Product margins on certain products were in the single digits and became unprofitable during special retailer promotion. Items were trial-size products, and the company needed to get more of these products in the hands of consumers. Production was very labor-intensive and antiquated, which diminished profit on the products. Company did not have financial resources for new state-of-the-art system to increase capacity and margins.

Eliminated outer packaging materials on product, which saved $400,000+. Authorized investment in automated equipment, renegotiated all packaging materials with vendors to reduce costs on all products and redesigned packaging using more cost-effective materials.

Increased product margin 15%, delivering additional $800,000 in revenue and reduced new equipment cost 70% within six months. Increased margins enabled increase in promotions for trial-size products.

Company was in a deficit position, experiencing cash flow problems and frequently paying all vendors late. No controls/processes for spending existed in manufacturing, distribution, procurement and sales promotions. Company culture promoted buying more to get a better deal regardless of whether all the resources/materials were needed. Frequent redirection of decisions caused large obsolete inventories and raw materials. Company was not able to write off or liquidate at a breakeven position.

Immediately put a hold on spending in all departments. Consolidated two warehouses to one. Department heads were assigned dollar value of savings their department needed to generate. Renegotiated contracts with corrugate, glass, wax, fragrance and shipping companies to secure additional savings. Authorized putting in a just-in-time inventory strategy to burn down excess raw materials. Ceased acceptance of price increases and cycle-counting shipments from vendors. Eliminated wasteful company travel. Negotiated better phone system rates. Eliminated gift agency sales force and reduced commissions on FDM brokers. Company decided to sell manufacturing building and lease back the building for three years. Negotiated long-term contracts with retailers to amortize cost over several years.

Achieved breakeven in first six months tenure with the company, and generated more than $1.5 million in savings. Reduced SGA by 15%, and saved 12-18% on freight, corrugated, and fragrance materials. Boosted inventory accuracy from 68% to 98.5%. Increased EBIDTA in second year from breakeven to 15%. Additional cost cutting in manufacturing and overhead is targeted to reach target of 30-33% EBIDTA.

Canadian division was experiencing double-digit sales declines and had been an unprofitable division for more than three years. Company placed no strategic focus on this division, based on its sales/profit contribution to the company. New products were always introduced a year later in this marketplace. President of the division limited the number of resources provided to grow business.

As National Director of Sales/Marketing, restructured external and internal sales teams and marketing departments. Eliminated duplicate broker organizations calling on similar accounts. Realigned reporting relationship to improve communication up and down the chain of command. Refocused selling organization to key marketing/trade strategies that tied into strategic plan. Authorized additional training for all sales personnel to promote a fact-based selling organization. Created category management department to aid trade partners in this area. Implemented a new account planning process, emphasizing account P&Ls and account productivity. Refocused corporate advertising campaign to focus on more male products than female products. Authorized new product launch strategy to coincide with the US.

Delivered 20% profit increase in first year of leadership in the division, and increased sales more than 50% within two years. Grew yearly business with Wal-Mart, Costco, and Shoppers Drug by double digits two consecutive years. President of the division was impressed at the new opportunities that now existed in Canada and how the country could deliver profits with the correct strategic plan.

Company needed to expand its market penetration in the Food, Drug and Mass (FDM) class of trade due to declining sales in the gift channel side of the business, but was unfamiliar with how these trade channels operated. Current sales personnel did not have the necessary skill sets to drive business in this channel. Internal structure of the company was not set up to support the demands of this trade class.

Authorized hiring of three regional directors with classic pedigree consumer products background and skill sets to sell in FDM class. Hired regional broker organizations that were familiar with major regional accounts and had many contacts within these accounts. Authorized realignment/training of Customer Service department to understand how FDM customers operated. Initiated training sessions for manufacturing and distribution employees to understand how these large customers operated. Authorized and created new position of Director of Sales Operations to ensure clear and concise communication to internal personnel and external customers.

Sales grew 46% in first six months. Market share grew from 5.7% in 2003 to 14.2% by the end of 2004. Communication between sales, manufacturing and distribution improved. Company’s account base began to grow and more focus was placed on larger accounts. Recommended personnel and restructuring of lines of responsibility established foundation for future expansion/growth of the company.

Company needed to grow market share and product distribution rapidly in preparation to possibly sell company in two to three years, but executive team was unfamiliar with how to drive national market share. Company had previously only focused on small accounts that were not capable of driving national market share. Company would not invest in external syndicated data companies to provide tools to track market share. Sales staff needed data to aid them in presentations.

Negotiated a contract with broker organizations to provide raw analytical data needed to track market share. Authorized hiring of a business analyst to interpret the data for use in selling presentations. Changed sales/promotional strategy to focus on promoting items three times per quarter and focus on “A” events. Authorized additional spending to secure long-term, national retail-chain contracts for products. Hired sales people nationwide to focus on large-chain distribution. Directed VP of Marketing to design aggressive selling promotions like “Buy One, Get One” offers and value-added packs to incent trial and awareness among consumers. Hired a marketing consultant to define company’s unique selling proposition compared to competitors.

Market share in the Food Class of trade increased by 400% in two years. Market share in the Drug class of trade increased by 123% in two years. Dollar share in Top 10 accounts grew more than 60% in the latest 52-week data. More focus is now required on larger drug and mass merchandiser accounts to grow share even more rapidly.

Company was growing very rapidly and could not continue to self-fund its growth. Cash flow was tight due material cost to support increasing customer orders. Line of credit was not significant enough to handle large seasonal orders as well as large new accounts. Lending institution was not comfortable increasing credit line due to inaccuracies in inventory levels.

Created a three-year strategic plan for the lending institution to illustrate long-term growth plan. Directed CFO to produce a cash-flow analysis to show the bank when and how much line increase was needed. Presented to the bank the timing of acquisition for new accounts, as well as an inventory control process that was implemented to improve inventory accuracy. Company sold manufacturing facility and leased the building back for three years. Directed VP of R&D to design more seasonal products that would sell in the first and second quarters of the year to boost cash flow.

Lending institution increased company’s credit line by 70% on an everyday basis, plus additional increases to meet opening orders of any large national accounts. Bank also approved 50% increase in capital expenditure budget for new equipment needed, and would continue to work with the company as long as quarterly projections and covenants were met.

Company continued to have breakdown/miscommunication with manufacturing, distribution and operations, which paralyzed the decision-making process to meet deadlines for customers and directly affected profitability. Lack of a strategic/operating plan provided no direction for the leadership team to follow.

As Global President, designed and presented strategic plan and operating plan to the senior leadership team (SLT) and the rest of the company. Assigned goals and objectives to all department heads, and held strategic biweekly meetings with SLT to discuss progress. Created monthly meetings with entire company to discuss successes and additional areas of focus. Developed a communication system through which all employees could bring ideas/suggestions forward. During sales meetings, representatives from manufacturing, distribution, operations and purchasing were present to help improve communication.

Speed of action by all departments was quickly instituted. Mistakes due to miscommunication from sales to manufacturing, distribution and purchasing diminished by 90%. Savings of $300,000 was experienced in first six months by following the plan established for manufacturing and distribution. Company culture grew more positive as people realized they are empowered to make decisions and will be held accountable for those decisions

Company market share and distribution levels in new accounts were flat and beginning to decline, and significantly impacted profitability. Company had a one-dimensional product strategy, and current product portfolio did not reach across a broad consumer demographic, which dissuaded retailers.

Authorized consumer focus groups to understand the latest trends/products consumers were looking for in home décor. Conducted strategic meetings with top retailers to understand where their candle category focus was heading. Implemented a “good, better, best” product strategy, which provided key price points for all major lines. Authorized development of four new product lines that took advantage of current niche/trends such as Hispanic, spa, patio and NASCAR lines.

Successfully positioned company as vendor of choice with larger national accounts because of broader price points. New product lines generated 22% increase in top-line sales, opened additional distribution channels and sparked boost in company’s market share from 5.7% to 14.20% in 2004 nationally.

Company needed to launch two major new products to help achieve sales/profit growth objectives. Competitor’s technology/product pipeline could launch before company’s products were ready, and competitor had larger advertising budget. Needed to identify and fill a consumer niche that competitor’s product did not.

Convinced senior marketing personnel of the need to launch both male and female version of razor products. Both had to be launched simultaneously and before competitor, and each needed its own Unique Selling Proposition (USP). Developed customer marketing strategy for both items. Implemented post-promotion review process and trade-funding process to monitor budget compliance. Designed a pre-pack process to reduce warehouse SKU fragmentation for new items. Developed strategic new-item plans for Wal-Mart, Target and Kmart.

Two new items delivered sales exceeding $41 million in first year and beat the competition to market. Wal-Mart and Target supported the new items with opening orders of more than $3 million. Success of the initial launch prompted company to make strategic decision to increase advertising in order to keep pace with the competition’s strong presence in the category.

Company had a high rate of on-the-job injuries in manufacturing facility and distribution center, which increased healthcare and workers’ compensation costs in excess of 35% per year. No formal safety awareness programs were in place to focus on this issue. If rate of injuries continued to rise, company would have to reduce medical benefits offered to all employees to offset the rising cost.

Hired Safety Director to bring more awareness and focus to the situation. Directed creation of a safety program that incented employees for recognizing potential safety issues daily. Established awards program for all employees when certain safety benchmarks were reached. Coordinated monthly company meetings to review/update the group on successes to date. Authorized hiring of outside safety agency to identify areas for improvement (i.e., mock OSHA inspection).

Achieved 50% reduction in overall injuries, workers’ compensation, OSHA lost-time injuries and OSHA job-restricted injuries, saving company more than $150,000. Safety procedures became permanent company policy. Realized immediate reductions in healthcare costs.

Current culture in the company was based on a strong entitlement/seniority system. No clearly delineated organizational goals/objectives were in place, no clear strategic direction was given from senior directors to the employees, and no performance-evaluation and goal-setting process existed. Performance appraisals and merit increases were not given to all employees. There was a high level of favoritism for employees who had long tenure with the company.

Reorganized Human Resources Department by hiring a director of HR whose skill sets were consistent with that of a consumer products company. Established yearly performance appraisal process wherein all employees were evaluated fairly. Eliminated entitlement and seniority expectations in employee evaluations. Established management objectives linked into every director’s goals, which tied into company’s strategic plan. Directed senior leadership team to develop mission statement, principles and values for the company to embrace. Restructured reporting relationship so managers would be accountable in ensuring all goals were completed.

Immediate result was increased motivation level: employees felt part of the solution and success of the company. Productivity in manufacturing and distribution increased. Errors in shipping and manufacturing declined. Company EBIDTA returned to breakeven in first six months based on goals achieved that were set to drive down costs. Company embraced commitment to setting annual goals and communicating them to the entire organization.

One of the company’s go-to-market strategy objectives was to grow sales and profits by double digits through focus on large national accounts. Manufacturing was concerned about its ability to fill initial pipeline orders.

Manufacturing facility had physical and financial resource limitations to increase production. Older antiquated equipment and lack of trained personnel put critical limitations on the plant. Credit line for working capital was not high enough to meet opening orders for large accounts. Manufacturing took too long to produce product to meet delivery times of larger customers.

Renegotiated with lending institution to increase credit line on any new national accounts. Authorized VP of Manufacturing to begin carrying/building additional inventory. Second shift would prep the plant the night before to limit downtime on the main line. Authorized purchase of two more pouring heads to be added to the main line. Closed the distance between each pouring head to add more heads. Expanded running the main line through breaks and lunch. Authorized training additional people to work on the main line. Negotiated and set up contracts with outside manufacturers to produce any overflow production.

Increased capacity/production by 30% without investing in any additional machinery. Redesign of pouring process boosted main line production from 5,300 jars a day to 8,200+ jars, which lowered overhead on the main line by 13%. Manufacturing is able to deliver current account capacity to date. Planning continues for future growth, including investment in additional state-of-the-art pouring lines.