What you need to know before opening, reorganising or relaunching a business

The strategic audit is the first step in understanding whether a business can work, whether it is working, or where it is losing value and which actions really come first. It is a diagnosis of the project. In an audit I look at the relevant market (I work in the Italian and Romanian markets and in Tenerife), the numbers, costs, the offer, the target customer, the location, communications, processes and, above all, how the whole operation is organised. At the end of the analysis you have a clear view of where you stand and you know which actions to take first, without scattering time and money.

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Even before choosing a name or looking for suitable premises, you need to verify that the project is economically sustainable and has real room to grow. That means analysing the market, knowing the area and the target customer, studying the competition, and setting out the budget available and the business model. Without that information, opening immediately raises the risk of mistakes that are hard to put right later.

No: turning a good idea into a business calls for clear positioning, a sound set-up, sustainable economics, and well-defined operating procedures and growth plans. Success depends far more on the quality of the project and of the checks behind it than on an initial “winning” hunch.

Yes. In fact that is often the best moment to bring someone in. While the idea is still at an early stage, the project can be built the right way round, without having to correct mistakes that have already turned into costs. My job is to help you see whether the idea has potential, what is missing to make it real, and which steps are needed to turn it into a serious business that can grow over time.

Yes, and this is in fact the most important moment. The decisions taken before opening shape the future of the business: the premises, the investment, the target customer, the offer, prices, suppliers, staff, communications and the business model. Acting at this stage lets you test whether the project is sustainable, avoid costly mistakes and build solid foundations before committing time, capital and resources.

Location is a major strategic lever for a business. A site should not be judged on how appealing it looks: you have to analyse factors such as pedestrian and vehicle flows, visibility, competition, catchment area, ease of access, planning permissions and how well it matches the kind of business you want to open.

The best moment is before important decisions are taken: signing a lease on premises, joining a franchise, buying an existing business, investing in a refurbishment, hiring staff or launching a new project. In short, the best time to ask for strategic consulting is before taking on any financial commitment, precisely so that choices are not made on enthusiasm or urgency alone. Analysing the whole operating model first shows whether the investment is sustainable and what its prospects are.

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There are signals that point to the need to reorganise: margins falling, difficulty in coordinating staff, confusion over roles, recurring organisational problems, rising management stress, or simply the feeling that the company depends entirely on the owner. In these cases, acting promptly avoids more serious problems that are harder to correct.

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Every situation needs its own analysis: generally you start by assessing how the company is organised, whether it is economically sustainable, how it is positioned in the market, how efficient its processes are and how its people are managed. Only after that concrete analysis is it possible to build a relaunch plan that actually works.

It is the seven-phase method I developed over years of international experience on the ground, to take your idea or your premises and turn them into a business that is sustainable and profitable in the years ahead.

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Yes, because the work is organised around a method. It is just as effective, with the added advantage of saving time and cost: no travelling, more flexibility in scheduling meetings and an easier job of finding times that suit both sides. Where the project calls for it, the programme can be combined with site visits and meetings in person. In most cases, though, the first strategic analysis and much of the consulting work can be done online, quickly and effectively.

Yes. I also work with entrepreneurs and professionals looking at opening, relocating or growing a business abroad, particularly in places such as Tenerife, the Canary Islands more generally and Romania, each attractive for different reasons. In these cases I always recommend visiting the location together to assess it. Abroad, even within Europe, culture, habits and way of life are very different, and that inevitably weighs on a choice that also means changing your life.