Two Years of Shop Thoughts

It’s hard to believe, but it’s now been two years since we opened our doors on Green Street in the heart of Dingle town. Honestly it feels more like two weeks because the time has absolutely flown by. This week, we’ve been reflecting on our journey so far, and what better way to share our thoughts than by putting two years of shop experiences down on paper!

Building a Winning Team

Some people may or may not know, but Shane and I started Outwest with zero retail experience between us. We threw ourselves into the deep end because we had no other choice. At the time, we couldn't afford or risk hiring someone to help, so for the first 8 months we did everything ourselves. In hindsight, I'm so glad we did it that way. We learned quickly about all things retail. We met and built relationships with every single person who walked through the door. We gained first hand feedback on quality, fit, and branding. We started building the community that is still with us today.

In March 2023, when we had saved enough to hire our first employee, we struck gold with Ciúin. She not only relieved some pressure from Shane and me, allowing us to focus on the behind-the-scenes aspects of the business, but she also became a crucial part of the team very quickly with her knowledge and experience. Our team of three expanded to four in March 2024 when we needed more help in-store. Roisin joined us as a Retail Assistant, followed by Michelle as Marketing Manager in June 2024.

Over the past two years, Shane and I have learned a lot about the kind of bosses we want to be. Here are a few key points we've picked up along the way:

• Flexibility and Freedom
  As a startup, you might not be able to offer the highest salaries, but you can provide flexibility in work schedules. Move mountains to give people the days off they request. Shane and I understand that Outwest is our life—we eat, sleep, and breathe it—but we don’t expect our employees to do the same.
  
  
• Lead by Example
  An old boss once told me, “If I wasn’t willing to do it, I would never ask you to.” That stuck with me.
  
  
• Team Culture
  Life at a startup means working in multiple roles. Another boss of mine once said, “Hire someone you wouldn’t mind being stuck in a lift with.” It made so much sense when I started hiring my own staff. It’s not about hiring people like you, but people who share your values and bring diverse knowledge and experience. They add so much more to the company than a carbon copy of the founders would.

Take the Time to Talk 

It’s incredible what you can learn by simply taking the time to talk. At Outwest, we make it a key principle to always speak to our customers about something other than their transactions. Simple questions like “Where are you from?” or "What brings you to Dingle?" can lead to unexpected opportunities. We’ve received advice from CEOs of huge companies, opened up new business leads in Ireland, Europe and the USA, and heard incredible stories. Most importantly, we’ve built a community of people who are interested in what we’re building at Outwest and whose achievements we are also excited about.

Expect Challenges

No matter how much you can try to control things, something will always go wrong. Running a business is like fighting fires all day. Sometimes it’s small issues like the Wi-Fi crashing or a wrong order sent to a customer. Other times, it’s bigger issues like quality stock problems or Christmas stock arriving on December 23rd. Here’s what I’ve learned:

The only problems that can’t be solved are death and taxes. So, breathe, look at the issue, and write down potential solutions. Shane often steps in here as I’m usually having a small panic attack in the corner.

Human error is okay. No one is maliciously or trying to hurt your business. Mistakes happen both within our team and with external partners. If we were perfect, there would be no room to improve and learn. Learning can be expensive, but it happens to everyone from small businesses to large corporations. Cut yourself some slack.

Managing Stock

This has been our hardest challenge as a team. As a growing business, ensuring we order the right amount of stock in the right sizes is a constant struggle. I wish there was a perfect formula, but while data helps, last year's data often becomes irrelevant when ordering for the next season. We’re always learning and trying to close the timeline gap in reordering. At Outwest, quality is everything, and sometimes that can’t be rushed.

Retail is dead….NOT

We’re so happy to share our thoughts on this one! Our retail store in Dingle is the heartbeat of everything we do. Throughout the pandemic we saw brands and companies in our space shift a very heavy focus to online strategies, which of course was the natural thing to do. Very early on in our Outwest journey we were told to focus on online and that maybe opening a brick and mortar retail shop might not be the best move so early. But we’re so glad we listened to our gut and decided to do the opposite. From the very first day of opening the doors of our shop on Green Street we’ve met some incredible people, had some inspiring conversations & really grown our brand in a unique and authentic way. We love nothing more than sharing our story, explaining what motivates us & our goals for the future with real people.

Ironically, our retail shop has aided in our online growth, too. We're seeing our customers stay in touch with us on social media and following our emails and blogs. We're even seeing them pick up the items they got in the shop on Green Street, maybe in different colours and styles, even sharing the good word through gifting to others. Likewise, people have seen us online and it’s driven them into store. This really goes to show how online and in person experiences can live together in perfect harmony, but for us you can’t have one without the other. In our opinion, retail ain’t dead. Far from it for us anyway! 

Dream Big 

Something that we’ve been able to do since day one! Being honest, our long term goals have changed and are certainly much bigger now from when we were just starting off. However, in order to achieve those big goals down the line we aim to keep doing the basics well. Our goal is not to become the biggest business or company in our industry, but what our long term goal is, is to be one of the very best.

So this evening, we’re taking a moment to reflect on the past two years and marking the occasion as a team we're heading out for pizza. Lastly, we wanted to say thank you to you all for supporting us and being a part of our journey. We’re so grateful for the community we've built and the lessons we've learned. It’s enabled us to grow beyond our expectations and wouldn’t have been possible without our team and our customers.

Here's to many more years to come!

Bec & Shane