Change is the only constant. Although you have heard this phrase several times, there was a need to repeat it here. In normal circumstances, you hardly notice that change occurring. But when it storms you suddenly in a pandemic situation, you feel its presence heightened by a million degrees. Such was its onslaught during the last two years that there was barely anyone left unaffected by it.
The Indian retail industry was one of them severely affected by it. Already fighting with the international eCommerce giants, it had no option but to innovate overnight—those who did not are there to tell the tale.
So, what was the difference between the emergent successful retail companies and those who failed completely?
The answer is simple, Your Retail Coach (YRC), the professional management consultant and one of the most satisfactory and outstanding global brand managers of businesses.
Today, under the extraordinary leadership of Nikhil Agarwal, Founder and Chief Operations Officer (COO) and Dr Rupal Shah Agarwal, Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer (CSO), YRC is upgrading the definition of business management consultancy.
Nikhil’s answer is, “Outstanding people have one thing in common: An absolute sense of mission. What makes you tick us? A ceaseless drive to achieve greatness.”
At YRC, a company based out of Pune, Nikhil, Rupal and their team do this with style, alacrity, and a dauntless spirit. And coffee. Lots of coffee.
Nikhil elaborates, “We always strive for your success and our own. But we don’t just give it away. We are always challenging ourselves to learn, and our retail business consulting services help our clients write their own success stories.”
Nikhil has done his Master’s in international business and Finance from the United Kingdom. After choosing to return from the UK to India, Nikhil started working on the idea of SOP as a service. His vision and insightful perspective of ‘making business process orientated’ continue to steer YRC’s services and solutions.
Dr Agarwal, a medical doctor by qualification, associated with Nikhil in his dream project and together, as couplepreneurs, they founded YRC. She brings the expertise, drive and agility for strategic novelty and collaboration.
Nikhil conveys, “Nothing is so contagious as enthusiasm. As management consultants, we hand-hold our clients for their entire journey from the inception of an idea to the conceptualisation of the business and execution of the operations. In retail consulting, we suggest to them the best practices of the industry, which eventually helps in scaling up stronger and faster!”
It is this enthusiasm with which YRC is already guiding companies like Hyundai, Future Group, Aditya Birla’s Grasim and Hindalco, Raymond, Crosswords, PNG Jewellers, Anand, and many more bigwigs from different industries and sectors.
Nikhil was speaking with Insights Success for its edition of ‘India’s Most Strategic Business Consulting Companies- 2022,’ detailing the journey, a ten-year-old exemplary success story, and how he is planning to expand the brand of YRC in the future. Let us find it out.
Please tell us about YRC in detail.
YRC is a management consultancy brand in the retail and eCommerce space specialising in retail business operations, expansion and management services. Founded in 2010, YRC has served more than 500 clients across 20+ verticals. As an emerging global brand, YRC has a service presence in India, the Middle East, and South Africa, with more expansion plans in the pipeline.
Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) is our flagship service where the objective is to help our retail and eCommerce clients become process-oriented enterprises with robust operations cutting across channels.
What was your inspiration behind venturing into the field of business consultancy?
A vast majority of retail businesses in India have been and continue to be in the unorganised sector. Enterprises in this category are typically characterised by the vulnerability of business models, lack of sound business planning, undefined operations, unexplored growth and expansion potential, dearth of emphasis on customer experience, no strong improvements in services for years, etc.
Ten years back, these characteristics were even more profound. There existed a gap between potential and realisation of that potential. YRC was started with the vision of bridging this gap and helping retail businesses modernise and upgrade themselves for sustainability, growth and expansion.
What were the initial challenges after venturing into the business consultancy niche, and what are the challenges now?
About ten years back, when the journey of YRC began, the biggest challenge in front of its founders was that of perception. Two young entrepreneurs wearing the badge of ‘management consultants’ started meeting other businessmen and businesswomen running their businesses for years and decades. Scepticism was high. But once these experienced business owners could see through why there was a need for a change in perspective and adoption of new ways of working, they were willing to take their business out of their cosy zone.
Coming to the present times, technology continues to be a potentially disruptive force for businesses and industries worldwide. It affects the services and solutions that business consultancy firms have to offer. The next giant technological leapfrog is around the corner. It could be some AI-based application, smell sensors, full-scale commercialisation of drones, blockchain, or something else.
In SOP consulting, the reluctance among many traditional retail enterprises to embrace process management and SOPs in their business continues to be a major roadblock. Without a strong sense of self-realisation of the significance of SOPs, it is difficult for consultants to convince companies to move in that direction. The true benefits of SOPs cannot be achieved if the spirit and seriousness in the adherence to SOPs are missing within an organisation.
What USPs make YRC stand out as the most strategic consultancy for businesses?
YRC is a decade old consultancy brand that has worked with and provided value-based business solutions and services to 500+ retail and eCommerce clients. YRC has worked with various retail brands and businesses, from start-ups to large conglomerates.
The services and solutions are customised for each client to suit their unique requirements and specifications. The focus is always on creating practically implementable solutions so that they do not just remain on the papers.
As an emerging global brand, it remains our endeavour to keep the quality of our services at par with international standards.
From a business perspective, what is your opinion on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the business consultancy niche?
Albeit in an unfortunate, disguised form, COVID-19 proved to be a wake-up call for businesses. It showed how quickly the business environment can plunge into uncertainty; how quickly ‘competing with business rivals’ could change into ‘fight for your own survival’. The dependence on a single-channel strategy proved too costly to many businesses.
As a result of the lockdowns and other restrictions, businesses realised the need to adopt digital transformation. A large number of brick-and-mortar retail businesses sought to go omnichannel. There was a heightened emphasis on digital marketing and digital customer experience.
ECommerce players strongly felt the need to realign their supply chain and distribution strategies with a greater focus on localisation. Business consultancy services had to rise to the occasion and improvise services and solutions in the backdrop of an altered business environment.
As an established industry leader, what would be your advice to the budding entrepreneurs and enthusiasts aspiring to venture into the business consultancy industry?
Whether you are selling a product or service, one thing that does not change is the importance of the ‘value’ offered to customers and clients. If you are selling umbrellas, your umbrellas should be able to deliver the ‘value’ for which your customers are buying your products. You must figure out what that value is.
If a product has no value or fails to deliver the intended value, that product requires some serious reconsideration. If you are a business consultant, the same principle applies. Your services must be of meaningful ‘value’ to your clients. They must solve the business problems and address the pain points. If you cannot provide a solution, you need to be transparent with your clients about it. Business consultancy is not about offering what you can consult on.
How do you envision further strengthening YRC’s stronghold in 2022 and beyond?
In the next 2-3 years, our emphasis will be on helping clients adopt digital transformation in their businesses. Here, the market regions in question are Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. We shall continue to upgrade and improvise our services and support areas in this regard.
From concept to implementation assistance in adopting digital transformation, our services will be curated for eCommerce and D2C startups, adopting multichannel/omnichannel strategy and modernising traditional B2B and B2C businesses.
