Question 1

An investor has offered to fund the next twenty stores for a stake. Can you show what we would give up?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Alehar models the offer against the alternatives: the stake it costs and the pace it allows, set against a bank loan or a line against stock with repayments before the new stores earn, and against opening from the chain's own cash. It shows what the owners keep under each path at the end of the roll-out and what the investor will test: store profit, the leases and the stock each store ties up. Alehar supports the negotiation under its Raising Equity or Debt service.

Question 2

A rival chain is for sale. Can you build the case for buying it against opening our own stores?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Alehar builds the case on what the stores would earn under your management: their sales, rent and lease terms, the wages at your staffing model, the stock that comes with them and the refits they need, against the cost and payback of opening the same number of stores yourself. It sets a price the earnings support and shows how to fund it. The purchase can be run under Alehar's Acquiring a Company service.

Question 3

A brand we stock wants to open shop-in-shops with us. Can you assess the partnership?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Alehar models the arrangement on its terms: the space it takes, the margin or rent the brand pays, who funds the fit-out and the stock, the staffing the brand expects and the exit terms, against what the same space earns today. Owners see what the partnership does to the margin of each store before they commit.

Question 4

Can you show which stores actually make money after rent, wages and markdowns?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Alehar reports the gross margin of each store, category and channel after markdowns, shrinkage, freight and supplier rebates, and what each store keeps after rent, wages and a share of head office. Owners see which stores earn well, which categories carry the margin, where markdowns quietly give it back, and which stores to renegotiate, refit or close.

Question 5

Can you show how much cash is tied up in stock and how to free it?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Alehar works out how many weeks of sales the chain holds in each category and each store and what that stock cost to buy, and shows where slow lines and stock in the wrong store tie up cash that could fund the next season. It recommends the buying budget by category, when to mark down and the supplier terms to ask for, and shows what each change frees up.

Question 6

Can you build the case for the next store before the landlord's deadline?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Alehar models the new store before the lease is signed: the fit-out, the deposit, the opening stock, the rent and the sales it needs to break even, built on the actual results of stores in similar locations with a slow-start case for the first year. Owners see the payback period, the share of sales the rent takes and the lease terms to ask for.

Question 7

Can you forecast cash around our buying calendar, when stock is paid for months before it sells?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Alehar forecasts cash week by week from the sales plan by store, the buying commitments, rent dates, payroll and supplier terms, and shows the weeks when the chain runs short and the line it needs to cover them. Owners see the cash cost of each buying decision before the order goes in.

Question 8

Does an outsourced or virtual CFO work for a retail chain with stores in several regions?

Accepted Answer

Yes, for most owner-run multi-store retailers, specialty chains and omnichannel brands. Alehar brings a partner supported by a team, reviews store profit, stock, cash and the pipeline of new sites with you each month, and brings more of the team in for a roll-out financing, an acquisition, a brand partnership or a sale. It is what owners mean when they look for an interim CFO, a virtual CFO or a part-time FD. Your accountant keeps the books, and Alehar turns them into the weekly store numbers.

Fractional CFO for Retail Chains

What retail chain owners tell us

Why retail chains work with Alehar

A partner who is accountable

A complete team, not a single hire

Month to month, without lock-in

The same partner for the raise or the sale

Start maximizing the potential of your company now.

We get you a true financial picture of your company

We help you save costs and improve cashflow

We develop effective plans to help you grow revenue

We help you identify and decide between growth initiatives

We get you ready for an investment or a sale

The same work, already done.

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