Sales Team Setup & Commercial Enablement
Building a specialty retail business from scratch
Founder-led retail venture, Brussels
Challenge
Starting a specialty retail and wholesale business with almost no inventory — eleven DVDs — meant every customer conversation, stock decision, and marketing choice had to stretch limited capital. The store served a multilingual Brussels audience (Dutch, French, English, Urdu/Hindi, Punjabi), including customers with limited language confidence, so service quality and clarity were as important as the catalogue.
Approach
I owned the full commercial loop: buying and inventory, wholesale and retail sales, marketing, customer care, planning, and finance. Growth came from knowing the audience, building trust across languages, and running tight day-to-day administration so cash, stock, and service stayed aligned as demand increased.
Outcome
The venture grew from a tiny opening stock into a well-known specialty DVD destination with both wholesale and retail reach. The experience shaped how House of Jahan approaches commercial enablement today: start lean, listen closely to customers, and install simple operating discipline early.