Methodology

How I run an interim management mandate.

A mandate is judged by what remains when I leave: healthy accounts, a team that holds, a brand that people want again. Here is how I get there.

Analogue photograph, Style Français series

Three levers

Finance, organisation, image. Always together.

A successful repositioning never rests on a single lever. Cutting costs without making people want the brand doesn't last. Neither does relaunching the brand without controlling cash.

01

Finance

13-week cash plan, cash restructuring, margins by channel and by product family, stock, cost prices, business plan, relations with banks and shareholders, preparing a fundraise or an LBO.

02

Organisation

Executive committee, roles and responsibilities, management rituals, key hires, team development, collection and production calendar.

03

Brand, offer & image

Consumer insight, brand platform, collection and range architecture, merchandising, iconisation strategy, campaigns, art direction, social media, e-commerce, retail and AI tools.

Five stages

From day one to handover.

  1. D1 → D15ListenInterviews with teams, customers, suppliers and shareholders. 360 diagnostic of the numbers and the brand.
  2. D15 → D30Decide100-day plan, quantified objectives approved by shareholders, first visible decisions.
  3. M1 → M6ExecuteWeekly executive committee, priority workstreams, decisions on offer, costs and communication.
  4. OngoingSteerWeekly dashboard: cash, sales, margin, stock and desirability indicators. Monthly reporting.
  5. End of mandateHand overRecruiting or training a successor, written handover, then leaving when the team stands on its own.

Tools

What I put in place.

13-week cash planTo see what's coming and decide in time.
100-day planThree to five priorities, each with an owner and a date.
Brand platformWhat the brand says, to whom, and why it matters to its customers.
Desirability dashboardTraffic, engagement, search, customer feedback, next to sales.
Range architectureFamilies, prices, margins and the role of each product: a clear offer that people want and that pays.
MerchandisingCorners, department stores, travel retail and e-shop: putting the right products forward.
AI every dayAI is a tool I use every day: trend watch, sales and data analysis, preparing committees, content production. I also roll it out in the teams, so they save time for what matters.
Governance & NotionExecutive committee, strategic committee, shareholder reporting. And a shared Notion workspace for the 100-day plan, decisions, minutes and handover.

Never alone

For each mandate, I build the right team.

CFOs, retail and supply experts, photographers, directors, designers: a network of independents, emerging and established, who bring a fresh eye and help move fast.

Where Le Beau Monde comes from

Le Beau Monde began as a podcast about young creators, then a place to support them. Today it produces documentaries and short films, and carries Carol Girod Battesti's interim management practice. Culture is not a side activity: it is how to understand what new generations want.

Contact

We start with 30 minutes.

You describe the situation, I tell you whether I can help and in which format.

Write to Carol →Formats and fees