This case study explores the transformative journey of managing and revitalizing a family real estate business in Brescia from May 2019 to July 2024. After an unexpected transfer of responsibilities due to my father's severe illness, I navigated through a complex financial and operational landscape. Initial assessments revealed critical liquidity issues, prompting immediate strategic actions including contract renegotiations, cost reallocations, and tenant adjustments. Despite challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, significant milestones were achieved, including securing rental incomes, legal actions to recover debts, and extensive property renovations. The project's culmination saw the creation of energy-efficient units and substantial financial recovery. This experience profoundly impacted my professional growth, demonstrating the importance of strategic planning, adaptability, and perseverance in real estate management.

In 2019, our family real estate business needed additional storage space. Instead of renting a warehouse, we revitalized an 1830 barn. Managed by me, the project began in May 2020 with an initial budget of €79,000, later increased to €100,000 due to additional repairs. The transformation involved structural reinforcement, roof restoration using traditional materials, and modernizing the interior while preserving historical features. Local materials and labor were utilized. By summer 2020, the barn was a state-of-the-art warehouse, exemplifying adaptive reuse and genuine architecture.

In 2021, as a Product Manager for automotive services at a startup focused on purchasing, repairing, and selling used cars online, I embarked on a project that would redefine our approach to service offerings. Initially, the company had a service that, despite being a pilot, was disconnected from actual customer needs and performed well only during promotions due to its high perceived cost and limited appeal.

Recognizing the importance of aligning services with customer demands, I conducted surveys and listened to customer service calls, identifying two key needs: maintenance verification for online car purchases and a reliable warranty due to the uncertainties of buying used cars online. To address these needs, I collaborated with production to reduce maintenance service costs and partnered with a network offering extensive workshop coverage for warranty services, ensuring quality through service level agreements and periodic audits.

Engaging with the financial department provided insights into the company's cost structure, enabling me to price these services appropriately. Legal consultations helped define the contracts and general conditions, while coordination with the IT department ensured the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of implementing these new offerings.

By December, we launched the maintenance verification service, followed by the warranty service in March 2022. Both services were immediately successful, attracting full-price sales and offering sales teams an alternative to discounts on car products. This initiative underscored the vital role of customer needs in product and service development, leading to successful outcomes and enhanced customer satisfaction in the used car market.

This article revisits an experience from 2019 when I was a Product Specialist in a major financial captive company in the automotive industry. We launched an ambitious project to meet the growing demand for direct purchases of car maintenance and services without the need for financing. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how to develop a sales channel, specifically one or more e-commerce platforms. The initiative explored legal frameworks, selecting the rental company as the appropriate entity for direct service sales. A pilot project was initiated with five carefully chosen dealerships, utilizing a basic e-commerce platform and a paperless customer journey, fully compliant with legal and administrative standards. This innovative approach included the integration of electronic invoicing and a partnership with Nexi for payment processing. Initially limited to a single product and a few cars, the project quickly expanded to include a wider range of products and opened up to corporate clients and VAT-registered customers. Within a year, a B2C version was added to the existing B2B2C e-commerce model, transforming it into the main sales channel for services on used cars and generating an additional €15 million in revenue. This project not only revolutionized our approach to service sales, freeing it from the constraints of financing, but also set a new benchmark for the automotive industry.