The experience of approaching co-mans for your CPG business is when most founders realize the meaning of ‘zero leverage’ business conversations. Ouch. Co-mans are notorious for ‘using’ startups to plug small holes in their production capacity without caring about the end product quality. You are
The keyword here is: over-rated. What I’m about to say stems from internal and external sources gathered over the years but primarily emerges from my interpretation of Whole Foods’ fundamental role in modern food culture and modern retail. As many of you know already, I’m not a
If you hang out with old-school sales pros from the natural products industry, you will often encounter a belief that distribution (in the suitable locales and channels) is all you need to grow with an ‘incremental’ product. They are used to low EBITDA businesses that
‘Tis the season of pumpkin-flavored everything, folks. Most of it is inedible in my experience. Some of it, though, is amazing. If you’ve been mulling over whether or not to add seasonal flavors to your UPC mix as an early-stage brand, this post is for
It’s the time of year when you’re preparing next year’s plan, I hope. As you move farther up the Ramp, though, the risk of losing focus grows. Why? Well, now you have the cash to entertain all manner of distractions you quickly ignored early on: adding lots
I have the privilege of advising some of the brightest entrepreneurs out there in CPG today. Yet, intelligence alone (IQ) does not prevent a founder or her team from literally becoming blind to very likely, but negative interpretations of her brand’s KPIs. Again and again and
Those who follow me closely may have noticed that I practice virtually all the central tenets of my best-selling book in my professional services practice. My own business has been growing exponentially because I did the following: 1. Wrote and self-published a book - badly needed
I’m not a clinical psychologist; let’s be clear. That said, entrepreneurs do tend to skew strongly toward narcissistic behavior (in the latest research). This is a learned pattern of interpreting social life in a constant source of positive feedback. That’s how I see it as
Many have forgotten how Walmart, specifically, their Supercenter format provided mainstream CPG a single retail account that generated double-digit revenue growth for years in the 1990s and 2000s. It was a bargain with the Devil, though, because it compressed net margins for those brands by
The premium food/beverage/alcohol space grew at a pace last year not seen since 2006. Let that sink in a bit. And ever since 2006, the sector has been steadily decelerating, though still growing in both market share and absolute $ sales (and ahead of inflation). See the