01 / Direction
Strategy & Commercial
Commercial assessments, feasibility, franchise strategy, multi-site growth, operating models and profitability improvement.
FeasibilityGrowthFranchisePricing
Built by operators
We set the direction · build the brand · fix the operations · write the software
Most consumer businesses aren't short of ideas. They're short of systems.
We close the gap between what a brand promises and what its customer actually experiences. Strategy and brand to set the direction, operations and software to make it hold. Whether you run one site, a hundred, or a network of franchisees.
Score your business
See how we work
12 questions. 10 minutes. You get the report whether you ever speak to us or not.
01
Operators, not advisors
18+ years inside Woolworths, Spur, Pick n Pay and Puma, across retail, food, apparel and franchise. And still trading today. We have stood on the other side of the counter.
02
Strategy that survives contact
Positioning, range and pricing architecture, and operating models designed to work at 7am on a Saturday, not just in the deck.
03
We write the software
Not a reseller, not an integrator. We build the tools our own businesses run on, multi-site operations and trade and pricing intelligence, then put them in your hands.
Retail· Food & Beverage· Hospitality· Franchise· Property & Leisure· Consumer Brands South Africa
What we do
Four capabilities. One commercial objective.
We put the right disciplines around the problem rather than selling you a service line.
02 / Brand
Brand & Marketing
Positioning, identity, customer proposition, marketing, research and local market intelligence.
03 / Operations
Operations & Performance
People, labour, SOPs, service, stock, compliance, cost control and management accountability.
04 / Systems
Software, Data & AI
Business intelligence, workflow automation, integrations, AI-assisted decision tools and bespoke platforms built around how the business actually runs.
AIAutomationDashboardsIntegrationsBespoke Platforms
Our difference
We connect thinking with execution.
Diagnose, strategise, build, implement, measure, optimise.
Yes, we use AI. We use it in our own work, and we help operators use it in theirs, including where it does not belong. One improved process beats a banner.
Start with the problem
What are you trying to improve?
Most business problems do not sit neatly inside one department. Choose the pressure point and we will show you how we approach it.
Where is the constraint?
The Gap Report
Find out where your business actually leaks.
Twelve questions about how your business runs when you are not in the room. You get a score, your weakest pillar, and three things to do about it this week. Free, and without speaking to anyone.
Direction
78
Brand
89
Operations
33
Systems
56
Sample · 64 / 100
Illustrative sample. Run the report to replace it with your own.
Optimise Intelligence
How we read a market, published.
Benchmarks, price movement and operating signals from the sectors we work in, so you can see where your numbers actually sit.
Example / Restaurant labour21.4%Illustrative benchmark module
Example / Gross margin64.2%Illustrative category benchmark
Example / Price movement+5.8%Illustrative tracked movement
Intelligence networkLiveResearch · Benchmarks · Franchise Hub · Optimise OS
The figures above are illustrative examples of the format. They are not Optimise research findings and should not be used as benchmarks.
Optimise OS
Your business. Connected.
Sales, people, labour, stock and compliance in one management view. Try the demo.
Operational intelligence platform
From operational data to better decisions.
Sales · People · Labour · Stock · Compliance · Finance
Optimise OS sits above the systems you already run and pulls scattered operating information into one management view.
Talk to us about Optimise OS →Store PulseDemo view
Sales vs target94%
Labour21.8%
Team mood3.7
Open actions06
AI management summarySales are tracking below target while labour remains controlled. Two people-related actions require follow-up and stock variance has improved week-on-week.
Demonstration data. Not a live client dashboard.
Evidence over claims
The number before. The number after.
Every engagement is written up the same way: what was wrong, what we changed, and what it moved.
Illustrative example, not a client result
Labour cost reduced from 22.1 percent to 19.4 percent in this illustrative example.
ProblemLabour cost increasingSales remained flat while scheduled hours continued to rise.
DiagnosisDemand mismatchRoster patterns did not reflect actual hourly trading demand.
InterventionRebuild schedulingHours, roles and management reporting redesigned around demand.
This is a worked example of how we write engagements up. The figures are for demonstration and do not describe a specific client.
Why this matters
Proof makes the proposition tangible.
We would rather show you one number that moved than a wall of logos.
Who you work with
Operators first, always.
You are not buying a methodology. You are buying someone who has stood in the business on a bad Saturday and had to fix it.
Sergio Madonna
Founder
18+ years inside Woolworths, Spur, Pick n Pay and Puma, across retail, food, apparel and franchise, and still trading today. That is the test applied to every engagement: would this have helped on the floor?
The work spans commercial strategy, brand, operational improvement and the software that connects them, including Optimise OS and Franchise Hub.
Group ventures
We build platforms for the industries we operate in.
Franchise Hub
An Optimise Group companyAn independent franchise intelligence and marketplace platform: brand economics, market movement, opportunities and valuations.
Brand ComparisonsFranchise EconomicsMarket IntelligenceValuations
Start with the constraint
What is stopping your business performing better?
Tell us what you are trying to improve. We will help you find where the real issue sits.
Start a conversation