Behind the buying: why I started mentoring other retailers

A question I get asked a lot — usually by other small business owners, sometimes over coffee, sometimes in a DM at 11pm — is some version of: "How do you know what to buy?"

It's a fair question. Buying is one of those parts of retail nobody really teaches you. You either learn it the expensive way (racks of stock that never sold) or you're lucky enough to learn it from someone who's already made those mistakes.

I've been doing this for around 20 years now — building fashion and footwear ranges, running multi-store operations, designing my own clothing label, and more recently importing handcrafted Brazilian leather footwear through Golden One. Along the way I've bought well, and I've bought badly. Both taught me things a course never could.

Why buying is the part that actually makes or breaks you

Anyone can open a store. Buying is what decides whether it survives. Get it right and your stock sells itself — customers feel like you read their mind. Get it wrong and you're the one staring at markdown racks six months later, wondering where it went sideways.

It's not really about taste. It's about reading your customer properly, buying to a plan instead of buying on excitement, and knowing your numbers well enough that instinct and instinct alone never has the final say.

Why I started sharing what I know

I didn't set out to mentor anyone. It started with other business owners asking questions, and me realising I actually had real, hard-won answers — not textbook ones.

Now it's something I want to build properly: one-on-one advisory sessions for retailers who are where I once was — figuring out ranges, working out how much to commit to a season, or just wanting a second, experienced set of eyes before they place an order.

Who this is for

If you're a small retailer feeling like you're buying on gut feel alone, second-guessing every order, or just wish you had someone who's actually done it — not theorised about it — to talk it through with, this is exactly the kind of thing I want to help with.

Let's talk

If this sounds like something you need, get in touch — I'd love to hear where you're at and see if I can help.

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