this tool:

To Create a Framework to Identify Which Stage You’re In

There are podcast listeners and members of Master Shopkeepers in all five stages. Your needs and what you should focus on are unique to your current stage!

Identifying these stages meant getting clear on the path of a brick-and-mortar store owner, all the way from Aspiring Shopkeeper to Retail CEO.

To Help Shopkeepers Understand What to Focus On

Once I’d built the framework and identified the stages, I wanted to take it one step further. I wanted to get clear on what you should focus on during each of these stages.

I have a LOT of helpful, free content on the podcast, blog, and through my library of free downloadable resources. But if you take the quiz, you get a full roadmap with resources for the current stage of your shopkeeping journey!

Yes, you can listen to all the podcast episodes and read all the blog posts. But taking the quiz means you’ll have an actionable list of episodes, posts, and resources specific to your current business.

To Help Master Shopkeepers Members Even MORE

With the framework in place, I can meet each Master Shopkeepers member where they’re at. The breakout sessions during our group coaching calls are now based on the shopkeeping journey stages.

I’m also hosting stage-specific calls to discuss each group’s unique needs. MSK members from any stage can join the calls and listen in!

We recently held a Retail CEO call, and members from all stages were in attendance. They were curious about that fifth and final stage—what does that look like? What are those business owners focusing on?

Additionally, I’m a better coach for MSK members with this framework to guide me. Once I know your stage, I can help and guide you more effectively.

Lastly, I’m creating a second level of roadmaps specifically for Master Shopkeepers. Once you apply and join, you have access to hundreds of lessons, and it can be overwhelming! Soon, you’ll have access to an MSK-specific roadmap that tells you what lessons to work through first based on your stage on your shopkeeping journey.

To Help Podcast Listeners & Retailers New to Savvy Shopkeeper!

When a retailer finds the podcast or my website, I want them to have a solid and relatable frame of reference.

For example, retailers in the Savvy Starter stage (stage 2 of 5) are burning the candle at both ends. They’re exhausted from juggling all the details of opening and launching their first store.

Once you move into the following stages, you should have systems and team members supporting you who alleviate this level of work and the consequent exhaustion. The framework is there to help you move through the stages and educate you on setting up the systems you need to build a business that lights you up rather than taking all the fuel from your tank.

So for Savvy Starters, you can join Master Shopkeepers and go through the time management, operations, and maybe even human resources modules to alleviate some of that stress and exhaustion.

What I’ve Learned About Indie Retailers From the Quiz

I recently met with my team member, Jaimie of Jaimie Lee Creative, to optimize the quiz. She helped me build this beneficial tool last year, and we met to do a one-year review and analysis of what we could improve.

This is something I love about my team members, by the way. They’re thoughtful, they listen, they analyze—and they want to help me help you. I’m incredibly grateful for them.

I’ve learned something from the answers to each question on the quiz. It’s been so interesting to go through the data and learn about the Savvy Shopkeeper community! Here’s a sampling of what I’ve learned:

1. You’re all spread pretty evenly over the five stages. I always felt this was true in our group memberships, but the quiz has confirmed it. Identifying those five stages and being able to sort retailers into them has been incredibly valuable.

2. You want help with systems & figuring out what to focus on next. Learning this helped validate my idea for an in-depth roadmap for members of Master Shopkeepers.

3. 50% of quiz takers are solo shopkeepers (or have 1 or 2 part-time employees). Solo shopkeepers WANT to grow—otherwise, they remain stuck. The roadmaps are there to help you grow!

With an even spread across stages but 50% of shopkeepers being solo, I can see that some of you are holding yourselves back from growing your businesses. Most solo shopkeepers are in stage one or two, but the results show that quite a few of you are in stage 3 or even 4 without any help.

4. Most of you know that a solid understanding of your financials is crucial to your growth. Quiz takers have shown that they want to learn and comprehend their finances!

5. You all want more help with time management. So many quiz takers are burning the candle at both ends. You’re tired! Interestingly, this is the case for shopkeepers in all five stages.

Insights From Each Stage of the Shopkeeper Journey

I’ve already shared some insights from those in the Savvy Starter stage. But what about the Profitable Planners, Growing Retailers, and Retail CEOs?

Profitable Planners

I’ve found that there’s a general annoyance with the term “profitable planner” because some of you are not seeing a profit at this stage. However, that’s probably because no one has taught you HOW to be profitable from the earlier stages—and that’s what I’m here for!

Instead, focus on becoming profitable, aka, planning for profit. See what I did there?!

Growing Retailers

In this stage, store owners are ready for a store manager but afraid of letting go of control. They sometimes think they can’t delegate due to a lack of systems. However, once those systems and processes are in place, they can let go of the reins a bit.

Retail CEOs

The shopkeepers in this stage are so empowering! The group calls with Master Shopkeepers members in this stage have been some of my favorites, mainly because group members from ALL stages came to see what is possible for them.

Retail CEOs use words like freedom, flexibility, and passive income. Talk about bossing up!

Take The Quiz for the First Time (or Take it Again!)

If you haven’t taken the quiz, I highly recommend it! We’ve recently improved some questions and added even more helpful podcast episodes to the resource lists for each stage.

My mission is to help store owners work less, profit more, and grow. The first step is having a tool to help us identify where you are on the journey! There are just eight questions for you to answer on the quiz. And based on conversations inside of Master Shopkeepers, it’s pretty darn accurate (although not perfect, of course).

When you take the quiz, don’t try to outsmart it or answer questions in a way that will push you into another stage. This is a disservice to yourself.

There are foundational things at EACH stage that are extremely important for your growth (and sometimes, your sanity)! Be truthful, even if the result isn’t what you’d like. The best time to be honest with yourself about your business is NOW.

By the way: if you take the quiz, you are signing up for my weekly newsletter, which we’re very transparent about. The newsletter is just one more way I can serve brick-and-mortar store owners.

And if it’s been a year since you took the quiz, I recommend retaking it! Hopefully, you’re evolving and growing as a shopkeeper. You may have moved into the next stage or even further.

Resources

Find out which stage of your shopkeeping journey you’re in with the Savvy Shopkeeper Quiz!
Jaimie of Jaimie Lee Creative, my team member and copywriter who helped me create the quiz