We recently connected with Cadah Goulet and have shared our conversation below.

Cadah, appreciate you joining us today. Would you say you are more focused on growing revenue or cutting costs? We’d love to hear how you think about these two critical drivers

I spend most of my time concentrating on growing revenue through various avenues. I started Poor George to create a full time job for myself and envisioned that I would always be working the floor. I only considered hiring once I realized the benefits of being open 7 days a week. Fast forward 5 years, I have to ask myself every day where my time is best spent and the answer is always off of the floor. Releasing my former expectations and stepping into my new role has been my biggest hurdle lately. This change is possible through hiring and having a successful support staff. The first thing companies tend to trim down to cut costs is payroll. I have found that through hiring the correct people and investing in training, our visitors are still always receiving excellent customer service and we are converting 45%+ every day. So I am then able to remove myself to work on the back end- which includes buying, sourcing vintage, merchandising, website management, social media, writing our newsletter, automations, blog posts, etc.

My biggest mission for growing revenue is through staying connected with our community and customer retention. I have shifted from how we use social media, and our online presence is now seen as a way to update and nurture our existing audience rather than trying to acquire new customers. Being in a tourist town, we will always have one time customers, but it is our local community and regulars that keep us going even during the slow months. Staying on the minds of those one time customers is an area I have been concentrating my efforts as well.

Investing in my team, our product, and our shop is our best return on investment and I rarely look to cut costs. When I have had to trim in the past it is due to over-buying and that was from navigating covid, expanding the shop, and really just a learning curve.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Poor George is the most kick ass shop in Cold Spring! We’re a woman-owned lifestyle boutique that specializes in small batch apparel, made in USA products, and handmade goods, with an emphasis on women-led brands. We also curate a selection of modern vintage apparel, accessories, and housewares to compliment our new selection.

We began as an online Etsy shop in 2013 but missed the personal connection and interaction with customers. For three years we operated mostly as a pop-up shop, selling regularly at the Brooklyn Flea and other markets like: Artists & Flea, Salem Vintage Market, and as a part of Urban Outfitters Dreamers & Doers events. The dream was always to have our own Brick & Mortar location. After several years of looking, we finally opened our doors in May of 2018 in the wonderful village of Cold Spring NY and it’s been an awesome ride ever since.

We take pride in our space and our goal is to generate good energy and maintain a warm and welcoming environment. We’re a safe, inclusive space and want visitors to thoroughly enjoy their time here. I am really proud of the community we’ve created and am so thankful for our amazing staff. I feel so loved and supported every day and I strive for that to come through in everything we do here. We’ve grown so much these past 5 years that I am thoroughly looking forward to the next 5.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

Because I was already a pop-up shop I had a small selection of starting inventory, displays, and some supplies but I needed to cover a lot of up front expenses. This included rent and security deposit, a POS system, display materials, etc. as well as some initial pay for myself. After my divorce in 2016 I spent the next couple of years rebuilding my credit score and paying down debts. By 2018 I had an 805 credit score, 3 months of expenses saved, and lots of personal loan offers. Because of my 15 years of retail and specialty retail experience, I didn’t feel the need for writing a business plan like a business loan would require, so I decided to take the risk and take out a personal loan instead. I was able to get faster funding and a lower rate this way as well. But it was quite the risk having my personal credit wrapped up in this and did everything I could to pay off the loan early in 1.5 years to fully divide my personal and business finances. My loan was for $25k but it took under $20k to open the shop and I held onto the extra $5k for the first 6 months as a safety net.

Over the years I have taken out several types of funding. From my initial personal loan, to a PPP loan, EIDL loan, and a business loan. I also utilize a business credit card for travel points and a business line of credit. I’d be happy to discuss this further if needed.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

My all time favorite resource is Janine from Feel Good Retail. She is an indie business cheerleader and a wealth of knowledge. Her weekly podcast is like checking in with your business bff. I also love the Financial Feminist podcast with Tori Dunlap and her company Her First 100k. When I first started, Girlboss was in its prime and I found that VC funding-type dialogue and cloud my judgment and not apply to my indie business model. Finding the right type of advice and like-minded business/finance folks helped me feel stronger and listen to my intuition more.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.shoppoorgeorge.com
• Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/poorgeorge
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/poorgeorgevintage
• Other: http://www.tiktok.com/poorgeorge https://open.spotify.com/user/1282439273?si=8b699931843944fb here is a blogpost about celebrating 5 years: https://poorgeorgevintage.blogspot.com/2023/06/poor-george-celebrates-5-years.html