Client stories
Specific notes from engagements — not generic praise.
“They pushed us to test demand in Christchurch before we signed an Auckland warehouse lease. That single change saved a costly misread of our southern pipeline.”
“The partner shortlist was shorter than I expected, which was the point. We needed three serious conversations, not thirty polite ones. One introduction did not land — they said so quickly and moved on.”
“Our feasibility brief arrived with a conditional go, not a cheerleading memo. The open questions about provincial procurement cycles were uncomfortable and accurate.”
“We already sold in Auckland. The regional expansion plan for Wellington and Hamilton stopped us from cloning the same hire profile in both cities.”
Extended note: soft landing after a board pause
A European outdoor-equipment brand paused its New Zealand entry after an internal study showed optimistic retail assumptions. We ran a feasibility assessment focused on specialty retail density and distributor margins across Auckland and the upper North Island. The brief recommended a distributor-led path rather than owned retail for the first 18 months, with a shortlist of three counterparts and a clear list of margin structures that would make the model unworkable.
The board approved a smaller first-year budget. Soft-landing support then covered introductions, a landing checklist for bonded storage timing, and a hire sequence for one Auckland-based commercial lead. Twelve months on, the client remains distributor-led and has not opened owned stores — which matches the recommendation, even if it disappointed the original retail-heavy plan.