When you’re tasked with scaling dozens, hundreds, or thousands of retail locations, the process inherently involves many challenges. This is true for store improvement projects as well as new construction across all sectors of multi-site retail. 

While many companies handle these projects in-house, it doesn’t mean they should have to go it alone. Managing everything internally can strain even the most capable teams due to the complex nature of these large-scale projects. 

In this blog post, Robert Nielsen, VP of Petroleum Operations at Big Red Rooster Flow, shares his insights on the process, including what potential obstacles you may face when choosing the DIY path and what you might expect from a supplemented approach.

What a DIY approach to multi-site expansion requires

If you want to complete a retail expansion or store improvement project at scale — both on time and on brand — you’ll need to develop superior expertise in several project management areas.

1. You’ll have to become a brand guideline guru

Any expansion efforts will require detailed brand guidelines; a compilation of information that is a Herculean task by itself.

Detailed brand guidelines often run hundreds of pages.

“Detailed brand guidelines often run to hundreds of pages,” explains Robert Nielsen. “They’re developed with careful attention to a host of elements that contribute to creating consistency from one retail location to another.”

Packed with pertinent information, they address every facet of upgrades and new construction, from interior and exterior physical brand imaging to a host of other details including:

  • Colors
  • Signage
  • Dimensions
  • Installation instructions 
  • Logo treatment
  • Qualified suppliers
  • Approved materials and finishes
  • And many more

It’s vital to have someone on your team dedicated to understanding and precisely following the guidelines that protect your brand. This responsibility can place an additional burden on your project management team. A specialized project management firm extends your team and can act as a brand advocate. 

Potential Risk: Off-brand execution can be costly

Working with unapproved suppliers or using materials that don’t meet the brand specs can lead to problems. The full brand image may not be accurate and complete, or inferior material can result in sign colors that fade or installations that don’t hold up.

Signage that’s off-brand, damaged, or worn hurts the overall image, causing customer traffic–and revenue–to drop.

These incorrectly produced signs will need to be replaced, ultimately doubling your cost and inconvenience. What’s more, if signage and brand imaging fail to meet brand inspection, your contractual relationship could be in jeopardy. 

Working with specialized project management firms who become your brand advocate allows your team to stay focused on core responsibilities while ensuring that every detail—down to the signage and materials—meets brand expectations.

2. You have to handle an expanded workload

Bringing the job to completion on time involves meticulous coordination among an incredibly vast field of players. “Rebranding is a very complex project,” says Nielsen. 

Consider just the parameters of the task itself. The whole burden of project management tasks becomes “overtime work” that owner/operators must tackle outside their normal eight- or nine-hour workday spent running their business.

Branding projects can take six to eight months to complete. “It’s a big stressor and an astronomical amount of work,” says Nielsen.

Not every owner/operator is adequately prepared for the level of exactness demanded when working with six, eight, or ten suppliers for every project, collecting quotes, ensuring accuracy of information, coordinating deliveries and materials, and orchestrating timelines.

Potential Risk: Failing to open on time

When a project is handled in-house, you’ll be coordinating a monumental number of moving parts and precision timing to meet the deadline. A single wrong or late delivery can cause a chain reaction of delays that throw off the schedule and prevent you from opening on time.

A gas station that’s not yet open isn’t processing credit card transactions or moving fuel, so each day of delay represents a huge revenue loss. The same is true for quick-serve restaurants (QSR), convenience stores, and retail.

The cost of involving a professional process and project management firm is probably the equivalent of not running transactions for one day.

Nielsen says the stakes are so high that “the cost of involving a professional process and project management firm is probably the equivalent of not running transactions for one day.” 

By working as an extension of your team, project management specialists can take on the heavy lifting of supplier coordination and timeline management, ensuring your team is not stretched too thin and can focus on core business functions.

3. You have to manage multiple stakeholders 

Any single store improvement project or new construction involves a huge number of stakeholders across many roles. Nielsen says “the number one challenge we face when doing a multi-location retail project is just the sheer number of stakeholders involved in the process.”

The number one challenge we face when doing a multi-location retail project is just the sheer number of stakeholders involved in the process.

The basic list of stakeholders includes:

  • Site owners and operators
  • Wholesalers–who could have hundreds or thousands of locations
  • Store managers
  • Suppliers
  • Contractors and installers
  • Municipalities

Multiplied by the number of locations and the dozens of different potential suppliers of goods and services supporting each one, the number of stakeholders involved almost defies comprehension. 

Potential Risk: Communication breakdowns will lead to errors

When you’re managing the project, you’re answerable to the full list of stakeholders–exchanging calls, messages, and texts across multiple time zones. Communication and oversight responsibilities are yours alone, while your contact list overflows. 

The more parties involved, the harder it is to ensure complete and accurate information reaches every player at the time needed. 

Adding another layer of complication, vendor processes and communication needs vary. You have to adapt and tailor your communications with each one to avoid introducing misunderstandings and delays.

As you expand into new regions, you can expect to face different standards and reporting requirements. Errors or missed communication steps in the permitting or installation process can lead to delays or fines.

Certain professional project management organizations have specialized expertise in procurement that includes working with suppliers, negotiating deliveries of materials and products, and coordinating installations so that projects can be completed on time with less stress on your team.

4. You will need to expand your team’s capabilities

Brand marketing or other departments may be responsible for executing a specific number of store improvement or rebranding projects within a very limited period of time: goals that may exceed the capabilities of the team. 

All must be complete, fully functional, and onboarded by the deadline. This can be an overwhelming struggle, particularly for retailers like some of Nielsen’s clients that are tasked with executing up to 2500 projects in a year.

Patterns of growth and expansion differ. While some may grow at a steady pace, other events may require hundreds or thousands of projects to be completed within a year’s time. 

Potential Risks: Burnout and overextended teams

Demanding projects could be the result of a corporate acquisition, creating an urgent, but not long-term need for extremely rapid project turnaround. 

Specific goals can overstretch the bandwidth of an in-house team. An impossible number of hours may be needed to keep the project on time. Your team may not have adequate work hours available or the particular skill sets needed for tackling the assigned project load.

On the other hand, overall company growth can surge or constantly increase, gradually pushing an in-house staff beyond what can be sustained. An unrelenting and punishing workload can lead to burnout and more.

Additional professional project management support can bridge the gap to extend the ability of your in-house team without the need for hiring and training new or temporary staff.

5. You have to become an expert at different regional requirements

If your team is handling expansion into a new geographical region or into a region that simply has more complex and demanding requirements, then you’ll also have the responsibility for moving the project smoothly through all the regional checkpoints.

Nielsen says that, for his company, timing to complete full construction projects can vary widely, from six months to three years, depending on the project’s scope and the region involved. Rebranding projects can vary from 50 to 60 business days to as long as 100 to 120 business days depending on the geographical region.

“Certain regions, primarily the East and West Coasts, are challenging to permit with lengthy timelines and code restrictions,” says Nielsen. Customers in these regions have different requirements. 

Cities can add another dimension of complexity–in some, “it often takes one year to two years to get a permit,” he adds. These timing elements have to be factored into your overall plan to keep your project on track, and someone has to stay on top of the progress to avoid unhappy surprises.

Potential Risk: Delayed permitting and bureaucratic impasses

The United States may be a single nation, but regional differences can be pronounced; especially when it comes to permitting, unfamiliarity can lead to errors and delays. 

What could be a simple paving job in one region, for instance, might involve complex drain requirements and permitting in another region. A different, and more costly, approach may be needed but those funds may not be in the budget.

What you don’t know could push a project off schedule, leaving your project completion timeline subject to the mercy of municipal officials and their regulations and rulings. 

As you expand into new regions, your team may be forced to learn as they go–a path both slow and frustrating. A project management firm with nationwide experience can be a critical liaison with regulatory bodies in the proposed region for expansion to help you avoid costly missteps and pitfalls.

An alternative to handling expansion alone: Professional project management 

A process and project management team can extend your team’s capabilities while offering targeted support in individual areas:

  • Expertise in brand guidelines means you don’t have to absorb and apply hundreds of pages of detailed specifications and are assured of full compliance.
  • Experience and a broad network of suppliers and installers means the process of gathering and evaluating quotes, then coordinating deliveries and installations is now something you delegate rather than face on your own.
  • Nationwide experience with geographical requirements across the country can prevent surprises that cause delays.

The whole picture changes when a consolidated, unified process reduces thousands of interactions to a single, trusted point of contact. Not every project management firm can address and simplify all areas at once, but that’s where Big Red Rooster Flow shines.

Big Red Rooster Flow understands the challenges you face at every step in this complicated and ongoing process because these are the same obstacles we help our customers overcome. If this peace of mind sounds appealing, then give us a call and let’s explore how we can help.

Learn how Big Red Rooster Flow helps brands overcome obstacles in store improvement projects and multi-site expansion.

See our Case Studies