Slow Growth Business for Jewelers
Exhausted and stressed by trying to grow your business fast enough, smart enough, profitably enough... to where it may not feel like you’re doing enough? Try the Slow Growth Approach to business and stop letting your business run YOU, YOU run IT! Join retail experts Jimmy DeGroot and Kyle Bullock each week as they unpack ideas, concepts, and steps you can take to intentionally grow your business, slow and steady and for the long haul. They use their decades of experience in the retail and luxury landscape as business owners and consultants to help you feel free to run your business the way you’ve always dreamed. This show sponsored by Kyle and Jimmy’s training platforms, TrainRetail.com
Episodes
Hosts Jimmy DeGroat and Kyle Bullock introduce new coaching programs for jewelers and discuss how to manage AI in retail.
They warn against using AI for customer-facing messages—like repair-ready texts or birthday greetings—because it can feel impersonal, and they advise keeping human touchpoints while using AI behind the scenes to improve efficiency.
Hosts Jimmy DeGroot and Kyle Bullock tackle a common problem for independent jewelers: over-inventory. They argue you must think like a retailer, not a curator, and explain why excess stock kills cash flow, ages your cases, and loses to competitors who refresh inventory and focus on fast sellers.
The episode gives practical next steps—run your inventory-turn report (365 days), aim for a 1–2x turn, de-inventory slow move...
Hosts Jimmy DeGroot and Kyle Bullock explore how jewelers and small business owners can stop chasing endless growth and instead set clear, attainable goals. This episode focuses on defining "enough," prioritizing profit and average sale over top-line obsession, and learning to savor wins rather than always chasing the next one.
Practical tips include asking "what's enough?", improving margins and average sale, and committing to two...
Hosts Kyle Bullock and Jimmy DeGroot discuss Matthew Kelly’s The Dream Manager and how jewelers can reduce turnover and boost engagement by investing in employees’ personal goals, creating systems to learn individual dreams, and balancing staff quality of life with store needs.
The episode covers practical steps for managers—conversations about ambitions, tailored training, flexible scheduling, and using consisten...
Do you feel the pressure to grow your business, but doing so feels a bit like drowning? Hosts Kyle Bullock and Jimmy DeGroot tackle a common problem in jewelry retail: salespeople "selling from their own wallet" — defaulting to lower-priced, lab-grown, or special-order items instead of showing and selling higher-value, emotional purchases.
This episode shows how to spot the issue in your POS metrics, shift mindset and merchan...
This episode explores why many independent jewelers are overworked—often 50–60 hour weeks, while settling for "good enough" instead of innovating. Hosts Kyle Bullock and Jimmy DeGroot share industry data on owner hours and take-home pay and call out the cultural resistance to change.
They outline practical paths to free owners from long hours through better systems, training, personalized customer experiences, and smart...
In this episode of Slow Growth Business, hosts Kyle Bullock and Jimmy DeGroot dig into the small but critical customer frustrations that jewelry stores often ignore — unclear pricing, inconvenient processes, long repair timelines, and over-reliance on special orders.
They offer practical questions to audit your store, examples from other industries, and simple fixes like clearer price tags, proactive job-tracking messages, an...
It’s January, which means it’s the perfect time to talk about the thing most retailers avoid: planning. Kyle and Jimmy break down why so many store owners stay stuck in day-to-day firefighting, confuse goals with plans, and let emotion steer decisions. In this episode, they share real stories, simple frameworks, and the core takeaway: make a plan that speaks to your goal, then filter every decision through it.
In this episode, Jimmy and Kyle jump back into the Slow Growth Business Podcast to talk about what they’ve been seeing on the sales floor this season. Midline sales are softer, traffic feels different, and holiday buying habits just aren’t what they used to be.
They dig into why that’s happening, what the data actually says, and—most importantly—why December isn’t the month to start panicking or ...
Hosts Kyle Bullock and Jimmy DeGroot discuss why money alone is a weak motivator, why incentives work best when they are equitable and shared, and why you can’t solve low pay problems with bonuses. They recommend auditing pay using tools like the MIT Living Wage calculator and ensuring base wages meet basic cost-of-living needs before adding incentives.
The episode shares stories about team incentives (like a trip to Hawaii),...
Not every conflict is caused by bad people — often, it’s caused by bad communication. In this episode, Jimmy and Kyle break down Dr. John Gottman’s “Four Horsemen” — criticism, contempt, defensiveness, and stonewalling — plus one bonus culprit: sarcasm. They explain how each one poisons relationships and team culture, and why even well-meaning conversations can go sideways.
More importantly...
Feeling overwhelmed by holiday retail chaos? This episode shows jewelry store owners and leaders how to find relief by simplifying priorities, protecting team culture, and eliminating time-draining products or services that cost more than they earn.
Hosts Jimmy DeGroot and Kyle Bullock offer practical steps: narrow daily focus to one or two essential tasks, support and listen to your people, and radically remove non-essential work ...
Retail feels like a whirlwind? Jimmy DeGroot and Kyle Bullock break down how to cut through the noise, stop doing the 80% that drains you, and double down on the 20% that actually grows your business. From setting minimums and quitting low-value services to hiring true pros and focusing on your zone of genius, this episode is your friendly shove toward calm, profitable operations.
Ask us anything / tell us what you’re quitti...
In this episode of Slow Growth Business, Jimmy DeGroot and Kyle Bullock teach independent jewelers how to turn repair, watch battery, and gold-buying traffic into profitable jewelry sales — or how to treat each service as its own profitable business. They cover customer profiling, asking the right questions, upselling repairs versus offering replacements, and measuring results to decide what to keep or cut.
Practical examples...
Hosts Kyle Bullock and Jimmy DeGroot explore why passion doesn’t automatically transfer from owners to staff, and why pay alone won’t solve motivation problems. They cover practical approaches—paying a living wage, observing time/talent/treasure, asking better interview questions, using tools like Flag Page, and job-crafting roles—to align employee motivations with business goals.
The episode shows how leade...
Welcome to the latest episode of Slow Growth Business, where hosts Jimmy DeGroot and Kyle Bullock delve into the challenging yet rewarding path of building a sustainable business. This episode takes you through a thoughtful exploration of leadership and culture, emphasizing the necessity of genuine engagement with your team.
Reflecting on their experiences and learnings from a recent trade show, Jimmy and Kyle underscore how vital ...
Jimmy DeGroot and Kyle Bullock unpack the transformative ideas behind Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara and apply them to real-world small business leadership. From five-star restaurant service to unforgettable spoons 🍨, we explore how passion, specificity, and unreasonable expectations can turn everyday tasks into brand-defining experiences. Whether you're managing a jewelry store, a coffee shop, or anything in between, th...
Welcome to Slow Growth Business, the podcast for business leaders seeking success without the overwhelm. In this episode, hosts Jimmy DeGroat and Kyle Bullock delve into the art of honoring your employees in meaningful ways. Discover how recognizing the value that your team brings to your organization can transform your workplace culture and drive success.
Join the conversation as they discuss daily, monthly, and annual practices t...
In this episode, Jimmy DeGroot and Kyle Bullock discuss the good and bad about memorandum merchandise. When to use it and when not to.
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