Situation

 

You have a vast amount of data and a team that is very capable of producing it, they may be lacking in retail experience. In order to increase your profitability you want to analyse the data and highlight areas of opportunity. You need support people highly experienced in retail finance. You do not want to invest in new software or hardware solutions to achieve this goal.

 

What EbitWizard can do for you.

 

We can provide the retail expertise. We have years of experience in retail finance, supporting buying, operations and human resource teams. We will work with your teams, systems and data to provide you with analysis and suggest solutions.

 

In our experience companies spend large sums on consultancy and software, plus the inevitable hardware upgrade, when they already have the information they need. Significant improvement can be achieved by simply analysing the data and focusing on the elements that are performing below average. The example illustrated here is a simple but very effective way of highlighting the targets for improvement [float the mouse over the image]

 

The results you can expect.

 

You will have a better understanding of the performance and trends within your organisation and be able to focus on opportunities to make more profit with some valuable tools to help this happen.

 

Situation

 

You have a lot of data and a team that is very capable of producing it. In order to increase understanding you want to present the data in more visual ways that help to engage non-finance teams. You do not want to invest in new software or hardware solutions to achieve this goal. You almost certainly have the software you need already. The latest spreadsheets are very powerful and can be used to develop powerful reporting models and to develop prototypes.

 

What EbitWizard can do for you.

 

We have many years experience in retail finance, supporting buying, operations and human resource teams. We have developed many different ways to present and interpret data using the power already present in spreadsheet and database applications. We have the experience to save you many hours of development by working alongside your teams to develop these tools.

 

In our experience many organisations spend large sums on consultancy and software, plus the inevitable hardware upgrade, when they already have the information they need can achieve the majority of their requirements at a fraction of the cost. The model we help you develop can also be used as a template should you wish to invest in developing enterprise solutions. This gives you the advantage of working prototypes before you commit to major investment.

 

The example on the left takes a simple P&L for a site and, using the same data, creates a proportional Profit Diamond that highlights the areas of success and also the relative impact of each of the key variances [float the mouse over the image].

 

The example below is an interface built in a spreadsheet application. In this interface the user can select from the boxes in the first section and then keep selecting as the model builds across the page. Each box shows the variance and has a traffic light scheme to draw the users eye to areas of concern or opportunity. [float the mouse over to see the application build].

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The results you can expect.

 

You will have simple tools, that have been designed with you and your team that help your data become more accessible to the people that deliver the results. If used effectively you will make more profit through better decision making and understanding of the targets.

 

Situation

You are looking to develop a different way to present financial performance data to an audience of mixed financial understanding. You may want to create a different way to present data to a large audience where reading conventional slides can be difficult. You may want to use a large amount of data in a workshop environment to enable a better understanding of the detail.

 

What EbitWizard can do for you.

 

We can help you develop innovative ways of making financial data accessible to large audiences. We have developed a number of different ways of achieving this. An effective technique is to present and interpret performance in a format that is familiar to the audience, balancing the household budget for example. This technique can be mixed with more conventional financial performance information to increase understanding.

 

Using pictures to get the audience thinking has also proven to be very well received. This example uses a series of pictures to get the audience guessing and once the answer is revealed they are both informed, entertained and remember the key message. Making a finance presentation fun can be an achievement in itself.

 

For the workshop solution we have developed a number of spreadsheet based models that create interactive graphical interfaces. The presenter can select different elements of data to help answer questions or illustrate and explore trends 'live' in the workshop.

 

The example here manages to provide the following information trended over time:

 

Sales cash this year

Sales cash last year

Sales volume this year

Sales volume last year

Wastage this year (either in % or £)

Wastage last year (either in % or £)

Average item price this year

Average item price last year

In addition the model enables the presenter to drill down from total business to category and then class within that category and by geographical area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The results you can expect.

 

You will quickly gain a reputation for providing engaging financial presentations. You will make more profit because your audience will retain more of the key messages you are communicating. The workshop sessions will be more efficient and, by investigating issues live in the meeting, you and your team will be more efficient and effective.

Situation

 

Either

You have a bonus scheme in place and want to increase the incentive to increase profit. You feel that the scheme is rewarding people for doing what they have always done rather than for improving their performance or the profitability of their site or department. You may feel your current scheme rewards people for implementing short term rather than sustainable measures.

 

Or

You want to create a bonus scheme that provides a true incentive to make more profit in a way that is sustainable and rewards the right business practices.

 

 

What EbitWizard can do for you.

 

We can provide the retail expertise and data support. We have years of experience in retail finance, supporting operations and human resource teams develop bonus schemes. We can support and advise on both the design, the measures and model the potential payout.

In our experience businesses typically have schemes that reward historical performance. It is not necessarily wrong to do so however is continually rewarding the areas that have always delivered the profit going to make more profit? Can you provide a scheme that rewards improvement? Can you provide a scheme that rewards performance in lead indicators, leading to sustained improvement in profit and standards? In any multisite organisation with a site-specific scheme you could pay bonus to some sites while the overall profit does not increase. We can advise in advance how much this could be and ways to reduce exposure.

 

The results you can expect.

 

You will have a bonus scheme that rewards the teams or individuals that make more profit. You will be able to reward the, more difficult to measure, lead indicators that deliver sustained improvement. You will understand the size of the non self-funding element of your scheme.

Situation

 

You are considering your strategic plan. You need support of experienced retailers to advise and support with your 'what if' evaluations.

 

You want to reduce costs and are reviewing your headcount and the size of your labour bill.

 

You are looking to acquire another business and want the support of experienced retailers to complement the advisors you already have.

 

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What EbitWizard can do for you.

 

We can provide the retail expertise. In our network we have hundreds of years retail experience. Including

 

● Retail Finance - Supporting both retail operations, buying and HR teams in developing smart target strategies and evaluating the impact and timing of cost reduction initiatives.

● Operations - Implementing major change programs and assessing and implementing field and store structure reviews.

● Buying - Creating and implementing negotiation, merchandising and pricing strategies

● Merchandising - Creating and designing both macro and micro space strategies

 

Reviewing your headcount to drive out increased efficiencies can be a difficult and emotional exercise. We have the experience to support you both in creating in-house efficiencies that reduce non-productive or wasted hours and in working with you or a third party to implement labour modelling tools. We can help you avoid many of the pitfalls that you may encounter.

 

If you are considering acquiring a retail business, we can support you with assessment of the retail proposition and analysis of the risks and opportunities contained in performance data you have been provided.

 

The results you can expect.

 

You will be confident that you have considered the options available to you and be in the best position to make more profit, you will have rejected impractical alternatives.

 

You will be in the best position to implement a major efficiency drive understand the costs and timing to achieve your goal.

Situation

 

 

Either

You have a business or strategic plan but you struggle to know week in and week out how you should be performing. You want to know whether current performance is likely to deliver the target for this year.

 

 

Or

You have budgets in place but want to improve their relevance both in terms of annual patterns and item or site detail.

 

 

 

 

 

What EbitWizard can do for you.

 

We can provide the retail expertise and data support. We have years of experience in retail finance, calculating and allocating budgets. We can help you take your annual targets and devise a budet at the appropriate level of detail to ensure you have realistic targets for each week of your financial year.

In our experience businesses typically have budgets that based on historical performance. Whilst this is the most pragmatic solution it can perpetuate poor performance or over-stretch resources. We can help you create a budget that targets improvement and helps make more profit by ensuring annual trends are accurately reflected. We can help you devise techniques to allocate cost and profit budgets that are based on current needs rather than historical performance.

 

The results you can expect.

 

You will have a budget that helps you track and forecast performance from the start of your financial year. You will have a greater opportunity to make more profit through a better understanding of where you are in your plan. You will be in a better position to avoid surprises at the end of a financial year and be able to take action to address poor performance or exploit opportunities.