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REAL-WORLD StratigoNow IMPACT STORY

Business Strategy & Model Design

Company / Organization

A mid-sized regional snacks manufacturer (unbranded / semi-branded)

Location

Odisha, India

Industry / Sector

Food Manufacturing (Snacks & FMCG) Offering: Namkeens, chips, local savouries, limited distribution across 3 districts

Sales were stagnant for three years despite launching new products. Margins were thinning, distributors were constantly negotiating harder, and the business kept adding SKUs without real traction. Retailers saw them as “just another local snack supplier.” Inventory pile-ups became frequent. The promoter believed the “market was dull,” but competition was quietly eating into their share. The business felt heavy, tired, and directionless.

The promoter was convinced the core problem was “marketing” and “sales team laziness.” He strongly believed “more products = more sales” and that the market “just needed time to pick them up.” He underestimated deeper structural issues: unclear value proposition, a confused product mix, weak brand position, no pricing logic, and no business model clarity.

120 days

We began with a ground-level strategy audit: 40+ store checks, distributor interviews, and SKU-wise economics. The truth emerged - the business wasn’t failing; the model was. We redesigned the business from its foundations: Refocused the core business model from “volume chasing” to “category dominance” in 6 high-performing SKUs; Rationalized the product line, eliminating 23% of SKUs that were losing money quietly; Rebuilt the value proposition around purity, consistency, and local trust - what retailers said they wanted but the brand never articulated; Reworked pricing architecture to align margins with retailer incentives, making the brand more attractive to stock and push; Streamlined supply chain flow to reduce wastage and speed up delivery cycles; Created a new business narrative that the sales team could tell - one that matched real-world demand; Mapped customer segments and redesigned packaging to appeal to the actual buyers, not imagined ones; and finally, we set up a simple performance dashboard, so the promoter could see real economics instead of relying on gut fee.

Retailer acceptance increased sharply, distributor margins stabilized, and the top 6 SKUs grew visibly within weeks. Wastage reduced, inventory cycles tightened, and profitability improved meaningfully. The business went from “trying everything” to “doing the right things in the right sequence.” Most importantly, the promoter finally found clarity - and the business got its direction back.