Identity. Notes from a small business. Day 5422.

As our partners break for the Chinese New celebrations and we welcome in the year of the Wood Dragon, I am reminded of the main characteristic that I have long admired in our Chinese colleagues. Their sense of identity. The depth in their historic belief system of the natural order of things can sometimes come with a sceptical view of our more fluid western beliefs. It is nonetheless refreshing how it informs much of their thinking and planning, both in life and in business. Brands venturing into the Chinese marketplace more often than not, need to localize their offer to speak to this very different populace on their terms. Failure to do so can be failure to be relevant.

It is this thought of identity that leads me to reflect on the UK. On our identity struggle that is played out through almost every touch point in our lives. From listening to an aging congregation sing century old hymns at Christmas, to watching our government manipulate our own legal system to legitimise the re-routing of migrants to Rwanda. A fair-minded nation built on the principle of helping thy neighbour, or a nation living in fear, urgently trying to close the doors to outsiders.

Protect the status quo or embrace new possibilities? Be a modern all-embracing cosmopolitan country or hide behind our cultural net curtains, twitching them nervously at the gender, racial and political movements that we do not recognise outside? Stick or twist. What does it mean today to be British and are we still allowed to be proud of it?

This identity crisis transcends to businesses based in the UK. From an awkward relationship with our EU neighbours (I notice that many EU based online stores no longer offer UK shipping, we do not even feature in the drop-down box…) to a wider confusion on who they are as a retailer and what is their identity? Why is it that what worked 5, 10, 15 years ago is no longer successful? What is their product handwriting supposed to be today? Where is that sure-footedness of yesterday when they spoke, and their customer listened?

There are multiple factors as to why certain brands lost their way and many don’t exist any longer; the explosion of the online guerrilla brand in their tens of thousands (anyone can make a brand now — overnight) to the arrival of supermarkets on the fashion scene a few years ago, selling clothing and footwear as commodities at eye watering prices, to the cultural meltdown of Covid, a ten year cycle into the athletic-leisure trend condensed into one year. And the meteoric rise of a Spanish fashion giant, bringing cleaner, more urbane looks to the UK high street. Or just the good old-fashioned story of a greedy owner gutting a heritage UK business of all its reserves to leave a brittle shell that just crumpled as the lockdowns kicked in, like a house of cards.

Those retailers that survived Covid, Energy crisis, Wars and their drawn-out aftereffects reacted in a variety of different ways. The most successful of which involved asking ‘What are we good at? What do we do best? And who is our customer?’ and they doubled down on it. Whether it be their product handwriting, their online offering, their brand mix or their customer service they recognised each part that had contributed to their growth, that identified them as who they were and what their brand stood for. They then either updated it, modernised it or expanded it, but they never abandoned it because it was their brand’s DNA, their core identity.

Others saw only threat from things outside their window that they did not recognise and they either froze and lost their conviction or, far more damagingly, they tried to mimic others. They abandoned what made them who they were, their product handwriting, their voice, their process, their uniqueness and ultimately, by default, their customer.

Some retailers simply got found out by a savvy consumer, having served up average product for years, the now super-discerning, review-driven customer had a myriad of choice and archaic buying practices simply did not cut it any longer. Add-in a pandemic and mountains of grey stock could no longer be sold to unassuming punters.

In today’s ultra-competitive market, we all must be smarter and to do what we do best, better. Which brings me to our checklist for 2024.

1. Employ great people. Remember every day that your team reflect your business to the world. Hire capable and skilful people with a high work ethic and a natural integrity. But above all, hire people whom you like and whom your customer will like.

2. Know your customer (in our case, know your customer’s customer) because if you only have a vague idea of who you are selling to then how do you develop your product in a laser focused way to suit them?

3. Build your brand’s DNA handwriting into every single one of your products — your objective is for your product to be recognisable as belonging to your brand at a glance. If not, then why would a customer not just buy that look for half the price on Amazon?

4. Don’t be a slave to trend. Being on trend and being a slave to trend are very different. Pick only the trends and movements that suit your brand and intertwine them and experiment with them. If you don’t like it, just because it is splashed all over social media and being worn by every super-hot someone, doesn’t necessarily mean it is right for your brand.

5. Product is King. You get out what you put in to it, so pay close attention to the details. Customers can see a lazy piece of design a mile-off, people appreciate design detailing, and they expect a brand to surprise and delight them. Otherwise, if it is all about price they will just go to the lowest bidder.

6. People still buy from people. We don’t think this is an outdated concept. Sure, you might not be handing your money over at a counter that often anymore (especially not actual ‘cash’) but customers want a connection, whether it is your staff, your product messaging or just your online tone, they want to hear your voice.

If we can embrace these points from a supplier perspective, then we believe that we can continue to offer an invaluable service to our customers into 2024. And if we can offer the above AND start to increase our use of sustainable materials throughout the coming year, then we will be on a good path.