Industry standards show that a company should aim for at least 51% of their procurement spending to be with diverse suppliers to achieve meaningful supplier diversity.
This means that businesses are at least 51% owned and operated by individuals from underrepresented groups like women, minorities, veterans, or people with disabilities; however, data shows that companies aren’t holding up their end of the bargain, particularly after the Supreme Court rolled back Affirmative Action in 2023.
With this, already struggling Black-owned retail businesses are facing even more challenges staying on shelves, staying in the black and staying on customers’ minds.
Tina Wells, a retail business coach that has worked with the Oprah Winfrey brand and Target among many other companies, has long recognized the gaps that need to be filled for Black businesses to succeed in the retail sector. She spills all the secrets in her latest book The Retail Business Blueprint, and she also shared a few with ESSENCE.
Don’t be afraid of a down market.
We’re navigating a new presidential administration which means corporations are financially leery, which could affect small businesses. The world is also still dealing with the effects of high inflation. Scary stuff—but Wells wants retail business owners to think about these challenges from a different POV.
“I’m a founder who thrived in down markets,” she tells ESSENCE. “I remember in 2008 when there was a huge crash, and that’s when my influencer marketing business really took off. I think small businesses are nimble. They know how to adjust and react, and those are strengths when you’re in times like these. She mentions that successful brands like Thirteen Lune are falling behind.
“Tough capital markets are forcing companies to downsize and restructure because they can’t have all access to the money they need. It may be time to rely on the resources you do have,” she says.
According to Harvard Business Review, businesses aiming to save themselves during a down market may need to look at strategies like optimizing market intelligence, segmentation, and sales coverage models. “We commonly find latent opportunities to clean up sales coverage and account management to bring them better into line with changing market conditions or segments,” the publication writes. “For example, one top media company reconfigured its global revenue organization to focus its resources on the biggest and most profitable customer segments in each market. And one medical device company switched its sales coverage model from territories to channels after analysis showed that the latter would be more efficient. The result of actions like these is an injection of energy and drive into a sales force that can pursue growth more effectively.”
Try to understand how retailers work
It’s common knowledge that it can sometimes be an arduous process getting products on a big box retailer shelves. But what most don’t acknowledge is that it’s just as hard keeping them on the shelf once they get there. Wells says it’s essential to learn what retailers want to stay in the position you want to be in.
“It’s really important to fundamentally understand how these retailers operate because you don’t want to get on a call with a buyer and have to ask a question that you could know the answer to. I would often try to find time with a buyer to connect because I wanted to know what was happening in their store. What’s selling? What’s not?
Before she leaned into coaching other retail businesses full time, Wells had her own brand, WNDR LN, a travel accessory line, in Target stores nationwide.
“Ahead of making even one suitcase, I asked, ‘what are your number one color sellers? How do I give you an alternative?’ You want to use your time with buyers to ask those questions about what’s working in your store today, not how does your store work? Grab their annual report and understand how their business works, understand their priorities. I could tell you from reading Target’s annual report, from reading their quarterly reports, that wellness was becoming that they wanted to do more business with small businesses focused on wellness, those businesses should be reading that, too. And that’s what I focused on.”
Educate yourself on tariffs and prepare for what’s next
President-elect Donald Trump has proposed a tariff on goods from China that could be 60 percent to 100 percent—and a tariff of up to 20 percent on everything else the United States imports according to reports.
That means that items could be more expensive for buyers and sellers in the next few years or sooner. Wells says there are ways to navigate this change, though.
“The first thing is you need to know the category in which your goods are sold,” she tells ESSENE. There are different tariffs. Sit down and understand how everything you’re making is classified right now and what the current tariffs are. The next thing you need to understand is any situation going on around your freight cost. What I mean by that, if there’s an oil spill, or a war somewhere in the world, what are the trade routes that your goods are using to make it to the US?”
She adds: “We’re just about to approach Chinese New Year, so that means there’s no goods that are going to be made for about a month. So that means stocking up on as many supplies and items you need before they close down operations. I’d advise the same for whoever is reading this, especially as this administration nears closer to enforcing tariffs. The information is there–use it to your advantage.”