Growing an empire

Kishor Patel: "Keep an open dialogue with the vendors."

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With a turnover pushing the six million pound mark, business is booming for Kishor Patel. But getting there wasn?t easy.

As the owner of a network of five convenience stores with a turnover creeping up towards £6 million, you would think Kishor Patel had few regrets.

Over the last nine years, Patel, along with his brother and business partner Pat, have grown their business through a series of acquisitions and now have a network of five Nisa Local stores.

However, Kishor says there could have been more if opportunities had not fallen through and mistakes had not been made. By now, he claims, the business could be turning over closer to £9million.

"We got gazumped," he explains about one missed chance. "What we learned, from a purchasing point of view, was to keep an open dialogue with the vendors before they made a decision."

The Patels bought their first shop in Houghton Regis, Bedfordshire, in 1985. For 12 years they ran it as a family affair but in 1998 they decided to expand through acquisition and bought a new business one mile away.

"We?d always wanted to do it and the opportunity came up so we took the step," says Kishor.

This was followed by further purchases in 2002, 2003 and last year as the business took off. The Patels have their sights set on a further two further outlets this year. Having lost out on a few shops along the way, Kishor says they have learned from their experiences and are a little wiser about the acquisition process.

As a starting point it is important to pick appropriate targets to enhance the likelihood of success, says Patel.

"The first thing is if it is within striking distance ? within a five mile radius so that it is easy to manage between stores."

At the second phase, Patel recommends getting surveys and finance prepared in advance of price negotiations so that the sale can progress quickly.

On completion, he says the key to successful integration is finding the right people to run the business on your behalf. One answer is to train managers in an existing store and then dividing the surplus of chiefs across multiple sites.

From then it is a case of giving the customers what they want. Patel says the last store he acquired was taking £2,500 per week and within six months income had rocketed to £16,000 based on a strategy of selling quality produce with a smile.

He says: "It?s knowing the market of what everyone wants and looking to provide that with a service and a freshness."