After close to 15 years in business and many requests for business advice from other retailers, Tara Solberg decided the time was right to launch The Retail Academy.
After opening Few and Far Berry with her husband back in 2015 (their third store), emails started to trickle in from others wanting to achieve what they had.
“I did a bit of consulting here and there, but the emails continued to come in, which encouraged me to put together everything I’d learnt over the years and combine it into an online course, TRADE WINS, which I launched at the end of 2020,” she says.
“The course was designed for those wanting to start a retail business and contained everything I’d learnt in my (then) 12 years of business. It was after this launch that I started receiving requests from retail business owners to mentor them or to provide them with the guidance on how to take the ‘next step’ in business in order to grow and scale, just as we had done.”
The two-day in-person event has been designed for those who have an existing retail business and who want a proven roadmap to grow their business. The event will be held in the Few and Far Thirroul store, where Solberg will be sharing the knowledge she has learnt across multiple pillars of business as well as providing the perfect venue that offers real life examples of the practices she has implemented and learnt throughout her 14 years of business experience.
“I’d love to personally take you on a tour, to talk you through the design and layout (as well as sharing all of the other ‘behind the scenes’ secrets to running a successful store),” she enthuses.
“And where I’m not the ‘expert’, I’ve invited some of the women I respect and admire the most and have learnt so much from, to deep dive into finance and marketing (because let’s admit, there’s nothing straightforward about either of those two topics).
“We are confident that our guests walk away from the event feeling inspired and re-energised, ready to plan and dream bigger than ever, feeling confident, knowing they’ve got a plan in place to grow their business (that is proven to work) with a huge return on investment (ROI).”
Following the event, Solberg will be launching The Retail Academy monthly online membership.
“I want my knowledge to be accessible to everyone, so for those who aren’t able to attend the in-person event, I’ll be opening up The Retail Academy for monthly masterclasses delivered through Zoom. Every month we will cover a new topic, to continue diving deeper into further understanding the different pillars of business and how we can finetune our systems and processes to create a more sustainable and profitable business (and lifestyle).”
Having experience in both retail and wholesale, Solberg gets the opportunity to see both sides of the coin and from what she has observed, there are so many simple things she can teach retail business owners to grow and scale their business (without the stress), while avoiding common mistakes.
“As a retailer (and wholesaler), I am well aware of the struggles other business owners are going through right now, with even more interest rate rises and a potential crash of the economy. This made me realise even more how important it was that I create this opportunity to support our customers and other retailers to future-proof their business in order to thrive through challenging times.
“For me, I see it as a win-win. If our customers grow, we grow, so why not give them the tools and support they need to successfully build their business?”
The Retail Academy is held on 28 and 29 June. Click here for more information.
