I have a passion for bringing ideas to life! Check out my proven track record to see how I’ve helped scale other businesses.
From opening our first store and getting the business off the ground until I was responsible for Training and Development for the entire company, I was intimately involved in the aggressive growth of the company. Mobile Klinik changed the repair industry by filling the unmet demands of Canadians looking for same-day professional smartphone repair. This work eventually led to an acquisition in 2020, where Mobile Klinik was purchased by Telus for $165M.
Plateau is a unique cannabis retail brand that opened two locations in Ottawa in 2021. Through my hiring system, brand training and SOP Documents, Plateau has been able to consistently achieve an increase in sales 10-14% over the provincial average.
Gitanes Burger is a disruptor in the fast-casual food industry. Through the development of training, scalable and repeatable processes, and an aggressive growth plan, GBurger aims to dominate the Canadian market while always staying true to it’s vision: the art of quality food.
In September 2015, I opened our first location in Ottawa and it wasn’t long before we started to develop an attractive business by building key partnerships and programs with the biggest players in the industry such as Apple, Samsung and leading insurance programs. I also lead the development of virtually all of their internal programs and systems, and created a fully interactive online training program for store staff. By the end of my tenure, I was responsible for the Training and Development department which lead store openings, setups, and getting the store on track to meet it’s growth trajectory, as well as supporting existing locations with technical issues and training.
Client’s feedback:
Youssef was a key player in the success of Mobile Klinik from the very beginning. He was involved in virtually all aspects of the business as we were building out a chain where there was really no established, successful roadmap to follow. He reported directly to me and was always open to new ideas and was innovative in his thinking. From the start we were looking to establish a culture of teamwork, collaboration, innovation and accountability. Youssef lived these values which enabled us to build the culture throughout the Organization. His skills in training and building processes and procedures were very evident and served as a building block to our operational excellence. He gained invaluable experience in building Mobile Klinik and grew immensely as a person and as a professional. The best experiences come from doing and learning. He is in a unique position to pass this knowledge on to other people and businesses. I always used to tell Youssef that “knowledge not shared is wasted” . He took this to heart and gets immense pleasure from doing just that; in fact it has become his passion.
James Ferguson – VP Operations and Business Development, Mobile Klinik
Plateau was in the beginning stages of concept development when I took on the project. The idea was to separate the brand from the competition in an oversaturated market by simplifying cannabis and changing society’s mixed perception through education and a thoughtfully designed shopping experience. With help from the management team, we opened two locations in Ottawa and created a full day brand training which defined the brand purpose and value propositions that they baked into their operations, as well as a full customer sales journey and SOPs to execute on Plateau’s brand promise. As the brand matured, I drove the development of their recycling, loyalty, and delivery programs, as well as established a structure for meeting and reporting.
Client’s feedback:
Youssef made sure we were set up successfully from the conceptualization point all the way to our store openings. He took accountability and made sure we successfully launched our store openings, did an in depth brand training for our staff. Set targets and KPI’s for our management team. Developed a recycling and loyalty program. Had strict and clear SOP’s and operation management. He was the main resource for coaching staff through challenges focusing especially around marketing and event planning. Was very resourceful in hiring and staffing with a very systematic approach.
Nader Salib – Owner, Plateau
As GBurger is in it’s development stages, I am organizing the fund raising activities to open 3 more locations within the next 2 years. This not only includes building a full employee handbook for working staff but also creating a training program that will transform each employee into a true brand ambassador. In collaboration with the executive team, the goal is to establish GBurger as a unique player in the fast-casual food industry by opening 30 locations in Canada and eventually more in the US. Stay tuned for more updates to this section!
Client’s feedback:
Youssef is actively working to make sure we meet the highest standards and deliverables not just to our internal team, but to our clients as well. He is currently helping us develop SOP’s and Operational efficiencies, building investor decks and planning for our expansion into multiple locations, and building additional financial controls. His ability to adapt from retail to hospitality has been impressive but also a learning exercise that a lot of his tools apply to any industry in order to achieve success.
Nader Salib – Owner, Gitanes Group
Working with Youssef offered me the clarity I needed to be able to grow and scale our company. From the early stages when conceptualizing, I underestimated how important it is to consider scalability and the finer details. This helped us really identity some key decisions when forming our concept. As we grew and progressed, Youssef offered key SOP’s that we were able to follow in order to make sure the quality of our work wasn’t compromised. He controlled and adjusted these SOP’s according to our needs. He also has a keen ability to identify what parts of our businesses needed a little more tender loving care than others. His ability to scale is unlike any other consulting professional I’ve worked with in the past.
One of his many strengths was to make his own assessment of our businesses, focusing on the strengths as well as the areas that need improvement, while simultaneously keeping within our boundaries and guidelines as a company and what we saw fit. He always made sure to meet our needs and not the other way around. He stays focused on the task at hand in a manner that was motivating to me as an entrepreneur. The staff responded very well to his work ethic and organization, which had a snowball effect within the organization as a whole.
Our businesses would not be where it is today without him.
Small business operations consultant in Ottawa, Canada. Run an efficient business with clear processes and exceptional training programs.
info@grndconsulting.ca
