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Impact

Rideau Environmental Action League

The Rideau Environmental Action League (REAL) is an Eastern Ontario-based environmental organization established in 1989 with a significant interest in promoting waste recovery and landfill diversion. Among its most visible and celebrated operations is the REAL Deal Reuse Store, a social enterprise in Smiths Falls that receives donations of pre-owned goods and sells them.

The Challenge

REAL approached Endeavour seeking assistance with developing a five-year business plan for the REAL Deal Reuse Store.  Government funding and donor growth had decreased, putting pressure on the store to make up for this shortfall. REAL was considering an array of growth opportunities for the store, enlisting Endeavour to help determine its options.

Our Approach

Endeavour conducted a high-level assessment of growth options and focused on expanding into the household renovation market because of its alignment to REAL’s mission, competitive advantage, and revenue potential.   The team then conducted a multi-stranded feasibility study and developed a detailed year-by-year implementation plan.

“The information you collected, we’ll be going back to it for many years.”

The Outcome

Endeavour’s detailed research and recommendations played an integral part of REAL’s long-term planning.   Due to Endeavour’s engagement, REAL made significant inroads into the renovation materials market. REAL estimates that material donations from contractors have increased by 10-20% since 2013, a success that they attribute in part to the fact that Endeavour reached out directly to many contractors during the engagement. Overall, the Endeavour engagement provided REAL with the insight and confidence needed for their strategic planning.

“We were all blown away by how much work there was [in the report and presentation]. The initial meetings had been relatively short, they hadn’t asked for a lot of information, and then what we ended up with was really quite stunning.”

“I have recommended Endeavour to some of my colleagues…It’s a very fruitful [experience].”

“[The engagement] was very useful, very thorough, [and] certainly gave us some ideas of where to head next and confidence that it was possible.”

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