#209 Russell Thackeray – Bricks and Mortar

Bricks and Mortar with Russell Thackeray Today we have a returning guest, Russell Thackeray. He's talking about his new venture into retail with a bricks and mortar business. He has found out that starting up again from scratch isn't quite as easy as he first imagined. Listen in and learn all about the pitfalls that Russell has encountered in his first 100 days. QEDOD.com? Four or five years ago, Russell divested his large training business 'to go solo' as they say. He'd worked in the consulting and training industry for many years, and decided to focus on two areas. These were the analytics and evaluation of OD departments and resilience. (OD means organisational development!) However, Russell spent all his time on resilience really. For example, he was building products, training programmes and skillsets based on this. As a result, QEDOD was born. Russell and a bunch of consultants follow the traditional model of money for hours, alongside some online training and revenue streams. What's interesting us that Russell is branching out into bricks and mortar. Bricks and mortar Russell is a great believe of practicing what you preach. It was when Russell was in a cafe that he saw a beauty bar up for sale, and wondered how much it was to buy (or rent) that space. Why? Because there are two things he knew about retail that works - experiences and niche. This space seemed perfect to create a heart for his new business and create a gathering point for training, consultancy and the other therapeutic practices Russell organises within his business. The soft launch is two days from the date this podcast was recorded! Russell's business has become a bricks and mortar business! The next 100 days... Interestingly, Russell doesn't plan 100 days out. Russell starts from the perspective of being interested, innovative and enthusiastic about something. What Russell wanted to do is create a training space and a therapy space, because he is good at those things. On the other hand, there was a real need to provide a retail element for the lease. This is something Russel hasn't done for a number of years. Russell's plan was to provide something high value, experiential and niche. So, he decided to retail CBD (Cannabidiol Oils), because linking this with a therapeutic practice helps its reputation, particularly in the UK. Additionally, it gives a unique aspect because CBD is often bought online or in shops that offer a questionable quality. Combining CBD with Russell's therapy practice allows him to, for example, run a sleep clinic. He can discuss the quality, the physiology, the psychology and the routines of sleep, AND use CBD as part of a therapeutic approach. The logic of this was incredibly appealing. Russell's business model is: Hiring the therapy room out to therapists Running therapy and training to courses and groups their selves The retail http://thenext100days.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Pivoting-in-retail.mp4 Who will be your clients? There are two sets of clients. First of all, there's quite a lot of footfall. This is because the mariner in which Russell's centre is based is a huge, experiential endpoint. The second group of people are people who have a need for the sorts of therapies Russel's team put together. For example, people who have PTSD, who have stress or anxiety, people who want to live a better life, to make presentation skills better, a need for counselling. As result, Russel is witching from international work to being local - being part of a community. He will be getting to know the great movers and shakers and makers of his local market. http://thenext100days.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Centre-not-shop.mp4 What's the primary draw into the wellness centre? This is a bit of a glib answer, but wellness. Because wellness is this idea of living a healthier and more productive life. It means living longer in a more productive way.