Geoff Neal

CHALLENGE
Vision: "Create the world's leading business growth system."

SOLUTION
> I was fortunate to have been exposed to most of the competitor's programs as a business owner.
> I also conducted in-depth interviews with SMEs to understand the true pain points and desires.
> The insight was that there were many gaps in the market. We addressed them all, especially these 5 key ones:
- They did not deliver strategic growth techniques (only operational… Show more

CHALLENGE
Vision: "Create the world's leading business growth system."

SOLUTION
> I was fortunate to have been exposed to most of the competitor's programs as a business owner.
> I also conducted in-depth interviews with SMEs to understand the true pain points and desires.
> The insight was that there were many gaps in the market. We addressed them all, especially these 5 key ones:
- They did not deliver strategic growth techniques (only operational improvement). We do both.
- They only included the owner, so staff were not upskilled or sold on new ideas. Our price includes 4-5 senior staff as well.
- There were often many businesses in the same course which meant slower progress and less honesty. We made it one-to-one with their business only.
- The typical price point of $25,000 - $35,000 was beyond almost all SMEs. We created clever ways to hit the hot $10k pricepoint ($5k after a full NZTE voucher).
- There was no accountability, so usually, nothing happened. We built accountability and action throughout the program.
> The research and validation also allowed us to optimise the delivery structure in many different ways to maximise learning, action, and behavioural change. These techniques are somewhat confidential, but I am happy to discuss them in person.
> Overall it took two years, 300,000 words and almost $1 million to build.

RESULTS
> All eight pilot businesses rated it as superior to competing offerings, as have paying clients since.
> The product was quickly qualified by NZTE under their Capability Development Scheme.
> We were able to hit the $10k price point while still allowing enough margin for Spring and channel partners to earn a fair income.
> The end-result is an exceptional strategy program that delivers many multiples more than its price tag. Show less

CHALLENGE
1) MBIE and Auckland Plus (now ATEED) had spent $300,000 on the Plato Programme from Brussels, but had completely dropped the ball.
2) The first group folded. Our second group kept going great, and continually refined the system.
3) But after six years and several retirements, we needed an injection of fresh energy to keep the concept going.

SOLUTION
> Out of the big four, Deloitte were leaders in the SME space with their Fast 50 Awards but a) the engagement was… Show more

CHALLENGE
1) MBIE and Auckland Plus (now ATEED) had spent $300,000 on the Plato Programme from Brussels, but had completely dropped the ball.
2) The first group folded. Our second group kept going great, and continually refined the system.
3) But after six years and several retirements, we needed an injection of fresh energy to keep the concept going.

SOLUTION
> Out of the big four, Deloitte were leaders in the SME space with their Fast 50 Awards but a) the engagement was only yearly and b) only for the few who made it back in.
> I delivered a proposal to Deloitte that this could be the monthly engagement system that they were after.
> They delivered a counter proposal within just one week. (EY were very interested too, but moved too slow).

RESULTS
> The DPC is now New Zealand's leading SME networking event.
> It has since been rolled out to six locations: Auckland, Hamilton, Rotorua, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin.
> Deloitte Partners are "very happy" with how it is running. It strengthens their SME positioning, gives their staff a level of SME empathy which their competitors can't match, and does lead to a few great clients too. Show less

CHALLENGE
1) Kagi's web store was performing well, but the business had no direct physical sales channel to consumers outside of bi-annual clearance sales. This made it very hard for the business to develop new merchandising strategies and gain essential retail insights to better support our retailers.

2) I had negotiated Westfield down from $108,599 rent/year to $84,859 which was apparently unheard of at the time. However, a) this rent was still very high for 20sqm b) they wanted a… Show more

CHALLENGE
1) Kagi's web store was performing well, but the business had no direct physical sales channel to consumers outside of bi-annual clearance sales. This made it very hard for the business to develop new merchandising strategies and gain essential retail insights to better support our retailers.

2) I had negotiated Westfield down from $108,599 rent/year to $84,859 which was apparently unheard of at the time. However, a) this rent was still very high for 20sqm b) they wanted a five-year commitment c) they wanted a fit-out spend ~$150k d) they took a % of sales over a certain threshold and e) reserved the right to ratchet up rent as they saw fit.

SOLUTION
> I negotiated a win-win deal with NZRPG at Milford Mall.
> Despite only have a third the foot traffic (2.8m vs 9m at Albany), the quality of customer was higher, there were fewer competitors (2 vs 11), and there were almost as many feeder women's fashion stores (13 vs 18).

RESULTS
> I negotiated an exceptional lease:
- Centre mall position.
- 17.5 sqm (originally 15sqm).
- $22k annual rent or 12% of net sales (originally $33,600 and 15% net sales + 6% marketing).
- 7m + 5m renewal (originally 6m + 3y + 3y).
- 1 month rent holiday.
- Free car parking for staff.
> Set up the store in under three months and $20,000 budget.
> It became Milford Mall’s top performer per square metre for 12 months running.
> Generated ~$150,000 net profit in year one alone.
> The payback period on sunk costs was just two months. Show less

CHALLENGE
Kagi was losing $300,000 per year on just $300,000 of sales, and the founder was not even taking a salary yet. The options were to keep pumping it up with her family's money or shut it down. I was asked to come into the business and turn it around, ideally within just 6 months.

SOLUTION
> Drop one of the two brands (Miss.g) so that the focus and limited resources could return to the much stronger Kagi brand.
> Drop half of the underperforming products (mostly the… Show more

CHALLENGE
Kagi was losing $300,000 per year on just $300,000 of sales, and the founder was not even taking a salary yet. The options were to keep pumping it up with her family's money or shut it down. I was asked to come into the business and turn it around, ideally within just 6 months.

SOLUTION
> Drop one of the two brands (Miss.g) so that the focus and limited resources could return to the much stronger Kagi brand.
> Drop half of the underperforming products (mostly the fashion costume jewellery) as 300 SKUs is far too many for any $300k business.
> Drop half of the underperforming stores (including some big players like Kimberleys) and replace these with great new stores like Smith & Caughey's which could do >$50k wholesale/store/year.
> Bring in the operational discipline that was so desperately needed, especially around HR, finance, warehousing, dispatch, governance.
> Introduce strategic disciplines like competitor intelligence and market research to ensure that we designed only winning products from that point forward.
> Acting GM when needed.

RESULTS
> Profitability within a year and then salaries for the owners.
> 100% sales growth three years running (and with it awards on the Deloitte Fast 50 in each of those years).
> Created Kagi's original patented Jewel Carousel display system.
> Developed Kagi's innovative Mix & Match jewellery platform.
> Secured $180,000 NZTE grant to help fund export growth. Show less

CHALLENGE
The old www.kiwiexperience.com website was tired, and the legacy booking engine behind it was losing significant sales. In addition to this, the channel partners (booking agents) cost a lot to manage and took a significant margin as well. THL wanted to grow both sales and gross profits through selling more direct online.

SOLUTION
> Phase one was to launch some back-end quick wins on the old site to improve conversion rates in the booking pages.
> Phase two was to… Show more

CHALLENGE
The old www.kiwiexperience.com website was tired, and the legacy booking engine behind it was losing significant sales. In addition to this, the channel partners (booking agents) cost a lot to manage and took a significant margin as well. THL wanted to grow both sales and gross profits through selling more direct online.

SOLUTION
> Phase one was to launch some back-end quick wins on the old site to improve conversion rates in the booking pages.
> Phase two was to redesign the front-end of the website within some very difficult wireframe restraints.
> I also did the copy-writing and led on the creation of an interactive journey planner which was at the time a world first.
> In parallel with this, I also led on brand repositioning and new creative.

RESULTS
> The phase one quick wins doubled online sales per month and had a payback of just days.
> Once the full new website was live, sales leapt 5-fold, and often in the millions/month.
> Offered 8 contract extensions. Declined the 9th to help turn Kagi around. Show less

CHALLENGE
Ezy/Jucy rentals was growing rapidly at the lower-cost end of the market and this was hurting THL's more premium brands: Maui, Britz, and the lower cost Backpacker. The challenge was to compete aggressively with Ezy/Jucy to protect existing revenues, and also to grow market share if possible.

SOLUTION
> We inherited an ugly depot and fleet of vehicles but cleverly and cost-effectively kit them out in line with what young and budget-conscious consumers wanted.
>… Show more

CHALLENGE
Ezy/Jucy rentals was growing rapidly at the lower-cost end of the market and this was hurting THL's more premium brands: Maui, Britz, and the lower cost Backpacker. The challenge was to compete aggressively with Ezy/Jucy to protect existing revenues, and also to grow market share if possible.

SOLUTION
> We inherited an ugly depot and fleet of vehicles but cleverly and cost-effectively kit them out in line with what young and budget-conscious consumers wanted.
> I secured 0800 HIRE ME, created the "Explore More" brand name, and created the naming conventions for vehicle type which everyone loved. The "Rotovegas" vehicles were all black and given the nicknames or our sporting legends. The "Tron" vans were nicknamed after the driving legends in our sister company, Kiwi Experience, which helped secure their buy in too.

RESULTS
> Launched Explore More within 3 months from conception, on time, on budget.
> Doubled sales targets for the first 3 months.
> Quadrupled fleet size after 4 months to meet demand.
> Brand did its job and many years later was absorbed back into the Backpacker and Mighty brands. Show less