RETAIL MATTERS to Doug Putman

<p>If you are an aspiring entrepreneur or are in retail, or your business depends on retailers, this episode of Chatter that Matters will matter to you.  This is the incredible story of Doug Putman who began his entrepreneurial career with a fruit stand to today owning retail businesses bearing billions in sales. Doug offers so many lessons in life and business and he earns my standing ovation for believing in retail and all `the energy and jobs it provides to the community and economy. </p> <p>How did Doug accomplish so much in under 20 years?</p> <p><span style= "font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;"> 1)The Fruit Stand, which Doug Putman quickly scaled to five, taught Doug invaluable lessons about cash flow, perishable inventory, and why hiring friends isn't always the answer.</span></p> <p>2)Doug realized that University wasn’t his path to the future, and dropped out in year one. Doug joined his family's small collectible business as a warehouse helper making minimum wage.</p> <p>3)Doug moved into sales, honed his ability to evaluate risk and reward, and his family let him try ideas and fail.</p> <p>4)One day, an opportunity came from his top customer, Sunrise Records, and an owner that was retiring.  That opportunity changed his life.  Doug went from being their supplier to becoming their owner.</p> <p>5)Today, Doug Putman owns Sunrise Records, HMV in Canada and the United Kingdom, Toys R Us and Babies R Us in Canada, and FYE in the United States.  His sales are now in the billions of dollars and he has a strategy for countering Amazon that we can all benefit from.</p> <p>And he is only 37.</p> <p>Don Ludlow, Vice President, Business Financial Services for RBC, joins the show to talk about their small business initiatives.</p> <p>To chat with Doug Putman:</p> <p>Linked In: <a class= "pv-contact-info__contact-link link-without-visited-state t-14" href= "https://www.linkedin.com/in/doug-putman">linkedin.com/in/d