opinion

Boost Your Retail Business With These Team-Building Tips

Boost Your Retail Business With These Team-Building Tips

When it comes to running a successful adult business, there are some things we all know are important, like customer satisfaction, employee retention and a healthy bottom line. Then there are other factors that we may not think about as much, or that we may have had a negative experience with, but that can still help take our business to the next level. One hugely underrated step that business owners can take to boost employee engagement, build trust, address conflict, increase collaboration and generally build a company culture that breeds success is: team building.

Why Team Building?

Approaching team building as an ongoing process encourages innovation and allows everyone in your company to learn, grow and blossom as they do their jobs.

Team building can help forge stronger bonds among your employees. When implemented well, it can result in everyone having greater respect for each other and appreciating their differences while sharing common goals and expectations.

A lot of companies engage in team building via retreats, activities and exercises. If you’ve ever done a scavenger hunt or even a group dinner with your coworkers, you’ve participated in a team-building activity. The problem is that team building is sometimes viewed with skepticism. Let’s look at why that is, how you can approach it differently and the rewards you can reap from putting in the time and energy to build your team.

Why Team Building Sometimes Goes Wrong

The phrase “team building” often inspires eye rolls and sighs because of the many corny attempts at creating bonds among staff members. Contrived games that don’t actually relate to what your employees do on a day-to-day basis, forced participation from employees who would rather be doing anything else, sending staff to distant destinations in hopes of correcting long-standing issues — these are some of the ways that team building doesn’t work but costs a lot of time and money.

What if we look beyond the company retreats and trust falls, and instead approach team building as something that can be done on a continual basis?

Team-Building Steps That Actually Work

Whether your office is an in-person space or a digital workplace, weave team building into the culture of your company. Here are some ways to make it a part of daily interactions, integral to the way that employees and management work together:

Maintain a fluid and affirming office culture. That means encouraging innovation, so everyone in the company can learn, grow and blossom as they do their jobs. It also means setting fairness and kindness as cornerstones of your internal business environment, which will encourage employees to stick with your company and inspire them to achieve and succeed in their roles.

Give your people space. Ruling your company with an iron fist and constantly looking over your employees’ shoulders might seem like the way to make sure work gets done, but cultivating a management practice that maximizes freedom can be a true game changer. Offering help when it is requested rather than jumping in and micromanaging will both conserve energy and demonstrate confidence in your staff.

Let your employees know that you trust them. This will help their confidence grow, allowing their work to continually improve. When you talk through conflicts with them, they see how to handle conflicts with coworkers. When you give them the opportunity to identify their own strengths and weaknesses, you can then work together to identify ways they can be most productive. Detecting a theme here? Enacting basic workplace values like respect and autonomy on a daily basis can do more to build a team than any exercise. So before you schedule that retreat, bring in that motivational speaker or announce that mandatory company outing, consider whether it might be more effective to first start thinking about team building on an individual level — starting with your own mindset and management style. Approaching team building as something you are continually engaged in may require a more creative and flexible form of leadership. For some, it may require a revamp or even a complete overhaul of existing executive skills. But I have found that putting in that effort pays off in terms of employee retention and loyalty.

When management models genuine investment in building a team and helping it flourish, employees learn how to maintain that kind of supportive interaction in their dealings with each other and clients. That’s good for everybody, and good for business.

Verna Meng is the co-founder and CEO of Blush, and the recipient of the 2018 International Women’s Entrepreneurial Challenge Foundation Award.

Related:  

Copyright © 2025 Adnet Media. All Rights Reserved. XBIZ is a trademark of Adnet Media.
Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited.

More Articles

opinion

A Retailer's Road Map for First-Timers' Anal August

Anal August offers a prime opportunity for brands and stores to capture new customers and drive growth in a category that’s gaining mainstream momentum. As consumer interest in anal play continues to rise, now is the time to meet first-time buyers where they are, with approachable products, trusted education and a clear path to pleasure.

Matthew Spindler ·
opinion

Optimizing Your Leadership Through Wellness Practices

For many of us, 2025 has proved intensely stressful — and we’re still only halfway through the year. In times like these, it may seem counterintuitive or even irresponsible to talk about seeking pleasure. Yet pleasure, presence, joy and connection can help you return to a mental and physical state that allows you to face and handle stressors.

Sarah Tomchesson ·
opinion

Chastity Play Is Trending: Why It Should Be in Your Marketing Strategy

From chastity fetishes to power play, erotic control — once considered an esoteric niche within the world of BDSM — is now entering the mainstream. Google searches for “chastity cages,” “chastity fetish” and “orgasm denial” have exploded over the past year, with interest especially high for beginner-friendly models.

Naima Karp ·
opinion

A Look at Adult Retail's Role in Community Care

In the adult retail industry, we focus on empowerment, exploration and connection. We connect people with products that can transform their relationships with their bodies, with their partners and with themselves.

Rin Musick ·
trends

A Deep Dive Into Key Trends Shaping Pleasure Products

In 2025, the pleasure industry is evolving in intentional ways. Rather than racing toward newness for novelty’s sake, brands are reassessing everything from shape and function to what price intended shoppers can afford.

Ariana Rodriguez ·
profile

WIA Profile: Jia Jeng

Modern branding is all about storytelling — and Jia Jeng certainly knows how to tell an authentic, perspective-shifting tale. As brand manager for ID Lubricants, Jeng applies her creative talent to shaping the long-established company’s public image in a way that aligns with her own vision for an ethical future.

Women in Adult ·
profile

Spicerack Market Offers Indie Brands a Launching Pad

Spicerack Market is an ecommerce platform with the heart of an artisan crafter and the soul of a kinkster. On the website, independent sex toy makers, lingerie seamstresses and kink gear craftspeople can set up a personalized shop to sell their handmade wares, unhindered by censorship or bans on adult products.

Colleen Godin ·
opinion

Strategies to Bring Pleasure Brands into the Spotlight

Every brand dreams about landing a feature in The New York Times or Men’s Health — and pleasure brands are no exception. After all, mainstream media coverage isn’t just a vanity milestone. It builds trust, attracts new audiences and opens doors to connecting with retailers, partnerships, and investors.

Hail Groo ·
opinion

Is Your Retail Business Sextech-Ready?

Sextech isn’t just a niche novelty anymore; it’s the future of sexual wellness. From wearable sex toys that provide biofeedback to interactive sex toys with AI capabilities, sextech has made significant progress over the past few years.

Kate Kozlova ·
opinion

Top Product Launch Tactics to Boost Q4 Sales

According to recent industry insights, over 70% of sexual wellness brands finalize their Q4 lineups between July and early September. This is a high-stakes window for launching new products.

Matthew Spindler ·
Show More