What did we all do before memes? How did we express ourselves so pointedly? I suppose we’ve always been doing this, and I have a vague recollection from Latin 2 that people were etching sick burns on columns in the Roman forum.
Anyhow, I saw a perfect small business meme the other day:
EBITDA: Earnings before insomnia, therapy, depression and anxiety.
Lollllll.
No shade if you don’t get the joke. EBITDA really stands for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, and it’s basically a calculation of profitability before all the complicated tax and accounting finagling.
If you DO get the joke, it feels spot on.
When my restaurant closed in 20...
I was a cheerleader in middle school. Like many other eighth grade girls, I did it mostly for the outfits, but also because I don’t have much athletic ability, and if I didn’t pick a sport, I had to do P.E. instead of study hall.
Now this was the late 1900’s (as the kids say), and the current brand of seriously athletic cheerleading had not yet made it to
...This week I’ve been listening to a four-part series about the Medici on one of my favorite podcasts, The Rest is History. Anyone with a mild interest in art history is surely familiar with the Medici family from Renaissance Florence who commissioned some of the most significant artworks in western history like Donatello’s David (the scrawny one, not Michelangelo’s ripped version) and Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus.
Not surprisingly, as the Medici banking business passed from grandpa Cosimo to son Piero and then to his son Lorenzo, the business acumen and attention to detail started to wane as the gout and baller-lifestyles grew. So when a feisty party-pooper friar named Girolamo Savona...
Last week we started our usual Monday morning meeting by asking our summer interns for their thoughts on our trip to Dallas for The Boutique Summit now that we’d all had time to let the Diet Coke leave our systems.
Intern Ollie remarked that the most notable moment from our trip was during the closing party when Abby and I tag-teamed a conversation with an important contact. We hadn’t expected this encounter and we hadn’t prepared at all; so when we executed a perfectly timed, super sharp elevator pitch it looked (and felt) like we were telepathically communicating.
It was fun to hear that the moment made such an impression, because when it was happening, it really did feel like Abb...
We just got back from The Boutique Summit in Dallas. Technically, I’m not home yet since I’m writing this on the plane next to a lovely child whose name appears to be “Thunder." Kids these days, amiright?!
Reentry is always a little tough when we come home from Boutique Hub events because our brains have been working overtime absorbing everything we’ve just learned like:
💥 Pinterest is really powerful for search rankings, and you can hook up your Shopify store directly if you have one .
🚛 Even if you arrive in Dallas thinking the trucker hat trend is ridiculous and you’d never wear one, you may very well be heading home with no
...Have you ever enthusiastically told friends about some awesome new local business only to find out it’s a chain? All of a sudden, you get the ick finding out that your authentically great experience was crafted in a conference room.
Generally speaking, when we call something “corporate,” like “ugh, the hotel looked so corporate,” or “Chad’s haircut is so corporate,” what we really mean is uninteresting or basic and soulless. Definitely not cool. Actual corporate retailers know this – that’s why they’re constantly trying to mimic the heart and personality of indie retailers. Historical photos of your city on the walls of Chicken Salad Chick? Giant photos of local fitness professiona...
✨ Welcome to a four part series we’re calling “What makes Pedal so unique and effective in the retail real estate industry.” Otherwise known as “Why we need our own TV show pronto.” ✨
Today we’re discussing final point #4:
We prepare our clients to be fully participative in negotiating their deals.
Last year, I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. I promise not to take you through a graphic extended metaphor about my labor and delivery – new readers may think this is because it's unprofessional and kinda gross, but longer-time readers will know that we already wrote a newsletter about the ways in which the process of renting a space is like having a baby. (Missed it? Send us a
...✨ Welcome to a four part series we’re calling “What makes Pedal so unique and effective in the retail real estate industry.” Otherwise known as “Why we need our own TV show pronto.” ✨
Today we’re discussing point #3:
We will not start touring spaces with Pedal Retailers until they can actually transact.
Fact: Touring potential spaces is the most fun part of the entire leasing process. Hands down. No question. 100%.
I know that may come as a surprise to some of you thinking, “oh no, Sheila, certainly it’s when you sign an LOI!” Nope. You’ve lost that loving feeling by then.
“What about when you actually sign the lease? That’s got to feel good." Yes, it does, but mostly
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