The Business Value Blueprint: Mastering the 6 Ps of Retail Success

What is your business worth? For many footwear retailers, the answer isn’t clear. In this episode of The Footwear Retailer Podcast, Pete Mohr introduces the Business Value Blueprint, a practical framework to align your operations, grow profitably, and build a legacy. Discover the 6 Ps of Retail Success—Promise, Product, Process, People, Promotion, and Profit—and how they connect with the CMA Leadership Core of communication, management, and accountability.

Key Topics Covered:
• Why top-line growth doesn’t guarantee value
• The operational pillars every retailer must master
• Practical steps to start improving your business today

Actionable Takeaways:

1. Assess your business’s weakest link among the 6 Ps and commit to improving it.
2. Reflect on your communication, management, and accountability practices as a leader.

Links & Resources Mentioned:
• ExitReadyBusiness.com – Take the Value Builder Assessment
• @TheFootwearRetailer – Follow us on Instagram
• TheFootwearRetailer.com – Explore more resources

P.S. Not sure what your business is really worth? Reply to this email, and I’ll share how the Business Value Blueprint can help you grow profitably and build a lasting legacy. 

PLUS: Whenever you're ready, here are 3 ways I can help you move from the Operator’s seat to the Owner’s seat in your business:

1. Take the Value Builder Assessment to better understand the areas of your business that add the most value to your business - Click Here

2. Uncover your Kolbe. Whether just for you, or for your full team, better understand leadership strengths and ways you can advance your People - Click Here.

3. Listen my other podcast Business Owner Breakthrough podcast as well for quick tools and tips - Click Here

Transcript

0:00

So here's a quick question for you. Do you know what your house is worth? Chances are you've got a pretty good idea. You've checked the market trends, maybe spoken to a realtor. You're confident in the number. Let me ask you this. Do you know what your business is worth? As a certified exit planner? It's one of the questions that I find troubles a lot of small business owners. Because most small business owners, the answer is a resounding no. And that's a problem. Because for so many of us, our business isn't just our job. It's one, if not the biggest investments in our portfolio. We pour our time and our money and our energy into it. Yet we rarely stop to ask, am I building value in my business? And is my business worth more this year than it was last year? That's why I created the Business Value Blueprint. It's really to give you a clear, practical model. It's not only around growing your business. It's for building value in it. Because here's the truth. Top line growth doesn't always mean increased values. I know you know this, but I'm saying it again anyway, because you can be running faster, selling more, still not building the asset that serves you long term. And today, I'm going to walk you through the Business Value Blueprint. The model isn't just just a tool. It's really a lens to look at your business through. We're going to talk about the CMA Leadership core, which are three essential leadership skills that every owner needs. We're going to dig into the six Ps, which are the six operational pillars that keep your business strong. And most importantly, we'll talk about how it connects back to you, the business owner. So let's dive in. Because at the very center of the Business Value Blueprint is you. It's the business owner. And the Business Value Blueprint is really kind of an elegant model model. It's a Venn diagram, essentially, with the two circles at the top and one at the bottom looks like a heart. And essentially at the very heart of that model is you, the business owner. And you might be thinking, why me? Shouldn't it be my customers or maybe my team at the center of the diagram? Well, here's why. Your business can only grow as far as you're willing to grow. The decisions that you make and the leadership that you bring and the clarity that you have around your vision, your mission, your purpose, your promise, all of it radiates onward and impacts everything else. And your business isn't just a machine that runs itself. It's a reflection of your ability to lead and to communicate and to execute. And here's the thing. It isn't about being perfect. It's about having a framework, a blueprint essentially, that keeps you focused on what matters the most. And at the center of this model is you. Because without the clarity and confidence at your core, the rest of the structure starts to crumble. So as we unpacked the business value blueprint, because we're going to talk about it throughout this series, keep in mind that everything starts with you. So let's dig into the cma, the leadership core. Because at the heart of leading a successful business, there are three essential leadership skills. The first one is communication. The second one is managing. And the third one is accountability. It's what I call the CMA leadership corps. And let's break these down one by one, because this is all about you and how you operate your business. So number one is communication. It really isn't just about talking. It's about being heard and understood. And as the business owner, your ability to communicate, the vision, your expectations, the promise, your goals, shapes your entire team's success. You can't always be there. Think about your last team meeting. Did everyone leave the room crystal clear with their responsibilities? Or did you find yourself repeating instructions later because something was missed? Are you even having team meetings? I mean, that's a big part of communication right there. Here's a simple exercise. Ask one of your team members what's the most important thing you're responsible for this week? If they hesitate or they really just don't get it, or maybe they get it even wrong, you might have a communication gap, a leadership gap. When communication works and your team feels confident, your customers feel valued, and you reduce daily friction. We can only make so many business decisions every day. As the leader of our business, sooner or later, other people have to start making business decisions for us. And that's where the management comes in, right? Management often gets a bad rap because people equate it to micromanagement from a small business perspective. But in reality, effective management is about alignment and oversight. And it's not about doing everyone's job for them. It's about creating systems and structures that ensure everyone can do their job well. Here's a little quick check in. Are your team members clear on how they achieve their goals? Do they have the tools, the resources, and the structures to deliver on their tasks consistently? If they don't, you got some work to do. Great. Management really feels like Guidance. It's not about control, it's about creating a rhythm. Weekly check ins, monthly reviews, annual planning processes to keep everything moving in the right direction, following and honing in on your promise. And the last piece is that accountability. And it's where so many small business owners mess up. Quite honestly, I don't see a lot of accountability out there. They don't know how to align and assign accountability. They don't know why things aren't happening the way they should. It's not about finger pointing, it's about ownership. And when accountability is strong in your business, your team steps up, takes responsibility, follows through in their promises. And let's be honest, it starts with you, the business owner. If you're not holding yourself accountable to the goals you've set, why would your team? Here's an actionable thought and remember, this show is all around actionable thoughts and things that you can do to improve your business. And at the end of each week, ask yourself, did I follow through on my commitments that I've made to my team and my business this week? I like to do this sort of on a Sunday where I'm thinking about the week and planning for my week ahead. And if I missed one, then it's like, okay, I got to get it in for next week. Right? The accountability is built into the culture. Problems don't just get swept under the rug. And the results aren't just hoped for, they're actually delivered. That's where things start to really come true. Right? As I mentioned, it's a Venn diagram. So there's some overlap between communication, management and accountability where those circles intersect. So I want to talk a little bit about that because it's really what the podcast is about. Because when communication and accountability overlap, you get alignment. Everyone understands their role and owns their responsibilities. And when communication and management overlap, you get guidance, clear direction, no confusion, clarity. Right. And when management and accountability overlap, you get execution without your involvement. Tasks get done, results happen, and promises are kept. It's that CMA leadership core. It isn't really just theory. It's a set of skills that you can practice every single day. And it's something you should be honing every week, month and year and working on as leader of your business. The next piece are the six key pillars for every operational piece of your business. And they aren't just buzzwords. They're areas you must focus on to build long term value and success. And it's the only way that you'll get to more freedom as the business owner. If you don't want to open the door every day if you don't want to close the door every night if you don't want to make every buying decision, if you don't want to serve every customer. So let's walk through them each, one by one, and we'll dig a little bit into why this matters for you as a footwear retailer. Remember, a lot of this is what the whole podcast is about and who we're when we're going to bring in interviews and all sorts of different people, whether it's retailers, whether it's all of the outsourced partners that are helping deliver your promise. All of this is around the CMA and the 6Ps. So let's walk through the 6Ps together. I've just added one of these Ps. So the 6Ps we're going to dig into now are the operational pillars of your business. And they aren't just buzzwords, they're areas that you must focus on in order to build that long term value and success and to give you your freedom. Let's walk through each one and dig into why it matters for you as the footwear retailer. So number one is the promise. It's a little different from vision and mission. It's part of your guiding principles, but the promise is really outwardly facing. It's the thing that you're yelling from the rooftops. It's the thing that really is delivering the transformation for your customers. Because remember this, people will only spend money when they see a better life or when they feel they're going to have a better life from what they spend their doll on. So your promise really is the transformation that you deliver to your customers. It's not just about selling shoes, it's about solving a problem. Are you helping your customers find comfort, Better performance? Maybe it's style, maybe it's confidence. I know at Shootopia, our promise is look great and feel fantastic. That's how we bring everything that we do from Shootopia's perspective. When your promise is clear, your customers know why they should buy from you instead of someone else. And I'll have a little aside here around our promise at Utopia because we've narrowed it down to ooh ah and aha. And when we've the customers come in and we've greeted them and we've, you know, had our conversations and we've had proper questioning and gone through everything that they're looking for and understand the reasons why they came in, our goal is to provide the Ooh, the ah and the aha. And how we do that is when we get them in front of the mirror, we ask them how do they look? And if they give us the answer, ooh, they look pretty good. And then we ask them how do they feel? And if you. They take that deep breath, right, you've seen it and you've heard it. It's like those feel fantastic. Well, that's when we know we've delivered our promise to this customer because we want them to look great and feel fantastic. Not or feel fantastic. It's look great and feel fantast. We want them looking as good as they possibly can. Feeling as good as they possibly can so that we're taking them on their next 10k run, or maybe we're taking them out to their daughter's wedding, or maybe we're taking them to school or to work, wherever the case is. But if we have delivered the ooh and the ah, then we have the aha. And the aha is. Shootopia is my favorite shoe store. So this is the idea around the promise. So whether you want to use a promise, something like I use, but the idea is you want to make sure that everybody in your business knows, internally and externally, what it is you do, why you do it, because it really ends up being a slogan. It's that thing that you want every customer to say when they have completed their purchase and they're kind of looking back at your sign and saying, you know, that's my favorite shoe store. If your team doesn't know your promise, or worse, if your customers can't feel it and don't understand it, then it's time to revisit this foundational pillar. And sometimes it needs to be updated. If it's 70 years old, 50 years old, 30 years old, maybe your store has changed a little bit since it was first arrived. Maybe it's time for a refresh of your promise. Number two is your product, and it's how you deliver on your promise. Of course, in footwear retail, it's not just about having the shoes on the shelves. It's about having the right shoes for the right customers. And part of our product is the service delivery of proper fit and all of that other stuff too. But do your product selections match your promise? If you're in family footwear and you're talking about family footwear, and I'll just use an example of our store. When we bought our shoe, our first shoe store, it had a great big picture on the logo of kids, of kids shoe yet they didn't sell kids shoes. It was a mismatch of the promise. And right off the bat we changed the logo because I'm like, well we don't sell kids shoes yet on our logo we have a kid's shoe. So are you stocking what your customers actually want? Are you delivering on that promise? Your product mix needs to align with your promise. And if you promise high performance running shoes and your shelves shouldn't be dominated by casual slip ons, right? A strong product pillar ensures that you're never overstocked or understocked or out of alignment with your customers expectations. I know that's hard to achieve, but we're always trying to perfect that as much as we can through our process. And process is number three. It's the engine that keeps your business running smoothly. Do you have systems in place for inventory management, customer service, team training? Are all of these processes documented, repeatable and understood by your team? Or are they all in your own head? Because that's where they've always been. Here's a little reality check. If you had to step away from your store for a week, or maybe a month or maybe more, would everything continue to run without you? Processes should reduce chaos, not add to it. And if your processes aren't clear and your team will rely on guesswork, and you know that, that's when things really start to fall apart. And number four is the team, right? The people. But I break down the people into three different areas. One is your ideal customer, one is your ideal teammate, and one is your ideal outsourced suppliers. All of the other people that help you deliver your promise, right? Your people bring your promise, product and process to life. In retail, your team isn't just there to stock the shelves. They're there to create experiences. They're the face behind your brand and the stewards of your promise. And ask yourself, do I have the right people in the right roles? Am I investing in their growth and their training? You can't build a great business without the great people. You can't build a great business with wrong people, right? The right people aligned with your vision can transform the store from just another shoe store to a must visit destination. And when you align your ideal customer and all of your other ideal suppliers to that that people portion is such a big piece of building value into your business. Number five is promotion. Your promotion is of course how you communicate your promise to the world. It's your marketing, your social media, your window displays, the conversations your team have with their customers, the conversations that your customers have outside of your store with each here's the key. Promotion isn't just about yelling louder. It's about speaking clearer. Ask yourself, do my marketing messages align with my promise? Am I reaching my ideal customers where they already are effective promotion isn't about spending more. It's about connecting better. And number six is the profit. And finally, we have profit. It's the outcome of getting the other five P's in alignment. Profit isn't just money in the bank. It's really the oxygen of your business. It allows you to invest in your team, it allows you to improve your store and most importantly, take care of yourself and your family. I encourage you to ask yourself, am I consistently hitting my profit targets? Do I have profit targets? Do I understand where my profits are coming from and where they're being eroded? Profit is not a dirty word. It's the result of running a healthy, well aligned business. These six pillars aren't just silos, they're deeply connected. If your promise isn't clear, your products won't land. If your process is broken, your people can't do their job. If the promotion doesn't align with your promise, you will attract the wrong customers. Each of these pillars really supports each other and becomes the foundation for long term business value. When paired with the cma, the leadership core, the six pillars really give you a roadmap for building not just a profitable business, but a sustainable one. And here's the bottom line. Your business is one of your biggest investments. It's not just a job, it's an asset. Like any other valuable asset, it deserves your attention, your intention and a clear plan to grow its worth. That's what the business value blueprint is all about. At the center is you, the business owner. Because the leadership starts with you. Surrounding you are the CMA leadership core. The communication, the management, the accountability, your leadership toolkit and supporting everything are those six Ps the promise, the product process, people, promotion and profit. The pillars to your business. It isn't about running faster, working harder or chasing top line growth. It's about working smarter, aligning your efforts and building long term value in your business. It starts with small intentional steps. People always say, what do I, where do I start? It starts with the low hanging fruit, the small processes, turning on the lights, vacuuming. It starts with those kind of things so that you can build this along the way. And it does take time. So here's your action items for this episode. Take 10 minutes today to reflect on these two questions. 1. Do I know the current value of my business. And if you don't, well, I can help you with that. I am a certified exit planner. Along with being a footwear retailer, half of my time I spend coaching business owners and working through these sort of things. But just go over to the exitready business.com which is my site over there, and take the value builder assessment and we'll have a chat around that. Number two is which of the six pillars the promise, the product, the process, people, promotion or profit feels like the weakest link in your business right now. Write down one specific action that you can take this week to improve that area. Maybe it's having a clearer conversation with your team about expectations. Maybe it's reviewing your product mix. Whatever it is, make it a small, achievable and intentional result. Because building value isn't about one big moment. It's a series of small steps, micro steps, deliberate actions taken over consistent time. Your business could very well be your biggest investment. Build it wisely. Thanks for joining me today on the Footwear Retailer. If you found value in this episode, share it with a fellow business owner, a fellow retailer and subscribe so you don't miss what's coming out next. Keep building, keep leading and keep creating value. Now go and make it a great day.