Stop Collecting Ideas and Start Doing Them: The Top Three Method

You probably don't need any more ideas.

You need to do three of the ones you've already got.

I think that's true for most independent retailers.

We know there are things we could improve. In fact, if you gave most shop owners ten minutes and a piece of paper, they could probably come up with twenty things without trying too hard.

The problem isn't having ideas.

It's getting around to doing them.

Start an ideas bank

I'm a big believer in having somewhere to capture ideas.

Because otherwise they disappear.

You notice something while you're serving a customer. You think of something while driving home. A member of the team makes a good suggestion.

You think, “That's a good idea. We should do that.”

And then the phone rings.

Someone doesn't turn up for work.

A delivery arrives.

And three weeks later, nothing has happened.

So have somewhere to capture those thoughts.

It doesn't need to be complicated. A notebook, a board in the office or a simple document on your computer will do.

The important thing is getting the idea out of your head and into your ideas bank.

Take ten minutes on your shop floor

Here's the practical exercise.

Walk around your shop with a piece of paper and look for all those little things you've been meaning to sort.

It might be:

• The faded sign you've stopped noticing

• Old Post-its still sitting on the jobs board

• A product that needs a better ticket

• A display you've been meaning to change

• A shelf that's slowly become a dumping ground

• A question customers regularly ask that could be answered with a simple sign

• That little repair you've walked past twenty times thinking, “I must get that sorted.”

Don't worry about prioritising anything yet.

Just write it down.

You might end up with five things.

You might end up with thirty.

That's your ideas bank.

And there's nothing wrong with having a long ideas bank.

The mistake is turning it into a long to-do list.

Now pick your Top Three

This is where the exercise changes.

Look at everything you've written down and choose just three.

Not the three easiest necessarily.

Choose the three things that you think would make the biggest useful difference to your business right now.

Write them somewhere separately.

These are your Top Three.

And then comes the most important part.

Do number one.

Today.

Not when things quieten down.

Not next month.

Not when you've finally cleared everything else from your list.

Today.

If it's a new price ticket, make it.

If it's sorting the jobs board, sort it.

If it's changing a display, change it.

If you need to involve somebody else, speak to them and get the ball rolling.

Turn one of those things you've been thinking about into something you've actually done.

Make the Top Three visible

I'd also put your Top Three somewhere your team can see them.

There's something quite powerful about having three clear priorities written down and physically crossing one out when it's finished.

It creates a bit of momentum.

And when all three are done?

Go back to the ideas bank.

Choose another three.

Your ideas bank isn't your to-do list

I think this distinction is important.

Your ideas bank can be enormous. It can contain things you might do next week, next year or perhaps never.

It's there to capture possibilities.

Your Top Three has a completely different job.

Your ideas bank is where you capture things. Your Top Three is where things actually get done.

As independent retailers, we're surrounded by ideas.

We visit other shops.

We see something on social media.

We attend events.

We read articles.

We talk to other retailers.

And we already know plenty of things we'd like to improve in our own businesses.

We probably don't need another fifty ideas.

We need to take action on some of the good ones we've already got.

So give yourself ten minutes today.

Walk your shop.

Write the list.

Pick three.

And get number one done.