How Julia Implemented Better Systems And Reduced Her Stress

The struggle

Julia had grown Winter’s Moon to a sustainable stage but felt stuck without clear processes to guide decisions.

“Before we joined Retail by Design I feel like the business was going really well. I’d managed to get it to a good sort of stage that felt sustainable but I just felt a bit stuck.”

The business

Winter's Moon

Independent gift and homewares shop

Chichester

The client

Julia

Key result

From reactive decision-making to cohesive planning and confident growth

Timeframe

6 months inside Retail by Design

Service used

Retail by Design

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The why

Julia wanted experienced guidance and a structured approach to running her business.

"I felt like I had taught myself or scrambled together the information through lots of various sources but I didn’t know what I didn’t know and I knew that there must be some more solid processes and ways to make decisions than I was aware of.”

“If I had to sum it up it was just having that sort of proper experience knowledge that had escaped me up to that point because I’d come at the job from a sort of slightly left field.”

The work

Together, we focused on:

Here's what we worked on

Process Building

Implemented better systems for tracking sales, stock, and buying.

Trading Calendar

Created a forward-looking calendar to anticipate key seasons like Easter and Christmas.

Marketing Cohesion

Aligned her marketing, visual merchandising, and product launches.

Decision-Making Confidence

Provided tools to evaluate numbers and focus on profitability.

The results

Julia now feels in control and aligned across all areas of the business.

Improved buying strategy based on recorded data and trends.

Cohesive planning across marketing, stock, and seasonal promotions.

Greater confidence in managing busy periods and delegating tasks

The review

“Working with Catherine gave us all sorts of understandings of just how to record the information, what information to pay attention to within the business to then make our buying decisions. Working with Catherine gave me a better view to the future and the information that I needed from the present or the past to make decisions.”