1.Situation

In MYPRODUCT20 I detailed how in 2007 I became Sales Marketing Director at Spicul, a company with tradition in the bakery’s industry. I was the first employee of New Spicul, a green field project based with a new production’s facility in Chitila / Rudeni, impressive by the capacity and versatility of the production lines that allowed to enter in new market segments (bread, sliced bread, pasta, biscuits, flour, crackers, pastry, Japanese pancakes) and targeted the modern retail (hypermarket, supermarket) with key investments in key account management, logistics, marketing and sales.

From a professionally perspective, this project represented a huge challenge for me, but due to significant delays in the production area the product ranges did not actually come out from the production lines. So I realized soon that from a professional point of view, staying in New Spicul would be representing a potential stagnation and a gap in my CV, reason why I decided to present my resignation.

It turned out that my analysis and decision was correct because the New Spicul’s problems became more acute, afterwards the company entered in the insolvency and bankruptcy procedure, so in 2016 Spicul factory was bought by Vel Pitar.

2.Task

This experience of collaborating with Spicul was not singular.

So at the end of 2012 I was contacted by an audit / consulting company that launched to me the invitation to be involved in developing a feasibility study for … surprise Spicul!

3.Action

Obviously, my previous experience in Spicul was a defining element based on which I was co-opted to carry out this study concerning an investment in a wheat mill.

The main reason for this investment was the vertical integration of a production facility that allowed access to raw materials for Spicul bakery products at lower costs than the purchase of these raw materials from a third source.

The purpose of the study was to examine the existing situation, to assess the financing and operating needs and to justify the investment in terms of market share, volume, price positioning, gross margins and finally profitability.

4.Results

In this study, the areas that I directly addressed / delivered were the following:

-business model: actual Spicul, production facilities, products, customers, sales and distribution, brands and promotion, suppliers

-investment in the wheat mill

– market analyse and strategy: main competitors, markets (bread, biscuit, flour, pasta, cakes, starch, gluten), sales per customer, sales per product groups, sales per market segments, Spicul vs competitors

-management, staffing, organization chart, competencies

-potential development: volumes, market shares, company positioning in active markets on medium term

-barriers, critical factors, risk factors.

The other collaborators involved in the study covered:

– presentation of investment from technical and industrial aspects

-requirements related to production activities

-financial forecasts

The study key findings / conclusions were defined with the participation of all consultants.

5.Key Leanings

In general, professional challenges are directly related to the current job responsibilities.

But there are professional opportunities that can occur in parallel with your current work.

In such situations it is important to find the availability to be involved in projects that exceed the current job because these projects give you the possibility of additional financial gains and offer you the opportunity to get out from current professional routine.

Notification: MYPRODUCT reflects my real professional experience and expertise as well as my subjectivity. I do have a profound respect for all the companies I collaborated to and for all the people I worked with. It is not my intention to approach any sensitive, confidential or offending information related to companies, projects or people. If you the reader deduct or recognise companies, projects or people in my examples, I kindly ask you to respect MYPRODUCT and my professional and ethic approach and to not share any detail, information, situation, name, company.