The Growth Factory

Assignment : Category Building, Business Development & Business Management

Duration : June 2013 to June 2017

Opportunity:
A new product, a category by itself, was created by three partners who had expertise and experience in Plastics and Electronics. They created the product using ultrasound technology which irritates and drives away pests such as rats, rodents, cockroaches, silver fish etc. With their collective experience in manufacturing they were easily able to develop the circuitry, create the moulds and manufacture the product.

Challenge:
The challenge was entirely in the marketing domain – a non-existent category in India (Electronic Pest Repellents), a couple of very low cost Chinese products creating the impression of a fly-by-night product, low quantum of resources for marketing and brand building (being a start-up venture), scepticism about effectiveness of the technology in driving away pests etc.

Solution:
TGF added value on various fronts – guided market research, appointment of advertising agency, gave inputs on product name & packaging design. Thereafter, providing execution support, TGF created B2B sales opportunities and helped in sales reaching 300 units per month at healthy profit margins. Thus a foundation was laid in the first year which was capitalized on, in the second & third year. The third year saw the company reaching sales of Rs.18 crores with multiple sales channels – online, teleshopping, corporate gifting, airport counter sales etc. New products had also been introduced with the objective of creating a strong portfolio of products in the same space.

In July 2017, business operations were handed back to the owners, bringing closure to a successful Build-Operate-Transfer effort by TGF.

Assignment : Expansion of Sales Channel from Offline Channels to Online, Ecommerce Channels, Online Strategy, Team Development

Duration : April 2015 to September 2016

Opportunity :
Our Client was an importer and distributor of a mid-size brand of kitchen appliances. In 2015, the company was heavily dependent on offline sales channels – wholesalers and distributors. In general, Online & Ecommerce sales was looking up and the management was aware of its potential.

Challenge :
The knowhow to introduce an online sales channel was lacking.

Solution :
TGF entered the picture and convinced the management that it was important to take the brand online and sell directly to consumers. An advantage was the fact that channel conflict was not a major obstacle for the company. TGF contributed in creating a lean, competent team for driving online sales. The entire gamut of activities – listing of products on e-commerce portals, pricing, inventory projections, order fulfilment, reconciliation of accounts, relationship development with executives of various e-comm portals was driven by this team under the guidance & close supervision of TGF. New product range opportunities were also identified enabling the client to expand the product range.

The investment in E-commerce reached monthly operating breakeven within the first year and started making money in the second financial year. The business was handed back to the owner in September 2016. The business has continued to grow significantly and the brand was also recognised by Flipkart as one of the top sellers in its category.

Assignment : Establishment of New Clinic, Organisation Development, Marketing of Brand, Debt Financing of Operations

Duration : September 2015 to September 2016

Opportunity :
India’s first (and possibly only) chain of orthodontic clinics wanted to pilot the establishment of a clinic dedicated exclusively to orthodontic treatment (braces) and also wanted the clinic operated by a professional team.

Challenge :
The challenge for the client was lack of bandwidth available to the three Doctor-Partners for executing the pilot project.

Solution :
TGF team helped the client create a business plan for the project, acquire debt funding for the same, identify good locations for the clinic in shortlisted suburbs, negotiate and sign up the rental agreements, recruit the clinic team including specialist orthodontists, sign up digital agency for online promotions etc. Within 9 months of launching the clinic, it became evident that significantly higher marketing budgets would be required to get the clinic to an operating break-even point. The client did not wish to go the long haul to make this work and hence this effort was discontinued by the client.

Assignment : Establishment of Mumbai Operations, Recruitment and Management of Sales Team, New Business Development, Relationship Management with Schools, Book Publishers etc.

Duration : September 2017 to Date

Opportunity :
Our client is a third generation entrepreneur running a 70 year old business of school book distribution, headquartered in Hyderabad. With the induction of GST in the country, it became possible to conceive a hub and spoke model for the business, with the centrally located Hyderabad operations becoming a central distribution hub for distributing school books across the entire country. In line with this plan, the client wished to start establishing front-end sales operations in various cities commencing with Mumbai.

Challenge :
Management bandwidth was the main constraint facing the client.

Solution :
TGF in the last two and a half years has established the Mumbai office, the sales and supply chain teams along-with their respective managers, and also acquired several prestigious schools as customers in the first two seasons of operation. In the coming year, the business is expected to cross a turnover of Rs.10 crores and reach operating breakeven.

Assignment : Helping a 50 year old sugar co-operative in Maharashtra launch a packaged sugar brand and build retail distribution for the brand.

Duration : November 2018 till date

Opportunity : Our client is a strong sugar co-operative based in Kopargaon, Maharashtra with a progressive mind-set. With only 5% of the total sugar sold in India being in packaged form in 2018, our client saw an opportunity to create a packaged sugar brand in Maharashtra.

Challenge : Lack of know-how on branding, packaging, building retail distribution etc were the main challenge facing the client.

Solution : TGF provided valuable inputs w.r.t various critical processes such as – consumer research to understand consumer behaviour regarding purchase of sugar, branding, packaging design, pricing, pack sizes etc – required for the successful launch of packaged sugar. TGF helped build the sales leadership & sales teams required for covering thousands of retail outlets across Maharashtra in a systematic manner. The above activities culminated in the successful launch of Amrut Sugar during lockdown in May 2020. Presently TGF is helping with the ongoing activities for building distribution width & depth and building the product portfolio

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