New Vision 2014
This event is freshly updated with NEW material not heard at the previous
session
Your company will benefit most if two or more people from your firm attend
New Vision Forum to build a firmly committed core team of “Like-Minded”
people who will confidently embrace the opportunities and tackle the
challenges facing your company in the very near future.
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Small businesses in continue to face monumental challenges, with even
greater ones arising over the horizon than most of them see coming. The
future is one where those who do see how they will thrive in the future are
unprepared to either capitalize on or hide from it. Our future is limited by
extreme competition including, not limited to Big Boxes or Online Sellers.
We all face a limited ability to leverage resources that big businesses
confidently and routinely scale, as well as the frightening and rapidly
changing Internet economy. Beyond these obstacles are the mental and
emotional challenges to our courage, imagination, hope, financial abilities,
and perhaps most important — adapting our business cultures to compete
for consumer interest and attention in the new marketplace.
What does this all mean? This means that every independent garden
center or farm shop has to honestly and vigorously assess what they are
doing for the consumer, and how they are doing business. More
importantly, we must each identify and act on the particular and specific
opportunities unique to each situation whether more limited or expanded.
What are they? What will you do with them? How will you overcome your
unique adversities?
Imagine NOW that a select group limited to only 35 independent garden
retailers, brought together by two thought leaders – to walk with you as you
explore and exploit the future of the garden industry in a unique forum. This
is a forum designed to help retailers discover together a NEW Vision —
and a new path to the future. They will develop new strategies for their
businesses. Imagine you are among them. Or imagine you are not.
Being with a group of retailers is infectious, only when you are with the best
(not just the biggest) among them can you really become better as an
individual business person or business.
This workshop IS limited to 35 decision makers in the industry. YOU WILL
NEED TO DECIDE TO ATTEND NOW.
The NEW VISION FORUM has been designed as a two-day event for
developing opportunities and ideas into strategies, objectives, and plans.
This format ensures that you and your business are moving in the right
direction to both protect the future and growth of your business in 2014 and
beyond.
What are the Objectives?
• Learn trends, ideas, and proven practical solutions from two of the world’s
leading garden retail thought leaders.
• Freethinking –away from tradeshows, vendors, and other distractions.
• Leverage the unlimited mind power as we “work the room”.
• Uncover hidden opportunities and discover new and unnoticed ones.
• Challenge status quo and incremental improvement that are the
immediate limiting factor given the certainty of challenges we face.
• Empower and enable companies to develop their business to be part of
the future local-owned, independent garden industry.
• Develop strategies amongst a group of leading retailers to develop each
business to be “in the present” with the new economy, and prepared for the
one to come.
New Vision Forum - Your Business, Your Industry, Your Decade
Those who PLAN to stay on will enjoy a bonus half day of open forum
continued casual brainstorming and discussion with John and Sid. .
Forum Format
The group will focus on specific subjects. Group meetings to develop
strategies and outcomes will follow a presentation.
Each presenter will present for around 40 minutes on the subject and then
50 minute group session and 30 minute presentation from the groups will
maximize the free thinking objective of your two days.
Why Now Is the time
The next three to five years is a period of rapid change coming to retail. In
fact, one recent retail report proposed that retailing will change more in the
next five years than the last 100 years. The number of truly independent
garden outlets is decreasing around America with more to go soon, and the
question is will the garden center as we know it today survive or will it go
the same way as many independent bookshops?
The answer is “No”, they will not survive in the present format. The industry
will have to change if it is to be relevant in the future market place. The only
question about the future of your garden centre, if it is to remain, is to
define how it must look, how it will operate, and how you will take it there.
A meeting like this of forward thinking independent garden centre leaders is
to develop ideas and strategies that need to be introduced and executed
with precision to ensure a profitable survival of the independent garden
retailer that really matters - yours.
The presenters constantly research the garden and farm industry in the
USA and worldwide. They have a global perspective and will come up with
concepts during the meeting that will provide strategic direction for the
future. Some of the ideas and conclusions they have reached are similar to
the developments happening in other industries.
1. There will be Polarization - The middle market will shrink. This means
that “me too” garden businesses will not survive the decade and as a result
there will be more developed “niche” businesses.
2. Globalization - This has already occurred. On a recent visit to garden
centers in China, John Stanley saw plants from Italy and pots from
Germany. The industry will continue to see globalization occur, even as it
develops local niche markets.
3. Retailing will not be about retailing in the next decade. - One of the
biggest challenges garden centre retailers will face is that to be successful
they will have to learn new skills and partner with suppliers. Social media
communications and online marketing is just one area where new skills will
have to be learned. But, consumers will go to companies that “Out Teach”
rather than “Out Sell” the competition.
4. A Market of Young and Young Thinking Consumers - We may be seeing
an increase in retired Baby Boomers in the next decade, but they are
planning to stay forever young and that is a huge opportunity for the garden
sector. At the same time the Gen Y‘s are beginning to buy homes and
developing gardens, yet the existing retail model confuses them. New retail
models will need to be developed for both these sectors.
5. Small is Beautiful - Many gardens around the worlds are becoming
smaller and consumers want to use them in different ways. The successful
businesses will need to get into the brain of new consumers. John
Stanley’s White Paper, which will be introduced at the meetings, provides
insights into how consumers are going to shop for garden products in the
coming years.
6. "Experience Retail" will be a place to visit. John has been involved with
the “Holes Wellbeing Centre” in Alberta Canada. Holes is a garden retailer
who has already started to make the changes that are needed in the new
decade. Holes is a business that provides consumers with ideas and
solutions rather than products. The key is the core lifestyle focus where
categories complement each other that are scaled to the local market.
John Stanley
John Stanley has a Master of Science degree from Essex University and
taught retail management for ten years at Merrist Wood College in
Guildford, England. In 1976 John won the Nuffield Scholarship to study
marketing in the USA. It was on that study tour that John became aware
there was a need for someone who could interpret broad international
trends to help businesses worldwide adapt to changing economic and
political situations. By focusing and capitalising on the opportunities that
change presents, John has ensured his clients expand their markets and
grow their organisations. John's experience covers 35 countries and he
works with garden centres, farmers’ markets, visitor centres, nurseries and
other retail establishments.
John has the uncanny ability to assimilate international political, economic
and consumer lifestyle trends, translate the macro to create appropriate
strategies relevant to the local conditions and culture of his clients. This
skill maximises the opportunities for his clients that changing environments
present. John's retail talent is obvious in his best selling retail management
books Just About Everything a Retail Manager Needs to Know, Setting Up
Shop and Think FOR Your Customer.
John Stanley's winning ideas in consultancy and charismatic presentations
are reflected in the huge successes achieved by his many globally diverse
clients. John is now one of the most sought-after conference speakers on
the planet.
Professional qualifications
• Master of Science (Horticulture) Essex University, UK
• Competency Based Training Certificate (IV)
• Workplace Assessor Category (III)
• Train the Trainer Certificate UK
• Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) Australia
• 2012 WA Small Business exporter of the year