People, money and management: the formula for business survival in a crisis

A company’s profit depends directly on its people. Training and supporting staff are not optional tasks — they are the strategic foundation of any business. It’s impossible to build a sustainable sales system if employees don’t understand how to work effectively or lack the tools to do their jobs efficiently.

If the connection between these levels breaks down, even the best top-level decisions fail to deliver results.

Many companies still try to manage product displays through Excel. But Excel is a tool of the past — it creates an illusion of control, while in reality it leads to uncoordinated actions and financial losses.

Many companies still believe that Excel is a sufficient tool for managing shelf layouts — but in today’s retail environment, that’s no longer the case.

Excel cannot provide the level of standardisation, control, and synchronisation required between departments. Data is easily lost, version tracking is difficult, and — most importantly — it doesn’t support the entire operational chain: from strategic decisions made at head office to the concrete actions of staff in the store.

A common scenario: a category manager sends a file to the buyer, the buyer makes changes, but the updated version never reaches the merchandisers. As a result, stores follow outdated layouts, and the figures in reports don’t match the real situation on the shop floor. Fixing these “glitches” can take weeks — and the resulting losses often amount to hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Every day, a retail outlet can lose tens of thousands of roubles — losses that often never appear in reports. They slip away to competitors along with customers. Let’s highlight five main risks that quietly kill sales.

For the shopper, this is the simplest signal: no product means no shop. Customers won’t wait for the next delivery — they’ll just go to a competitor. This is especially critical for shoppers with a clear, task-oriented mindset: “grab and go.” If the product isn’t available, the sale is lost for good.
For the retail chain, this means a direct drop in revenue and a loss of customer loyalty.

1. Empty shelves

Every unsold product turns into frozen money. When expensive brands or promotional items with approaching expiry dates gather dust in storage, the business effectively loses its working capital. These products should be generating revenue — instead, they sit idle.
The first place to look in any store is the warehouse: its condition directly reflects how effectively shelf management is being handled.

2. Frozen assets in warehouses

Chaos on the shop floor or in the warehouse affects not only customers but also employees. It’s hard to work in disorder — the best people leave for places where structure and systems exist. As a result, the company loses not only sales but also its team.
Discipline in a store begins with the shelf: a well-organised display signals that processes are under control.

3. Disorganisation and staff demotivation

Modern contracts are becoming increasingly strict. Suppliers expect their products to be sold and displayed according to agreed standards. Any breach of these terms results in financial penalties. These costs often eat into profits and don’t always appear in reports immediately.
The larger the retail chain, the more serious the consequences of failing to meet contractual obligations.

4. Fines from suppliers

You can’t manage without data — but managing without fast data is even worse. When information about sales and shelf performance arrives with delays, the company reacts too late. Every hour of inefficient store operation can cost several thousand.
Multiply that by the number of stores in a chain, and it becomes clear that we’re talking about losses reaching into the millions.

5. Lack of real-time data

People are at the core of every business. But even the most motivated employee becomes a risk without the right tools. This can be called the “monkey with a grenade” effect — the question isn’t if it will explode, but where and when.

When it comes to scaling and control, it’s crucial to have a system that connects people, processes, and data into a single framework. Greenshelf provides exactly that solution.

Greenshelf is designed to be intuitive, so even a newcomer can use it with ease. The planograms are visual and easy to understand — an employee only needs to glance at their smartphone or tablet to see exactly what and how to display. This reduces the number of mistakes and speeds up staff training.

The system operates exclusively with the company’s real data. It doesn’t rely on assumptions — only on facts: sales figures, stock levels, and category roles. This makes it possible to build planograms that truly align with business objectives and genuinely drive profit.

A common mistake is to build a retail network first and implement systems later. But even small businesses are beginning to recognise the value of doing it the other way round.
For example, an entrepreneur with just two shops started by introducing Greenshelf, and only then began expanding the network. This approach provides a solid foundation for growth: all processes are standardised from the outset, and losses are minimised.

The market doesn’t wait. The system enables a rapid transition from data to action — uploading the assortment, creating planograms, and testing them in real conditions. The sooner a company starts working with the tool, the faster it sees results.

When employees have a clear and convenient tool, managing them becomes much simpler. Managers spend less time explaining tasks, and staff make fewer mistakes. Control turns into a structured process — not endless verbal clarifications.

In business, mistakes are expensive — but inaction costs even more. Every day a company delays the implementation of management tools, it loses money — losses that rarely appear in reports.

Every hour of downtime or a mistake in product display means lost revenue. For a chain of 10–15 stores, daily losses can reach hundreds of thousands.

November and December are peak months for most retailers — and preparation must start well in advance. If a system is implemented in autumn, sales growth can already be seen by December. But if the launch is postponed until November, tangible results won’t appear until spring. No promotion can make up for a missed season.

A crisis shows no mercy to weak players. Suppliers demand greater discipline, introduce penalties for mistakes, and tighten control. Competitors adopt new technologies faster. In such circumstances, inaction means losing ground in the market.

The best employees don’t stay where chaos reigns. They move to competitors with organised, structured processes. As a result, the company loses not only revenue but also the very people capable of generating it.

The longer a business delays change, the more expensive it becomes. The issue isn’t the price of technology — it’s the cost of missed opportunities. Every week of delay brings new fines, falling sales, and customer churn.
Moreover, a competitor who adopts a system earlier gains a foothold in the market and captures a larger share. Regaining that ground later becomes far more difficult — and far more costly.

Business profitability depends not only on products or marketing — it’s built on people, processes, and management. Employees, managers, and information flow are the three key elements without which even the most ambitious strategies turn into losses.

Excel and manual methods no longer suffice. The modern market demands speed, accuracy, and automation. Empty shelves, frozen assets, fines, and staff turnover are not abstract risks — they’re real money slipping away to competitors every single day.

The solution is clear: establish systematic control, provide employees with convenient tools, and act in advance — not at the last moment. Greenshelf has become the tool that turns chaos into a manageable system: simple for staff, transparent for managers, and reliable for business.

In a crisis, survival doesn’t belong to the biggest player but to the one who adapts fastest. The formula is simple: people + money + management = a resilient business. Everything else is a matter of timing — act today, or watch the market make the choice for you.

Tilda Publishing