Consulting

Shooter_galway

Hi folks I'm looking to getting into the consulting side of things. have some experience in setting up retail operations for friends and acquaintances but would like to get into it as a full time job, obviously would need to create a portfolio so if I can be of assistance! I have over 15 years retail and service experience from the bottom to running large well know national store. So if anyone needs advice let me know if only be too happy to help and make some contacts

jimmii

Good luck! A good retail consultant is definitely something a lot of companies need! I would imagine its a tough one to get into though a lot probably depends on who you worked for. A few years ago I could definitely done with the help of someone like you maybe there is a me of then knocking around here who is looking for some pointers.

DubTony

I looked into this a few years ago.
From me there was no real market that I could identify with. Large chains and franchises have people trained in how they do things, and the small operations can't afford/won't pay for a consultant.

I also discovered that people who've never been in retail think it's easy. "Any f***er can stand behind a counter and take people's money" (I kid you not).

One guy offered me tea and cakes for "sittin' down with me and goin' through a few things - Just for the mornin' like y'know."
I didn't. There's a dry cleaners there now.

My biggest issue was actually going out there and selling myself and service so I didn't do it for long. I guess that's why I became a retailer in the first place.

But I knew I was done for when a mate told me he had a friend opening a "Petit-Boutique" - whatever the hell that was. I called her and she said she'd pay with a dress. I told her I'd send in the wife so.
"Oh, is she a consultant as well?" she asked getting all excited.
"No" I said, "she's a woman".

:roll eyes:

Anyway, that was me. OP you might be better able to handle it.

gargargar

DubTony wrote: »

I looked into this a few years ago.
From me there was no real market that I could identify with. Large chains and franchises have people trained in how they do things, and the small operations can't afford/won't pay for a consultant.

Sounds awful, but great advice for the OP. While not in the same area I have consulted for a few years (in the past). I can second that a lot of small businesses don't see the need, or don't value the service.

17larsson

How would you go about charging for a consultation? Is it per hour and if it is how much per hour?
It's something I have been asked before but I had no idea how to go about it

Dub_Steve

Might be useful to try to reach out to some people on linkedin. You could offer a few free consultations in return for a reference. (Make sure you get a picture with them also, ideally outside their shop. Would look great on your website. There's also a number of retail groups on linkedin eg Pharmacists Ireland

pedroeibar1

Shooter_galway wrote: »

Hi folks I'm looking to getting into the consulting side of things. ..... I have over 15 years retail and service experience.....running large well know national store. So if anyone needs advice let me know if only be too happy to help and make some contacts

That is a rather blunt advert! Are you charging or offering to provide advice free of charge to people here?

The skills acquired while working in a “large national store” are great (and the 'general skills' acquired apply across many disciplines) but they are totally inadequate to advise on the critical matters involved in running any small retail business. Both sectors are poles apart, and quite different also in food/non-food. For that reason I see your "offer" as being lacking/insufficient. Would you care to expand on what you can do?

Bandara

pedroeibar1 wrote: »

That is a rather blunt advert! Are you charging or offering to provide advice free of charge to people here?

The skills acquired while working in a “large national store” are great (and the 'general skills' acquired apply across many disciplines) but they are totally inadequate to advise on the critical matters involved in running any small retail business. Both sectors are poles apart, and quite different also in food/non-food. For that reason I see your "offer" as being lacking/insufficient. Would you care to expand on what you can do?

Agreed.

It's far too easy to hide and be mediocre in a large national store. You do that in a small sharp we'll run business you'll be gone in a month

I'd see large as a negative really, I'd far more prefer someone who has the full range of skills as against someone leaning on different departments.

pedroeibar1

It is a very interesting topic and a pity the OP (despite being online quite a bit since) has refused to engage in debate as I am fascinated by what is happening in retailing..

Shooter_galway

pedroeibar1 wrote: »

It is a very interesting topic and a pity the OP (despite being online quite a bit since) has refused to engage in debate as I am fascinated by what is happening in retailing..

I don't see an absence of a few days refusing to engage in debatebas I was traveling and celebrating a monuments sporting occasion. My experience ranges in running large stores and independent stores and also helping my own contacts in setting these up, all of which are trading bar one due to the downturn in 2008.

Ideally I would like to charge for this as I feel I have the experience in all aspects from business plans to store operations. I have helped source products from all over the world from China to the us. And shop fittings..

I came on here for feedback about a potential idea to see if there was a market for this very and not to be patronised for not engaging.

Shooter_galway

Dub_Steve wrote: »

Might be useful to try to reach out to some people on linkedin. You could offer a few free consultations in return for a reference. (Make sure you get a picture with them also, ideally outside their shop. Would look great on your website. There's also a number of retail groups on linkedin eg Pharmacists Ireland

That's great advice and was an avenue I had never thought of, thanks for that. As this is just an basic idea I am trying to flesh out and explore I think the idea of a free consultation for a referral is an excellent way to increase contacts.

I would love to be able to help someone realise there potential with starting or improving on their venture.

Shooter_galway

DubTony wrote: »

I looked into this a few years ago.
From me there was no real market that I could identify with. Large chains and franchises have people trained in how they do things, and the small operations can't afford/won't pay for a consultant.

I also discovered that people who've never been in retail think it's easy. "Any f***er can stand behind a counter and take people's money" (I kid you not).



One guy offered me tea and cakes for "sittin' down with me and goin' through a few things - Just for the mornin' like y'know."
I didn't. There's a dry cleaners there now.

My biggest issue was actually going out there and selling myself and service so I didn't do it for long. I guess that's why I became a retailer in the first place.

But I knew I was done for when a mate told me he had a friend opening a "Petit-Boutique" - whatever the hell that was. I called her and she said she'd pay with a dress. I told her I'd send in the wife so.
"Oh, is she a consultant as well?" she asked getting all excited.
"No" I said, "she's a woman".

:roll eyes:

Anyway, that was me. OP you might be better able to handle it.

Yeah there is a real sense of this is easy about it in many people's eyes, you can't just go full hog into it, carful planning needs to be considered with initial costs and day to day costs.

I believe someone with industry knowledge can only benefit and I'd hope people have realised this through various shows on TV.

I hope I can forge a path in this as it's something I'd really like to pursue full time and selling myself to an interested party is something I have no problem doing as my experience speaks for itself I believe.

One can only dream but won't be giving up the day job yet!

dudara

17larsson wrote: »

How would you go about charging for a consultation? Is it per hour and if it is how much per hour?
It's something I have been asked before but I had no idea how to go about it

This is one of the great questions in Consulting. How much do I charge the client?

There's no easy answer to this, as it can vary from gig to gig. You can do Time & Materials, where you're paid by the hour and reimbursed for expenses. However this needs careful management so that the client doesn't feel that they're paying too much.

Fixed price is far more attractive for buyers as they will know exactly how much they will pay. The problem for you is that you will have to tightly manage the work to ensure that you deliver it as efficiently as possible so that you optimise your margins.

In either case, it's always recommended to first clearly define the scope of the services. Clearly call out in a document what you will do and when you will do it by. Make sure that the client agrees.

pedroeibar1

Shooter_galway wrote: »

I came on here for feedback about a potential idea to see if there was a market for this very and not to be patronised for not engaging.

Your opening post was a blatant self-promoting advert, which is against the spirit of this forum (and it is up to a Mod to view it vis-à-vis the Charter.)

If you post something like that why should you expect platitudes and a stampede to agree with your minimal information? If I wanted to ‘patronise’ you as you claim, at the outset I would have commented on the lack of punctuation and grammar in your post, rather important items in the consultancy world.

In my earlier post I based my comments on a knowledge of the skills and differences between ‘national’ and ‘local’ retailers. The latter is a totally different model with different everything - overheads, merchandise, customer profiles, product lead times, product range size, suppliers, margins, o/heads, etc. Nothing you have written as a 'national store' manager has changed my view that you have the breadth of knowledge/experience to be a successful consultant.

The retailing changes underway are huge in the grocery/assoc. products sector, not just internationally but also in Ireland. For e.g. at the ‘national’ end of the spectrum Dunnes continues to reposition itself, with change of product emphasis/mix; Supervalue /Musgraves is also re-formatting; Tesco is on the rails and is cutting its product range from 90,000 to 60,000 lines, carrying on average 25k lines in each store. In Ireland, Aldi and Lidl each carry about a max of 1,500 (yes, 1500) and in continental Europe it is nearer 1,000. What is the impact of this on the Irish corner shop, carrying not much less? Convenience is coming to the fore, but at what price, how and at what cost? Staying in the grocery sector, I’d be interested to know your views on what Carrefour / Casino / Auchan are doing? Or Ahold? The impact of Amazon? The trends/difficulties of on-line food shopping? (No need to comment on hypermarkets, we don’t have them or their inherent problems.)

In drapery, the department store and the small shop/boutique models are miles apart. I have no doubt you would be very capable on basic retail management and able to advise on merchandising, but I have yet to meet a dept. store manager who knows about stockturn, longterm trends in food or fashion, economic order quantities, pricing, negotiating sale or return, manufacturing processes, availability of competing brands/agencies. Perhaps you do know about the latest display methods (rails/stands/counters/shelving) but that would be unique in my experience.

They have no idea because in “national stores” (drapery and grocery) the managers do what HO tells them. There is central buying, the buyers manage not just the basic initial order, distribution and quantities, but also the pricing and dictate how/where merchandise should be displayed (and to which stores). What sells in Dundrum probably is a dog in Tralee (and vice-a-versa)!

National department store managers are there to manage staff/merchandising/ordering/goods inwards/sales returns/security and a few bits more. A few of those in the bigger Supervalue franchisees might have a better grasp on grocery, but it is not a big enough knowledge base on which to earn a living as a consultant.

Consultants are employed on their public image – their success stories, the conferences they have spoken at, the trade articles written, etc. That is why you cannot (as a sole trader) ‘move’ into consulting, you have to grow into it, usually by invitation.

If you want to be taken seriously write something concrete.

DubTony

pedroeibar1 wrote: »

They have no idea because in “national stores” (drapery and grocery) the managers do what HO tells them. There is central buying, the buyers manage not just the basic initial order, distribution and quantities, but also the pricing and dictate how/where merchandise should be displayed...

National department store managers are there to manage staff/merchandising/ordering/goods inwards/sales returns/security and a few bits more. A few of those in the bigger Supervalue franchisees might have a better grasp on grocery, but it is not a big enough knowledge base on which to earn a living as a consultant.

Interesting look at the idea of what's required of a consultant just from the nuts and bolts of a manager's job right there. After my business went to the wall, I took whatever I could get. And the most notable thing was the difference between the duties of a store manager in a multiple (Big Brand supermarket) versus that of a SuperValu manager.

The SuperValu guy worked his arse off in almost all areas of the store, with an almost complete knowledge of each and every department and could identify issues before they arose. His opposite number in the very large supermarket, sat in a small office, and emerged every now and then, to "walk the store" with his Assistant Manager, convey the requirements and let the Assistant pass it on. Everything "just was" and his job seemed to be to ensure it stayed that way. I honestly couldn't identify what work the guy did.

So, like pedroeibar1 says above, it was obvious to me that I couldn't consult on a large scale, and anyway, many small retailers didn't want or value the service. So I then looked at the possibility of specialising in customer service.

Three+ years ago I stopped smoking and replaced them with an e-cig. Most of the retailers had online stores and did their jobs quite well, and for some of them the next obvious step was to open a bricks and mortar store.

In the vaping business there are basically two retail formats. There's the model of a kiosk in a shopping centre or supermarket, where they sell the basic equipment to uninformed customers. Then there's the "Vape Shop" where an expert will sell the best equipment, explain how to use the complicated features and provide a hundred different top quality liquids. What seemed to be missing in both of these operations was the retailer. It was a sort of "Geek or nothing" situation.

The new Vape Shops hired people based on their vaping knowledge, not their retail experience or personalities. The owners had no retail experience either so I approached some of them with a view to training their staff in service and setting up a programme. Nobody was biting.

Over the last couple of years I've seen where they've fallen down and lost money. But their lack of experience hides that fact from them.

Anyway, I didn't have the wherewithal to market myself well, so, rightly or wrongly, I gave up on the idea. I mean, what was I going to do, hire a marketing consultant? :rolleyes: !!!!

Shooter_galway

DubTony wrote: »

Interesting look at the idea of what's required of a consultant just from the nuts and bolts of a manager's job right there. After my business went to the wall, I took whatever I could get. And the most notable thing was the difference between the duties of a store manager in a multiple (Big Brand supermarket) versus that of a SuperValu manager.

The SuperValu guy worked his arse off in almost all areas of the store, with an almost complete knowledge of each and every department and could identify issues before they arose. His opposite number in the very large supermarket, sat in a small office, and emerged every now and then, to "walk the store" with his Assistant Manager, convey the requirements and let the Assistant pass it on. Everything "just was" and his job seemed to be to ensure it stayed that way. I honestly couldn't identify what work the guy did.

So, like pedroeibar1 says above, it was obvious to me that I couldn't consult on a large scale, and anyway, many small retailers didn't want or value the service. So I then looked at the possibility of specialising in customer service.

Three+ years ago I stopped smoking and replaced them with an e-cig. Most of the retailers had online stores and did their jobs quite well, and for some of them the next obvious step was to open a bricks and mortar store.

In the vaping business there are basically two retail formats. There's the model of a kiosk in a shopping centre or supermarket, where they sell the basic equipment to uninformed customers. Then there's the "Vape Shop" where an expert will sell the best equipment, explain how to use the complicated features and provide a hundred different top quality liquids. What seemed to be missing in both of these operations was the retailer. It was a sort of "Geek or nothing" situation.

The new Vape Shops hired people based on their vaping knowledge, not their retail experience or personalities. The owners had no retail experience either so I approached some of them with a view to training their staff in service and setting up a programme. Nobody was biting.

Over the last couple of years I've seen where they've fallen down and lost money. But their lack of experience hides that fact from them.

Anyway, I didn't have the wherewithal to market myself well, so, rightly or wrongly, I gave up on the idea. I mean, what was I going to do, hire a marketing consultant? :rolleyes: !!!!

" National" stores do not operate all in the mould of Dunne's stores which slot of what you say is true, as someone has spent a year in that store dept managers work very hard and do work their arses off as you say.. not all stores have ho that send out merchandising floor plans a lot of other stores require managment and staff do merchandise each store according to what suits each store. I know in the stores I worked in my knowledge was of each dept and you had to know the ins and outs of everything and plan ahead to maximise sales such as expectation of warm weather.

When I left Dunne's I had multiple offers from various retailers of positions as Dunne's make managers work their hands to the bone unless they are more senior who I concur sit in an office shouting instructions.

As pedroeibar1 has stated this is not an advert for services that I want the good folk of this forum to pay me for it was a means to get advice and to get some ideas as to help identify if there is a need for this type of service, and if anyone needed advice as I wanted to see if it could be done from my point of view so if a mod wishes to close this I have no problem.

pedroeibar1 id be e keen to hear of your own experience with this as I appreciate you obviously have some experience in this area and may be able to advise me on exactly what you think this should entail so feel free to pm me.

FAILSAFE 00

I've no experience of retail consultancy but I can tell you I have sat in front of many business owners and told them my fee and watched the blood drain from their face

They quickly say they can't afford my fee. When I ask how many customers they need to get to recoup my fee they usually say just 1 or 2 but still can't see it has an investment.

I even had one business owner that was going abroad to help build a school for a poor village somewhere in Africa. The owner said he needed to keep his money for the project so couldn't invest X in my fee and wanted me to take a massive reduction in my fee. Then they say 'won't you think of the children'. They didn't mention that they fund raised for the project.

Nowadays I straight up ask what budget a prospective client has for a consultant. It saves a lot of time for both parties. I know within a few minutes if a business owner truly is a prospective client.

What's difficult is the businesses that need a consultant the most are usually the businesses that don't comprehend the value of a consultant.

pedroeibar1

Shooter_galway wrote: »

pedroeibar1 id be e keen to hear of your own experience with this as I appreciate you obviously have some experience in this area and may be able to advise me on exactly what you think this should entail so feel free to pm me.

It's years since I was directly involved in retail - I'm still 'associated' with a global retailer but in a non-retail capacity (risk management) - hence my interest. I don't do PMs on advice stuff as I believe it should be shared/open to scrutiny.

Unless you have built up a very good profile in the sector you would find it very tough to make a living. For anyone thinking about starting out it is important to build your profile/image by getting noticed, being available for media comment, conference speaking, writing articles in trade mags, etc. If you are not in employment get a website, write articles for it, get endorsements, get noticed! If what you write is ‘off’ – not just content, but also spelling/punctuation/grammar, you are killing your image. You are only as good as your image / last job – screw up and it will be broadcast.

Shooter_galway

pedroeibar1 wrote: »

It's years since I was directly involved in retail - I'm still 'associated' with a global retailer but in a non-retail capacity (risk management) - hence my interest. I don't do PMs on advice stuff as I believe it should be shared/open to scrutiny.

Well can you elaborate more on the areas you feel I should be concentrating on with your knowledge of the industry that would be appealing to business owners?