Retail Start-ups
Are you a retail start-up? Do you want to start a new retail business?
Market entry concept and strategy should be the first thing to consider, followed by a business plan, and sufficient monetary and human resources. Many entrepeneurs start new retail businesses with the idea that “fast-fail” is an acceptable business strategy. It isn’t! It’s expensive! Furthermore it can be demoralising for internal teams or external investors if plans fail due to foreseeable events!
Retailing as a global industry has a wealth of history, that can be used to illustrate why some ideas work and some do not. At RCG Retail & Consulting we have access to that history that means we can at the very least consider obstacles that will need to be overcome and advise the best way to manage such challenges.
Retailers often use RCG’s start-up business plans as support for fund raising at an early stage of the start-up venture. We have become practiced in bringing together investors and retailers with start-up plans and helping the retailer present a robust business case that will attract serious interest from venture capitalists both large and small.
RCG Retail & Consulting’s retail start-ups services include:
- Market potential of various retail formats in your target market
- Gap analysis and positioning
- A precise recommendation on retail format, size of retail store, product range, distribution, branding, store locations and business targets
- A detailed economic and business plan, including P&L budgeting, investment planning and cash-flow forecasting
- An investor prospectus presentation
- Vision, Mission and Values
- Organisational structure (organigram) to deliver concept
- Category management best practice
- Retail operations business process design, including operating procedure manual
- RCG Retail & Consulting has supported a number of clients with really accurate knowledge of the real costs and efforts needed to launch a start-up retail business in the Adriatic Region.
Who we are
RCG Retail & Consulting is a company which is focused on Balkan region, providing retail strategies that work.We focus purely on retail!
RCG Retail & Consulting is a business founded after 21 years experience at the retail giant. The business idea is to form a team of C-Level executives from various retail industries and skills who offer themselves as an outsourced project team to solve retailers and investor challenges in a quick and practical manner.
Our clients may be classical store chains, internet-only organisations or multi-channel operators, we provide strategic advice and guidance based on three principles:
- All recommendations are grounded on a thorough analysis of our clients’ situation.
- Advice is always pragmatic and can be explained to the entire client organisation.
- We offer to accompany our clients through the implementation phase.
Since 2019 RCG Retail & Consulting has operated in Croatia, Serbia, Bosna and Hercegovina, Slovenia, Kosovo, Albania, Monte Negro and North Macedonia.
RCG Retail & Consulting will add value to the ‘core’ concept of any retail business! This can only be achieved by real attention to detail, because it is true what many have said in the past: “retail is detail”.
And therefore our approach is not an academic one – we offer executable retail concepts and solutions derived from practice. The partners of RCG Retail & Consulting encompass over 21 years of individual retail experience. The feedback and results of our clients confirm the trust that is placed in our work’s quality and value.
The ability to actually implement our advice sets us apart from traditional management consultancies. We have the courage of our convictions to stay with the client and see the advice through the implementation stage to a successful conclusion. For an ambitious retailer this is a strategic step to obtain a market leader position.
RCG Retail & Consulting clients
Our client base are retailers from various business segments or investors who are:
- in a turn around situation
- in a start-up or significant growth phase
- wanting commercial due diligence
- looking for value creation understanding
- FMCG businesses who want a route to market
- companies lacking internal resources to execute new projects/ideas
Over the years a significant data-base of best practice models in most retail situations has been put together, coupled with the experience of partners who all have “hands on” pasts.
The cross fertilisation of ideas and practices from different retail and FMCG industries means RCG Retail & Consulting brings innovative solutions, often overseen by overloaded management with critical operational daily tasks consuming their time.
Our Consulting Services
- Retail Strategies and Concept Design
- Retail Growth Projects
- Retail Turnarounds
- Retail Cost Management Efficiency
- Retail Assortment Strategy incl. Private Label
- Retail Organisational Management Structure
- Retail Category Management
- Retail Marketing Services
- Retail Start-ups
- Commercial Due Diligence
- Route-to-market for FMCG Brands
Retail Industry Expertise
This emphasis on the retail business distinguishes us from big generalist consulting companies. In the field of retail we are large enough to deliver expert solutions but are small enough to care.
This is not a theory-based consultancy model, this is “been there, done it before’’ pragmatic advice which is tailored to the market your business is wrestling with. We follow this up by a genuine partnership with our clients during the implementation stage.
Retail Channel Expertise
The full retail spectrum
All partners and retail business consultants at RCG Retail & Consulting have experience from classic high street multiple stores to out of town big box retailingg. This impressive array of backgrounds was built up from both retail consulting projects and management and director positions held throughout lifelong careers in the retail business.
We have successfully carried out projects across the retail spectrum within:
Do it yourself/ Home improvement stores
Fast moving consumer goods manufacturing (shop in shops, category management projects, commercial due diligence, etc.)
Fashion and shoes retailing
Retail Strategy Expertise
Poor retail concepts!
Retail failures are mostly about poor concepts rather than just poor execution. Trying to execute a poor or out-dated concept normally just consumes huge amounts of money!
RCG Retail & Consulting has made a significant contribution to rescuing failing enterprises by refocusing their efforts in the right strategic direction, for example in Croatia, Serbia, Kosovo and Slovenia.
And to most retailers, pursuing a growth strategy means expansion, more stores, more products, or more ideas. This is, of course, key to building up a large successful organisation and should therefore be carefully planned.
It has been the experience of RCG Retail & Consulting that with regard to management of human and financial resources many retailers overlook the importance of these two areas with disastrous consequences!
Here are two examples:
– If your business loses a key person at the wrong time or rapid expansion and consequently rapid hiring of staff weakens performance ratios, the company as a whole suffers dramatically.
– Many retailers have found rapid expansion very expensive and not always an immediate repetition of existing business results, this can quickly translate into a cash flow problem.
All these problems can be avoided with experienced planning. At RCG Retail & Consulting we can help and advise on avoiding these pitfalls.
Hidden growth potential
Growth does not always have to come in such visible form as more stores or products. If your retail strategy is improved, existing stores can be nurtured into impressive growth.
As retail advisors, we at RCG Retail & Consulting have learned from experience that this improvement in retail strategy is where hidden retail growth lies. It often can be achieved with little or no extra cost and therefore provides instant profits making classical expansion more affordable!
If a business is unfixable, we will say it at the preliminary investigation point!
An objective unattached view of what needs to be changed, coupled with hands on experience means RCG Retail & Consulting is capable of creating a solid strategy and forming a project management team to lead the turnaround or supporting existing management to ensure change is driven through.
Retail failures are mostly about poor concepts rather than just poor execution. Trying to execute a poor or out-dated concept normally just consumes huge amounts of money!
RCG Retail & Consulting has made a significant contribution to rescuing failing enterprises by restructuring the whole organisation, for examples in Croatia.
Often the need of a retail turnaround arises after a retail acquisition or merger of two businesses. Our references indicate that we are an ideal partner for Private Equity businesses investing in retail opportunities.
Find out more about our due diligence services.
Rebuilding a store from the ground up
Retail Cost Management Expertise
RCG Retail & Consulting most frequently requested project is to streamline retail operations. A combination of business process reorganisation, strict measurement of all tasks and ideal organisational structure allows for a staffing model to be built which will in most cases increase labour productivity and therefore save cost.
Creating constant comparison measurements keeps the new levels of cost under control. In the case of labour productivity and staffing costs organising an incentive for management to constantly improve on past performance ensures this vital area of cost is managed to a world-class level!
Many organisations outgrow their management structures several times in the life of the company. This is not so easy to see if you’re preoccupied with operational tasks! RCG Retail & Consulting have several times been asked to assess the suitability of the organisational structure of a retail company when those responsible for the business are unconvinced of the company’s fitness for the future.
The current size of the organisation and what growth is planned presents an organisational challenge for every retail company. Finding a balance between an affordable management cost and being able to absorb growth smoothly requires very good planning. Major activities like rapid expansion, marketing including the new age medias, category management best practice, e-commerce and customer centricity mean that retail board structures have changed shape and average age dramatically in the last 15 years.
RCG Retail & Consulting understands best practice in management structures for differing retail concepts, we can deliver logical reporting structures with a detailed responsibility matrix that allows both empowered teams and good controls.
The secret is always to put the right structure in place and populate it afterwards not the other way round. Sometimes an impartial outsider who understands the requirements but has no emotional attachment to the people can more easily manage that.
We at RCG Retail & Consulting always attach KPI’s to any new structure and have on two occasions put a bonus scheme together to really motivate high performance. For example, the bonus programme with a shoe company we have created in Croatia was an outstanding success with a 12% increase in sales occurring very shortly after implementation!
Finally, job descriptions are the last piece of the jigsaw puzzle in this arena. Often a topic that can be overlooked in importance! A good clear and up-to-date job description can be an ideal tool for management to constantly bring themselves or their subordinates back on track in terms of priorities. Well-written short and concise job descriptions are also essential for shaping training requirements and forcing the whole organisation to focus on the activities that bring the greatest business results.
Category Management (CM) is the best practice method to determine strategically what the range should actually look like, at any moment in time. Its major goals are to increase revenue and -profit, to reduce stock investment and space required. In addition, it represents a system easily adaptable to changes in competitive environment, customers’ needs or any other external factors.
The introduction of Category Management to a retailer usually starts with “reminding” them about their basic concept: who is their customer, why do they choose this particular retailer, what are and will be their needs in the future? The implementation process of modern category management usually takes 6-9 months, in order not to overload the current commercial team.
Category management best practice is about deep, regular and thorough analysis tools, which examine the role every product plays as part of a retailers assortment.
Commercial Due Diligence Expertise
Our focus is normally to carry out a detailed market investigative visit. This is particularly important in emerging markets, as data is notoriously unreliable even from famous sources. Next we clarify the market size and market growth potential, analyse all the competitors and comment on their likely plans for next five years. Then using our experience, we forecast the shape of the market and explain with figures and logic why some retailers will be winners and some losers. This builds a complete picture to ensure investment decisions are based on a really detailed understanding of the market under scrutiny.
Contact
Letovanićka 36
10 000 Zagreb
Croatia