Mary PORTAS
Mary Portas says it’s now or never for a ‘better business’ reset
Lockdown 2 feels way more personal than the last. Back in the spring, like many business owners, I watched in almost frozen disbelief as the company I’d spent two decades building up transformed almost overnight. Clients of many years faced immense commercial pressure, valued staff went into furlough and our once buzzing offices fell silent. I felt like one of those disaster movie pilots desperately trying to steady the plane as it spirals out of control.
And so I did what the pilot always does: I clung on, using all my strength in an attempt to reassert control and order. What a waste of energy.
Like many, I now realise how far-reaching the commercial effects of this pandemic will be – and how pointless it was to cling on to what went before. Certain traces of my old life will certainly remain, like leaves trapped beneath ice, but many other aspects will be created entirely new. For me, the key to successfully managing this transition has been to let the plane go down. Or at least release such a panicked grip on the controls.
In the space between ultimate control and absolute passivity, I’ve started to forge a new path rooted in a broader – and kinder – commercial view.
I’ve acted on thinking I outlined in a Ted Talk last year on what I call The Kindness Economy – a social and economic movement grounded in environmental and social concerns that has been bubbling alongside at least a decade’s worth of political and market power shifts.
Globally, 77 per cent of people now say they value decency in business as much as price and convenience. And now is a unique moment for every business to put that kind of decency at their core by using what the philosopher Gershom Scholem called the “plastic hours” – moments created during volatile flux “when it is possible to act”. The Kindness Economy is a commercial imperative after all. We’ve seen mass introspection and a re-examination of how we live and want to live. We must act responsively to the way the world is changing and what people are feeling.
In The Kindness Economy, the alchemy of brand magnetism, social progress and business health will propel brands and businesses into a new era of living and buying.
What’s encouraging is that even now we’re seeing some really beautiful green shoots of this movement. The drive to local buying during lockdown is one. The rallying cry for people to support independent businesses when many reopen during crucial Christmas trading weeks, is another. Similarly,
Now is a unique moment for every business to put decency at their core
the upswing in second-hand fashion doesn’t just tap into people’s environmental concerns but their need to connect with others who share their values.
All this shows just how key the need for connection and community
– and the way it can drive business – is.
There are, of course, other needs that businesses can satisfy. Amazon is going to make a killing in just a few days thanks to Black Friday, let alone for Christmas, by tapping into the demand for peak digital, transactional efficiency. But all is not lost for other businesses. As nonessential retail is allowed to reopen, there are other buying needs they can cater to and this is where The Kindness Economy presents real opportunity.
After months of such relentless pressure on the bottom line, it would be easy to panic and fall back into the old ways. For retail that means cut, cut, cut on price and forget the supply chain or environmental impact.
But we know where that story ends. We’ve seen the destruction that businesses such as fast fashion have wreaked – socially, environmentally and morally. And now we have a clear choice: to turn on others or cultivate a longer-term sense of both commercial and personal kindness.
Now is the time for bold, brave innovators to help guide a true shift in the way we work and live. Yes, middle of the roaders will fall by the wayside.
Other innovative businesses will also undeservedly fold due to financial pressures. But experimentation during these crucial hours will allow many of us to build back better with very different values and ways of working.
After letting go of the controls, my team and I pivoted our business to tap into the values of The Kindness Economy with our clients who understand that this isn’t just about doing the “right thing”. It also benefits them in the long term, too, by tapping into new markets and creating a more robust relationship with their buyers – critical in these turbulent times.
And any business, large or small, can do this.
Pret’s coffee subscription – offering up to five coffees a day for just £20 a month – wasn’t just about winning back customers but also a way of giving back to those that were supporting them. The owner of my local pet shop didn’t start delivering to the homes of those self-isolating or elderly just because it drove much-needed sales. He did it as a show of support during difficult times. In return, he will have secured loyalty when his customer base could have quite easily disappeared.
As companies understand that kindness pays, more will understand that is the way forward.