What’s your Olympic Legacy?

London 2012 is over and what a feast it provided.

The Games were stunning from the spectacular opening ceremony all the way to the Great British party at the end, with a hugely successful 65 medals inbetween. But what can independent retailers take from this?

Before the Olympics started I didn’t expect the magnificent delivery, so the first lesson I picked up was to under promise and over deliver.

The second – without hard work and coming together as a team, you will not succeed.

But the biggest lesson for me came from the Velodrome when a former Team GB cyclist explained why Sir Chris Hoy, Victoria Pendleton, Laura Trott and the other incredible members of the cycling team have achieved huge success. He said it is about focusing on every small detail and looking for a 1% gain – because a 1% gain across every detail gives a huge result overall.

For a retailer this message is equally applicable. There are no doubt many small improvements that can be applied to your business. If you can get a 1% improvement across all of these areas you can move your business forward.

When was the last time you looked at your range or merchandising? Do you provide more facings for your top sellers? Does your pricing match today’s market? Have you got too much stock or too little? Do you have EPoS and more importantly, do you get the most out of your system? Do you train your staff and do they really understand what you expect from them? Is your marketing up to scratch?

Taking a systematic review of every small detail of your business and aiming to achieve at least a 1% improvement across all of them will lead to a fantastic Olympic legacy.