Business Consulting Projects
There are many areas I can help with – all with a view to making your business more profitable. There is no jargon, no flipcharts no mind-numbing PowerPoint presentations – just good straightforward actionable advice which I cost sensibly.
You know how to run your business; I’m just here to listen and see if I can help - and if I can’t then I’ll probably know somebody in my network who can.
A short list of projects I've worked on includes:
- Generating a 5 fold increase in pre tax profits for a food importer in 3 years
- Tripling sales of a fresh food manufacturer in 5 years.
- Instigation and management of the acquisition and integration of a competitor, doubling the size of a business.
- Building a 20 SKU own label business with a major multiple retailer worth £5m per annum.
- Creating successful e commerce websites.
- Designing & launching a range of 20 Italian branded lines into the UK market.
- Outsourcing a warehouse and logistics operation to a third party operator saving £0.5m
- Building a £5m per annum business with recipe box delivery companies.
- Recruitment, training and mentoring of dozens of great colleagues up to director level.
- Creating an Amazon business with £400k per annum turnover.
- Moving a company's BRC grade from C to AA in two years.
Some project examples:
- Took a range of chilli sauces from concept to launch with a third party manufacturer, including pack design, recipe development, supply agreement.
- Identified a list of over 100 foodservice customer targets for a frozen food business
- Helped a European business to prepare a pitch to UK supermarkets and approach selected buyers
- Compiled a report on the UK recipe box delivery market
- Worked with a client to revise their structure and put an appraisal process in place
- Worked on a strategic plan to diversify the customer base for a large importer
Current and recent clients:
- Soak'd
- Cool Chile
- Ruby Violet
- Rubies in the Rubble
- Seafood and Eat it!
- Lucocoa Chocolate
- Brendan the Chilli Man
Please see below a list of some of the things I can assist with.
Business Strategy Development
Every good business has a clearly articulated plan. It doesn’t need to be hugely complicated; it’s better to have something simple that people understand and can all work towards. I can review your business, benchmarking against competitors, identifying simple and clear targets and timescales and helping to map out the key objectives and timescales for each area of the organisation.
Sales
There aren’t many problems in business that can’t be solved by selling more! I can review your product range and your customer list; help find where any obvious gaps are and then put together a plan to plug those along with your sales team.
There are only 4 ways to grow your sales -
Win new customers, sell more to your existing customers, sell to existing customers more often and win back lost customers. I have strategies for all of these - which work!
New Business Pitches
I’ve won new listings with customers large and small for decades; it's the best part of the job! These wins range from small individual product listings with retailers and distributors right up to multi million pound contracts with major supermarkets and food manufacturers on branded and own label products. I can help you put together a pitch to secure new business.
Product Launches into UK Market
I’ve spent nearly 20 years helping overseas partners identify customers in the UK and to get listings for their products that last. My passion is for all things Italian and I have a great network of large and small suppliers from my travels.
Purchasing & Sourcing
Taking cost out of your business is relatively simple and straightforward; the hard bit is doing this while maintaining or improving quality. I have a massive network of suppliers I can get in touch with to benchmark against your current supply base.
Sales Training
I’ve worked in, and managed, sales teams for my whole career, from when I started as a biscuit sales rep through to various sales director roles. I understand salespeople – what makes them tick and, importantly, what makes a good salesperson versus an average one. The difference to the performance to your business from having an excellent, high performing sales team can be huge. I can work with sales teams to help them realise their potential.
Profit Improvement
I’m passionate about finding ways to squeeze every extra pound out of your operation. It’s about working smarter, not harder. Sometimes it’s identifying lots of little things which will all add up to a material difference to your profits at the end of the year. On the other hand, there might be one big project that you want to focus on but don’t currently have the resources in house. I can help! Sometimes it just takes a fresh pair of eyes to spot an obvious win...
Fractional Support
Finding the right staff at the right cost is a huge challenge for small businesses. Often, paying for resource only as you use it can give access to greater expertise at a much lower cost.
I provide Fractional sales, marketing and general management support for small businesses at a hugely effective rate enabling them to scale up without the risk and expense of hiring permanent staff.
Interim Cover
Need some senior management help at short notice? I might be able to help with this, or know somebody who can, without the usual extortionate fees of going to an agency. I'm a "sleeves rolled up kinda guy” and (subject to having the time available) can offer a really cost effective plug-and-play solution to that worrisome gap in your senior team.
Marketing
I’ve done lots of hands-on marketing projects in my time from pack designs to press advertising to social media.