If you’re thinking about closing up and getting out, this episode of Real Retail TV is for you.

Hi. It’s Bob. And right now, you don’t need to be told, but times are uncertain. The economy is uncertain all over the world. Here in the United States, there is an election coming up and that adds to uncertainty.

And between political and economic uncertainty, there is a lot of anxiety.

And recently on our whiz bang retailers Facebook group, which you if you are not a member of, I would encourage you to join. Somebody said, I’m feeling really tired and I really want I’m ready to get out.

And a lot of people, like eighty people replied, so I thought I would address it here. So if you’re thinking about closing up and getting out, there are two distinct ways of looking at that decision.

And the first thing I wanna say to a lot of you, if you’re feeling this way, is if you are ready to get out, if you are truly done, it’s okay.

You know, so many people equate their own personal success with the success of their business.

And I just wanna tell you that you are not your business.

And if you choose to close-up and get out, it does not mean that you’re not smart. It does not mean that you’re not a good business person. It does not mean that you’re not a good person. It does not mean that you’re a failure. It just means that you’re ready to move on, and it is okay.

So don’t let ego get in the way. Sometimes in business, we have to make a strategic retreat. You know, you take one step back to take two steps forward. And the same thing holds true with life.

Sometimes you have to take a step back to move two or three steps forward. And if your business isn’t serving your life right now and your spirit is just not in it, it’s probably time for you to close-up and get out. But the thing that I just wanna say to you again is you did it and not everybody has done it. And the things that you’ve learned from this adventure will carry over and carry on with you for the rest of your life.

So, every adventure ends sooner or later. And if this is the time for you to leave, so be it. Make the decision. Feel good about the decision.

Move on. Here’s what I know because I know I mean, I sold my share of the Mackinac kite company. I’ve talked to hundreds of retailers who have left their business. And once you make the decision and do what needs to be done to get out, there’s always something new in front of you.

You know, when one door closes, another door opens. The fact that you had whatever it takes to build and and built to open a store and build a business tells me that you’re going to be successful in anything that you do. So that’s the first way to look at it. The second way to look at it is, I’d like to speak to those of you who, may be tired, may be burned out, but don’t want to close out and get out close-up and get out.

You want to make it a success, but you’re feeling anxious and stressed and worn down by it. And believe me, I know that action. In the nineteen years that I had my retail business, the Mackinac kite company, we almost went broke twice. And when I say we almost went broke, I’m not talking about our net thirties were out to sixty.

I mean, we were in deep, deep, deep holes both times.

And each time my brother Steve, who was my partner and I sat down and we said, we’re gonna do this. Right? We’re gonna figure out how to make it go. So if you are feeling that anxiety but your heart is still in it, make a decision.

Go to the mirror, look in the mirror and tell yourself I’m gonna do what I need to do to make this thing go and then get to work. Here is one of the things that I wanna share with you. We had a mantra. Steve and I had a mantra. And every day I told myself this, and it was this.

Bob, if you’re not, you will never be successful in business if you are not in business.

And what do I mean by that? I mean that every day we stayed open, every day we learn something new, every day we got closer to getting out of the hole was another day that we were closer to being out of the hole and moving towards the success that we really truly wanted.

So it really is about that. But now it’s more than just making an emotional commitment. It’s more than just having a mantra to wake up to in the morning. It’s about getting to work. I mean, showing up at work and doing the same things that you’ve been doing all along aren’t going to get you where you want to go. So the thing that you want to do is you want to really, really ask yourself. Whenever there’s a problem, you have to ask yourself, what skills do I need to solve this problem?

So Ari Weinsweig is has spoken at the Retail Success Summit. He’s been a keynote speaker several times. He’s a cofounder of Zingerman’s family Families of Business in Ann Arbor. And his cofounder, Paul Saginaw, has a great quote. He said, don’t get furious.

Get curious. And I’m gonna change that around a little bit and say, don’t be stressed out. Figure out. Figure it out.

What? So if you don’t have enough traffic in your store, recognize that you need to become a better marketer. If you have a team that is not pulling your business forward with you, you need to learn management and leadership skills. If you’re drowning in inventory, you need to learn how to manage your inventory.

So every problem there is in your business, there is a corresponding skill for you to learn.

And so here’s what I wanna share with you. When you have that attitude, when you go from thinking of a problem as something that causes stress to a problem is pointing to the need to learn something new. This is when you start to make the kind of real deal progress that is necessary for you to get out of the hole, get out of the stress, start moving forward.

All of these things will give you momentum.

And so here’s the final thing that I wanna say. You know, again, I’ve been through this several times. I’ve lived through, I think six recessions since I started the Mackinac kite company going through our experience here at whiz bang training. But here’s what I wanna share with you.

You are in an adventure, and every adventure has hard spots, has hard times. You run into a wall. But here’s what I wanna say. Here’s what you should recognize is that every time you run into a wall and make it through that wall, you are a different person.

You are a better person. You are better equipped for the next thing that comes along. So people think of growth as being linear. You start here.

You end there. It goes like this, you know, straight up. It’s not how business works and not how growth works. It’s not how entrepreneurship works.

It’s not how life works. Right? It’s like here, you go up a little bit, and then there’s all sorts of problems. You know, it goes like this.

It goes like this. And so don’t be discouraged when you run into a wall. Just don’t see it as a problem. See it as an opportunity.

But you should recognize that everything you need to become the kind of success that you deserve is there. The Retail Mastery System is a wonderful resource for you. Retail brilliance is a great place for you to learn how to find out all kinds of skills. You know, there are lots of retail experts giving free advice.

Understand that everything you need is there for you. Now if this is you, if you are a little tired, a little discouraged, but your heart is still in it and you still want that success.

You have got this. You are enough. And the minute that you turn off this video, write down three problems that you have in your business or three things that you need to do to get off the mark, to get moving, to get some momentum, to help you get where you want to go.

So I hope that you found this, message helpful.

Again, I’ve been there many, many, many times, and these are lessons that I have learned the very, very hard way. And I hope that hearing it from someone who has been there will make it easier for you.

Alright. I’m Bob Nagin. We’re gonna see you next week.