Look great in this stylish Harley T-shirt from Folk Shirts

At ‘My Time In Retail’ I like to highlight products and companies from time to time that stand out in the crowded marketplace. Today I take a look at something that will allow the Harley lover the opportunity to share their love of the Harley with the world.

The Harley fan is always someone who wears their heart on their sleeve. But what if that sleeve was attached to a fantastic Harley Davidson T-shirt? Well now it can be with the great t-shirts available from Folk Shirts, which can be found on Amazon.

You want to look great? You want to show your love for all things Harley? You want to look stylish and cool?

Well look no further than Folk Shirts – find them on Amazon.

It is a fantastic thing to be able to let the world know your true colours through the medium of your clothing. It unites Harley fanatics and creates a bond that this tribe will never lose. Harley lovers want everyone they meet to now that they just love their Harley and they want to meet as many fellow Harley enthusiasts as they possibly can.

These T-shirts are really well made and the highest standards are applied to their production. The features of the Harley T-shirt are-

·         Made from 100% Cotton

·         Machine wash cold with like colors, dry in low heat

·         This is an original Brand Name Folk Shirts T-shirt

·         Great for all Harley Lovers

·         Lightweight, Classic fit, Double-needle sleeve and bottom hem

So you are buying real quality that will last a long time so you can look great week after week, year after year. When you buy clothing you want it to look right even after it has been washed many times. The T-shirts from Folk Shirts will keep their quality because of the production values that have gone into this great Harley T-shirt.

Folk Shirts say it all with their tagline for this T-shirt-

“Wanna be seen as a badass Harley lover without saying a word? You know what to do right now!”

It takes your Harley love to a new level because you can be seen to be Harley and be seen to look great without opening your mouth. These are limited edition T-shirts that won’t be around forever. Once you have yours then tell all the other Harley lovers in your life. These T-shirts are available for men, women and children.

Why Romantic Love Dies...Or Thrives - You really can affect how this works in your life

What is love? It is a question that has been asked through the ages in literature and in song. The answers are manifold and are not always easy to bring to mind. What are the answers to some of the eternal questions-

Where does romantic live come from? How does it disappear? Why are people unfaithful? Is your measure of live the same as that of someone else?

This book answers all of those questions and more-

Why Romantic Love Dies... Or Thrives : Controversial Principles To Overcome Falling Out Of Love And Empower Your Romantic Relationship

Frederick Norman Tate writes with a fluency and authority that really brings this subject to life. It is true that there has been so much conjecture about love and the places it plays in our lives.

This book takes conventional thinking and turns it on its head. For centuries love has been viewed as irrational and something that happens by chance. It is easy to think of it in this way because we don't have enough knowledge in this area. Tate shows that this isn't strictly true.

There are small things that can mean the difference between being a success in romance or being a failure in romance. These small things can have a massive impact on your life. By understanding this you can make a difference to your life.

There are small changes that you can easily make to be more attractive to others. Tate takes the reader through this and answers in part the question of -

How can I make myself more attractive to a potential partner?

This is interesting stuff because there has been no attempt to do this before. This book breaks boundaries in the way that it debunks common thinking. There is belief that this can't be done. Tate speaks clearly and gives you a pathway to look at improving your own romantic life. It covers topics such as-

•         Infidelity
•          Flirting
•          Sex life
•          A relationship test

Look at this book as a guide to curing you of romantic failures and enhancing the romantic successes that you have. It will allow you to see the world through a different lens, one that can help you to be a success in romance. Make sure that you get the most from your love life by getting the lowdown on how to make it better. These are ideas that you can't find anywhere else.

Get the book today and you will get one step ahead of the rest and become the most successful you have ever been in romance.

How will the EU referendum affect Britain's High Streets?

There has been much debate about our role in the EU and the upcoming referendum when the country decides whether we stay or leave.

There has been much scaremongering from both sides and it will continue up to and beyond the referendum. The latest has been the Prime Minister with a warning on businesses and jobs-

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-eu-referendum-35769809

So how does this affect retail? What impact will it have on the High Street? Let's take a look.

EU grants

One of the overlooked areas when it has come to the debate has been the handouts that councils have been able to access for regeneration. Some depressed areas have spent you'd money well and turned terrible High Streets in to great shopping destinations. Leaving the EU would revive direct access to these grants and the U.K. Government would need to provide a replacement. If we are net contributors to the EU as we have been told by the 'Leave' campaign then this money could still be found to continue what has been good work in some areas.

Retail businesses

There has been some depressing statistics about the job situation over the next ten years recently anyway. It remains to be seen what a Brexit would mean to our retail industry and the future of our High Street but it doesn't appear that it will spark a massive change. The country is more than capable of quickly agreeing new trade deals with our current EU trading partners to keep open the lines of business. Therefore any worries about trade becoming more expensive should be allayed quite quickly.

Jobs

There has been longstanding fears for job security in times of large level immigration. These fears are global at the moment with the exodus from Africa and the plight of people in Syria and the surrounding area. Leaving the EU won't diminish our responsibility to take in refugees but will give us control back over the one area of immigration that we can't do anything about as it stands - EU immigration. Because of the free movement of people within the EU we have people from all over the continent working in our country. In terms of culture and diversity it is a great thing. In terms of job security for British nationals it may have held back youth employment. I say may because it is difficult to put exact numbers in it. Only a Brexit will give us the chance to see what this will look like.

I don't have any strong feelings at the moment whether in or out is the right thing for the UK, but as time goes by and I listen to what has to be said then I will definitely be voting. Please make sure that you also take part in this important decision-making process.

Gap under fire for shuffling profits

Tesco cuts back it's 24 hour operation - what can retailers of all shapes and sizes learn from this?

A story caught my eye in the news this morning. It is regarding the fact that Tesco is paring back it's 24 hour operation in a large chunk of their stores. The reason quoted in the article is the fact that online shopping is eroding their in-store customer base.

I can see that an upturn in online shopping (with a similar downturn in customers physically visiting their stores) can have an effect on how long you need to keep the doors open. I know that big retailers have been backwards and forwards will having their stores replenished overnight or not. But this is more like a complete change in strategy for Tesco rather than a tweaking of a few opening hours.

The 1990's through to the last couple of years have been all about expansion got the big retailers, particularly the supermarkets. They bought up land, drove into new markets and employed more and more (often part-time) staff. The recent scandals and the competition from the discounters has put Tesco on the back foot. It has also given them an opportunity to assess where they are and where they want to be. 

Expansion for the sake of it means nothing.

If it's not an area that makes money then why bother with it?

And that brings me to your business. I'll ask the exact same question-

If it's not an area that makes money then why bother with it?

It's time to assess all aspects of the retail business that you work in and decide whether they are all pulling their weight. Your business needs to be as efficient as it can be. Unless an area generates footfall that you need. The National Lottery is an example of this. The income it generates is poor but it drives people through the door that may buy other things.

The best way to do this is to break down your business into different areas and attribute costs to each of these areas. This can be staffing costs, materials, energy use or whatever resources this part of the business consumes. Then measure this against the income it brings in. You will soon generate a list of the performance of every aspect of your business. From there you can see the top performers and those that aren't quite doing so well. Assess the likely impact of removing some parts of your business and moving the resources into others.

• Does this work?
• Will it being more income?
• More profit?

It is by analysing everything that you do that can make the difference between profit and loss. Don't wait for a major event to hit you like Tesco. Act now.

Retail needs to take the lead on pay - there are too many followers and cost-cutters

In light of a story that has appeared in the news today about wealth, I'm looking at leadership on the issue of pay.

Oxfam report that the richest 1% now has as much wealth as the other 99% combined. This is a moral issue that affects every business, and I believe that it is a leadership issue. Every business has the moral obligation to look after the people that work for them. It's not just pay (which a lot of companies need to go much further on) but working conditions, time off, work-life balance and benefits.

At this moment in time, the UK economy is hugely skewed towards business - particularly big business. Media stories regularly show big business not paying their fair share of tax. The minimum wage has served it's purpose and needs to be replaced by the living wage. The taxpayer is subsidising people with a family to work for these companies through working tax credit.

It's time to take a lead.

Unfortunately many retailers are culprits when it comes to poor pay. The minimum wage seems to be the standard wage for national and multinational retailers. It really isn't good enough. Employees are being squeezed and customers are being squeezed in search of extra profits. Billion pound plus profits for shareholders and company owners while paying frontline employees the barest of minimum wage will be counterproductive in the long run. Having demotivated employees that don't give the same service as customers experienced in the past will lead to declining sales. The bottom line is about far more than just cutting costs.

If you are an independent retailer then look at what you pay end how you incentivise your team. If you work for a larger retailer then it's part of your commitment to your colleagues that you raise the issue if low pay in the correct forums.

Retailers have a duty of care for their employees. See why it's more important in results season

It's the time of the year where retailers announce their results that cover the busy Christmas period. It's good to keep abreast of these, particularly those that operate in the same sector as you. Two that have been announced today are Morrisons who reported better than expected sales and Debenhams who report their sales as "strong."

This has got me thinking about sales figures and how they affect your team. When I worked for BP it was always a horrible couple of days with customers angry at petrol prices when the company was reporting multi-billion pound profits. I suspect that Starbucks employees had similar issues when their tax affairs were made public.

My readers are generally split into two main camps - independent retailers and those who work for larger retail operations. The difference in these two is enormous and only widened by the public reporting that is required of publicly -listed companies. There are lessons to be learnt whichever camp you are in and today's blog will look at this.

Larger chain retailers
And this especially applies to those that have regular reporting of their figures, because this is where you can get examples such as the BP and Starbucks ones above. It is important for those earning massive salaries to protect their workers that are on the front line. It is difficult for customers to differentiate but the comments, ill-feeling and sometimes abuse that a BP worker gets is completely disproportionate to their role in the process.I have always spoken to those customers that voice discontent at the prices of the retailers I work with about my lack of role in the process that dictates prices. If I am working in a store, for example, then my ability to affect the price that the company sells their products at zero.

But not every employee is this insightful or confident with what they do. As a large organisation the people at the top and (more productively) the marketing, media or communications department needs to ensure that they soften the blow for the lower level employee. BP used to produce a press release for us to hand out to discuss with the customers. It explained the difference between BP Retail and BP Oil and how it isn't legal to cross-subsidise one with the other. It separated the customers who were interested in the affairs of the company from those that just wanted to have a moan. Large organisations have a moral obligation to pay their workers better, pay their way in taxes and to look after their front line workers - and this includes provisions for when publicity affects their work.

Independent retailers
I think that there is mileage here in having some sort of published results for your own independent retail business. This is an especially good idea if you can compare and contrast this with the competition from larger chains.Firstly you can share an edited version of the results with your team. Perhaps breaking it down into percentages rather than actual cash will protect your personal data. For example-

• 45% of our costs are for staffing
• We paid 25% of our income in tax, whereas our multinational rival paid only 6%
• Our profit margin after all costs and taxes have been taken out is 9%

These figures will highlight to your team what a difference a small pay rise makes or the benefit of selling one extra item per customer or whatever you want to highlight. and this is where joined up business wins out every time. If you understand your results, understand what you want to make better then you can help your team to understand what differences they can make. For example, if you want to increase the sales by 10% to give your team a 5% pay rise then use the annual figures to explain this.

The second point is for those that are a little bolder with what they do. It's best explained by way of example and I'll use a coffee shop for example. It's about comparing and contrasting your operation with a multinational rival and using this as marketing ammunition. Imagine this press release, or something similar, appearing in your local newspaper-

"Use your local coffee shop as it benefits the community

Local coffee shop Coffee For Me has just published it's annual results and it makes startling reading. In contrast to the American-owned coffee chain XYZ Seattle, who only paid tax of 4% on  their UK earnings, Coffee For Me paid 20% of their earning sin tax. They also employ 5 people from out town, all of whom then spend their ages in our town. The owners, Mr and Mrs Jones, have lived here for over 20 years and they shop locally with other locally-owned businesses.

If you want to ensure that you support local people and people who pay their fair share of UK taxes, make sure that the next time you go out for  coffee it's at Coffee For Me, and nor one of these chains that are taking money away fro the town, the region and the UK."

It is for those with a little more aggressive marketing approach but the impact for me would be a huge one. It's all about making your customers think about their purchases and to make a decision on the greater good.

All in all, retailers have a duty of care over their colleagues. Whether it's to protect them from negative media coverage, to help them understand the business or to prompt their customers to shop locally.

Is your team down in the dumps this week?

I've worked with a few retailers this week, done some shopping and carried out some mystery shops and everywhere I go, people are down in the dumps. It's not a great week - the weather is awful (and possibly dangerous  if you live in parts of the North) and the process of stretching your pay packet always hurts more in January.

After all the events and promotions of pre-Christmas and the Boxing Day sales, it can be difficult to get your team going for another set of events. However, I think that an event may just be what is needed right now to lift your weary team and their collective spirit. There is Valentines Day just around the corner but something could fill the gap. It doesn't have to be customer-facing - just something that gets your team going again. I've seen ideas such as-

• A "thank you" buffet for the hard work over Christmas
• A dress down day
• A bingo card for selling a particular product with prizes for a full card

It's about doing something rewarding, a little lower-key than the Christmas promotions and hopefully some fun. Think about doing something that lifts the spirits of your team - it's important for them to have something that takes their mind off the gloom and doom that's in the news.

It's also time to ramp up your colleague engagement at this time. Spending quality time with your team is another sure fire way of lifting their morale. It's true leadership to be there with your team, discussing the upcoming plans when you don't really feel that great yourself.

Remember this as we fight through the rest of January and you will be in a position to reap the rewards.It's at this time of year that people start to look for a new job or a new start. If you have put yourself in a position that your team are happy, satisfied and productive then you can head a lot of this off at the pass.Team members that are happy and recognised are much less likely to look elsewhere. This will save you money on recruitment and training for new starters, which is an unnecessary expense at this time.

Make sure that you know your team and everyone is as happy as they can be. It's good for business in the long run.