Simon Vumbaca is a well-respected negotiator and has more than 15 years of experience in the legal sector and in negotiation.
With the release of a new book set to be released soon, Vumbaca shares his years of experience with Nolcha explaining the growing importance of negotiation to create success for your business.
Nolcha: You are a negotiation expert. Could you tell us about what that involves?
SV: You just have to open any paper today to understand how challenging the business and economical environment has become. Finding support for your venture has become even harder. Being an international negotiation expert is making peoples' business vision become real money, a real deal. It's making sure that any opportunity to do business will be fully maximised. It's fantastically rewarding and even more tremendously hard work as you always are confronted with different goals and negotiations strategies!
What I have been doing for over 15 years now, is to negotiate with or on behalf of a person or business who want to achieve and complete a transaction. When businesses come to me, they have an idea of the general deal they want to achieve, but are often missing out on essential points that will end up costing them a lot if not addressed. Just a month or so ago a dog accessories company wanted to expand their business, to take it to a "new high" as they put it. Their idea was to represent luxury pet accessories designers in the UK. We put together a plan and I negotiated on their behalf with several designers in the US and several retailers in the UK. No point in having a new designer if you can't place the product! They now represent 5 new designers and have experienced a significant growth. They also sell to major retailers. They relied on me also to bridge that communication and negotiation with "corporate retailers" of Selfridges and Harrods' size. They already are booked up to Christmas!
Nolcha: How important is a negotiation expert in business?
SV: Fundamental! Since ever, making business is entirely based on trading. To trade you need to interact with one (or more) parties. That's precisely what negotiation is all about! Yet, negotiation is rarely taught to new entrepreneurs. There is a major misconception that everybody knows how to negotiate. Think of the last time you had to negotiate. Were you always in control of your negotiation? Did you feel emotionally drained? Did you walk away thinking how much more you could have achieved? Or up to where you could have pushed it? It doesn't matter which business you are in, negotiation will always be at the centre of it. I have been negotiating all sorts of transactions, from the transfer of media and license rights to the tender for nuclear plant, from satellites to dog accessories; I negotiated sponsorship and distribution agreement and partnership agreements in all sorts of industries. The bottom line is always the same: you need to interact and negotiate if you want your business to work. You may as well get it right! That's what I do. I provide that specialist support. The even more fascinating thing is that it is not confined to geography. Thanks to my fluency in 4 languages and my experience, I now increasingly also help to bridge the cultural business gap that could damage a negotiation or a business expansion, for what it matters. I help US/UK businesses to deal with French or Italian ones.
Nolcha: Would a brand or up and coming designer benefit from using a negotiation expert?
SV: Indeed they would. A brand or up and coming designer would actually benefit from it even more, as they will have available the essential negotiation skills to assist them also in their future business. It will also save them time as I understand that for some having to negotiate for days in a stressful business environment is not what being a designer is all about. Finally they will also benefit as using an expert like me will help them to carefully plan the business expansion and avoid the "over-commit/under-deliver" syndrome, which is a common mistake of successful up and coming designers, a mistake that is very costly on the long run. Look around your industry and you will soon see that big designers have always been assisted by hard nose business negotiators. M. Pierre Berger for M. Yves Saint Laurent is one clear example; M. Arnaud for LVMH another one.
Nolcha: How would it help their brand?
SV: Fundamentally by having someone talking the language of the business community. An expert negotiator like me is here also to establish and position the brand to the right level and promote a message aligned with it. When I negotiate I endorse what I negotiate for. Hence I want to say: "Look, I might negotiate for an up and coming designer, but the deal is serious and the commitment here to stay, to build a long term lasting transaction, so let’s talks business now". Also it allows designers to focus on what they know best and relying on an expert to make the points solid concrete wins of the deal. Negotiating is a job on itself. It's time, emotion and energy consuming. Not everybody likes it, but everybody needs it. So if as a brand you are prepared, you are immediately adding to the brand image depth and seriousness. Once a client said that a multimillion dollars negotiation sort out "the boys from the men", though an unfortunate expression, I will have to agree; if your brand can't take a certain level of pressure that comes with big negotiations, your brand will hardly make it to the next level.
Nolcha: What business expertise could you provide fashion industry professionals that they could not find elsewhere or do themselves?
SV: If you want to eat a salad, you go to the restaurant and order one. You don't buy a plot of land, seed it, cultivate it, wait for the right season to arrive and then make your own salad. Don't you? It's about the same. You can't be good at everything. I have been blessed in doing this now forever -really - and professionally for over 15 years. Even when I was a lawyer, I was spending all my time negotiating big deals, which is why I decided to make it my principal business. I negotiated all sorts of agreements for all sorts of economical values and in all sorts of pressurized environments. I have learned the skills and tricks whilst doing it. I also made mistakes from which I learned. Because I am an international negotiation expert, I am now even booked for corporate conferences and negotiations clinic sessions! If a fashion industry professional want to do it him/herself, it's good by me. Chances are, though, that, even if they feel satisfied with the deal, they will make a lot of costly mistakes, not all of which they will immediately see. My clients and track record says that you will not have the costly mistakes using my services. Also because I have already learned my lessons doing them! If you have a negotiation challenge, you need an expert negotiator; the same way that if you have a car problem, you look for a mechanic.
Nolcha: What advice would you give up and coming designers that would like to take advantage of your services, but do not have the budget?
SV: If a designer has no budget for cloth, but has budget for a plasma TV in the showroom, then I don't think any advice will be helpful. If a designer is serious about business, budget is no limitation. They can always call to see if I can help. I also offer negotiation clinics. This is a service designed to help designers to understand how to negotiate. Finally, my first book will be out soon. I wrote it as the practical book that I would like to have been given 15 years ago. It would have saved me so many mistakes along the way!
Nolcha: Why do you think business and negotiation expertise is increasingly becoming a necessity in the fashion and creative industries?
SV: I don't think it is something new. Historically the creative industries of the past relied on patrons to survive. Once, a client, who was a TV producer, told me that he had tens of new creative ideas on his desk every week, but only one a month that could be produced. The same is true in the fashion industry. If you don't need the money and can only focus on the creativity of your design, you are a purist and it's fabulous. The reality though, is that if you rely on this to make a living, then your designs must be produced and sold, and that's where the business and negotiation expertise steps in. I firmly believe though that it shouldn't be a contradiction; the way I see it, business and negotiation expertise is just here to make sure that your message is producing the result you wanted and that the designer can make a leaving out of it, so to produce and create even more.
For more information on Simon Vumbaca and his services visit: http://www.simonvumbaca.com/
