General Manager
Cashu
Total years of experience :23 years, 4 Months
• Developing Cashu strategies and plans to guarantee a stable & sustainable growth, considering all the major factors surrounding the industry in the region.
• Rebuilding the entire organization structure to match the envisioned scalability.
• Proactively studying technological and financial opportunities; presenting assumptions; recommending objectives; Providing leadership and direction in the execution of Strategies, tactics, short & long range plans and coordinates inter-department functional activities.
• Increasing management's effectiveness through a comprehensive Business process improvement project, which included recruiting, selecting, orienting, transferring knowledge, training, coaching and counselling managers; communicating values, strategies, and objectives; assigning accountabilities; planning, monitoring, and appraising job results; developing incentives; developing a climate for offering information and opinions; providing training opportunities.
• Leading the company-regulatory compliance initiative in all operational markets, through building direct relation with the regulators.
• Expanding the Business network by building strategic relationships with key players in the industry within MENA like banks, card schemes, mobile Operators, exchange houses, technology providers …etc.
• Maintaining quality service by establishing and enforcing organization standards, values, setting general KPIs for operating departments to increase organization’s profitability and efficiency.
• Initiating and participated in the initiation, evaluation and improving all company agreements, contracts, policies & procedures.
• Leading new products/ projects from ideation, evaluation, execution & improvement and successfully launching products and projects which built to mirror the user needs. Personally heading the product development and business development of the two most strategic projects.
• Establishing fact base for strategic desicioning depending on business intelligence, market knowledge and industry limitations in every country.
• Provide leadership and direction in the execution of Strategies, short & long range plans and coordinates inter-department functional activities.
• Deliver high-impact solutions by identifying key issues, defining appropriate work structure, and driving workable recommendations that create value.
• Conduct extensive new product analysis for all business development ventures; Deliver follow-up summaries and recommend action steps based on analysis.
• Direct and coordinate strategic project initiatives, ensure aligning resources and that key deliverables are met on time.
• Execute new business processes, insure strict implementation and measure results on frequent bases. Make recommendations to Directors on ways to improve and streamline the company’s underlying processes, thus increasing organizational effectiveness and efficiency.
• Ensure consistent communication to the Directors and Department Heads about company strategies, business development activities and their timelines, so to facilitate a clear understanding of ongoing projects and their prioritization within the organization.
• Ideating, developing, launching, stabilizing, growing & improving new payment methods meeting the requirements of the MENA region.
• Report to the COO/CEO and lead a team of 25 in developing, launching, establishing, growing & enhancing new payment products meeting the requirements of the MENA region.
• Manage all strategic projects for new product development through the entire lifecycle from ideation, creation, launch, marketing and improvements to achieve revenue and profit targets.
• Acquire, manage and sustain relationships with business partners, vendors and key influencers in major segments.
• Develop and implement strategies for product, pricing, distribution, positioning and communication.
• Collaborate with sales & marketing for increasing market share in existing markets and extending the range to new markets.
• Coordinate with sales, technology, operations, customer service & marketing to realize strategic & tactical objectives.
• Achievements
• Created and successfully launched various products
• cashU Direct product raising revenues of USD 2 million in the first year.
• cashEx product achieving revenues of USD 1 million in the first year.
• cashU Store product generating first year sales of USD 3 million against a development budget (including stocking costs) of USD 0.5 million.
• Currently developing several products for the MENA market
• cashU Mobile Wallet - potential first year revenues: USD 400K, development budget: USD 100 K
• cashU Aggregator - potential first year revenue: USD 4 million, development budget: USD 2 million
• cashU Collector - potential first year revenue: USD 190 K, development budget: USD 50 K
• Reported to the CEO and led a team of 10 in business development of the cashU portfolio of products.
• Established targets & objectives and formulated strategies & plans to realize business objectives.
• Analysed markets and identified & recommended revenue generating opportunities.
• Contributed to the development of business to business (B2B) and business to consumer (B2C) strategies & plans including development of the company website.
• Interfaced with all departments for sharing best practices, tools & solutions.
• Monitored the performance of all business units ensuring achievement of all business requirements with consistent standards.
• Managed the launch, operations, growth & enhancements to new products.
• Contributed to preparing responses to RFPs & RFIs and finalizing agreements & contracts.
• Integrated operations of newly acquired entities ensuring cohesive functioning.
• Optimized people, processes and technologies achieving cost reduction targets
• Built & sustained robust relations with senior managements of key accounts.
• Achievements
• Built partnerships with leading logistics companies ensuring smooth distribution of cashU refill coupons increasing sales by USD 2 million.
• Established arrangements with banks & exchange houses facilitating acceptance of cash from cashU customers increasing sales by USD 5 million.
• Developed online solutions like the cashU vendor area & the cashU logistics PDA application improving engagement with key vendors.
• Led a team of 50 and managed all business activities including production, supply chain and marketing through multiple channels - e-commerce, wholesale and retail.
• Developed and implemented strategies & plans based on market analysis for each market segment.
• Managed all aspects of online marketing including the web content, order booking & execution, supply chain & logistics, export documentation & shipping.
• Coordinated & negotiated with established retail/wholesale companies & new start-ups to secure wholesale and manufacturing orders. Followed up & ensured on time deliveries meeting customer specifications.
• Managed the operations of 5 retail outlets of the company including window displays, merchandizing, selection of product range for each store based on customer preferences, labelling & pricing and daily/weekly stock taking & cash closing.
• Coordinated the design of garments meeting current trends and supervised the factory operations meeting quantity & quality targets while generating targeted profitability.
• Recruited, trained, developed and managed performance of the staff to deliver superior customer service.
• Achievements
• Established the company, set up the factory, stabilized production and launched websites for retail and wholesale businesses generating annual sales of USD 200 K from zero level.
• Independently set up & managed 5 retail outlets delivering sales per year of USD 500 K.
• Reported to the CEO and led a team of 15 in production planning & supply chain management meeting all annual business plan objectives.
• Analysed market demands and prepared sales forecasts and annual production plans.
• Managed the entire supply chain from import of raw materials through production to export of finished garments
• Planned & coordinated production through pre-qualified outsourced vendors for covering up production shortages in the mother plant.
• Managed all dispatch activities covering packing, preparation of export documentation meeting requirements of Customs, Ministry of Industry, Port authorities and Trade Chambers.
• Supervised billing, accounting of payments received and archiving of all data for company records.
• Achievements
• Reduced production costs by 50% which saved USD 1.2 million every year.
• Contributed to the increase of sales of the Algeria branch by 300% reaching USD 1.5 million per year.
• Built a resourceful pool of pre-qualified factories enabling delivery of time-bound orders and meeting demands of peak seasons.