Hoja Consulting

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I run a chain of DIY concept stores. We offer supplies on the local market, but we also work with countries like Serbia, Turkey, Croatia, Slovenia, Germany, and the Netherlands.

We sell our products online and through physical stores. We’ve worked for the largest retail company in the country, which operates 100 stores. The idea was to have a chain of DIY stores, something which hadn’t existed here.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Hoja Consulting?

We were looking to streamline certain ad hoc processes. There are many things that lack structure and efficiency within the country and even with our company, we had issues in terms of who was responsible for what. We had people that are commonly known as jacks of all trades and masters of none.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Hoja Consulting helped us define processes, responsibilities, and job descriptions. The challenge was huge given the cultural aspect. People can be emotional in this country and they don’t respond well to streamlined processes. We have different types of training provided by Hoja Consulting in terms of communication and client orientation, and we’re getting there.

Before starting the work, Hoja Consulting did an evaluation of our company and our human resources. They met with certain team leaders and department managers and interviewed our staff. 

Hoja Consulting later came back with a five-stage proposal for us, and we agreed to the first three stages in terms of doing the evaluation. They gave us a list of documentation we needed to provide for process purposes. We put everything on paper and then identified where the gaps were regarding the chain of responsibility.

What is the team composition?

They have external consultants for certain projects but since we had a main focal point, we had a team leader for our project.
 
How did you come to work with Hoja Consulting?

They were referred by one of our clients. It’s a small country so, when someone is good, everyone finds out about them.
 
How much have you invested with them?

They have a €25–€40 (approximately $30–$50 USD) hourly rate, and we’ve worked with them for about 150 hours.
 
What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Hoja Consulting in January 2021, and our relationship is ongoing. We have a one-year contract with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Scheduling is working great. People are on time; we were struggling with that before. Our communication also improved, and teamwork is better now. We can tell that overall efficiency is improving, and we expect to see good results.

However, the team struggled a bit — they had to work longer hours because they were being trained while still doing day-to-day responsibilities. That was tough but we managed it — we needed to move forward with streamlining processes before we opened more stores.

How did Hoja Consulting perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve interviewed our team and done some of the work via Zoom and Skype.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’ve done training from other companies in the past but they were very theoretical; Hoja Consulting is results-oriented. We get what we pay for at the end of the day. They’re different from anything else offered in the country.
 
Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s always room for improvement. On occasion, it took Hoja Consulting a bit more time to find the experts we wanted and, as a business owner, I always want to have things done faster. If they expanded their team, it would be beneficial for business owners
 
Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

My advice is to get rid of some of the time-killer tasks beforehand, and then concentrate on improving results. Some of the processes we went through with Hoja Consulting turned out to be very simple, but we didn’t have the formula to get them done.