When I look at CPG opportunities, my goal is to know the following: 1. Is this product/idea differentiated in the marketplace and how easy is it for the competition to copy/replicate that differentiation? 2. Does the team know what they are doing to grow the opportunity? 3. What's the plan to get the opportunity to [...]
This is a question from a business acquaintance: I've been approached by a network and their TV show about featuring our line in a commercial as part of an episode. The rub is that they want a $50k "scheduling fee" from us in order to do the segment. This would be a big bet for [...]
No one can help having a certain set of emotions for their business. It's not just an income, but often a significant source of enjoyment. Many businesses are an extension of the founders, owners and employees passions and interests and personal identity. Over time, our experiences with the business and the relationships we develop create [...]
I wrote a post on this topic and want to add a few additional thoughts. I am working with three different businesses who are seeing great growth opportunities. Two have recently been approached by investors, even though neither is raising money at this time. All three have too many opportunities coming at them and are [...]
This was a thoroughly enjoyable and eye-opening book. I rate it 5 out of 5 stars. The book has lots of examples and easily explains how our brain functions relative to purchasing products and services. Some of the stuff I already knew, but much of it I did not. It's not just for marketers or [...]
This book was OK. I give it a 3 out of 5 stars. It was a quick read and did not really tell me anything new. However, there is value to it because I got to see things from the author's perspective, how he thinks and how he approaches challenges and problems. There is always [...]
This is a question I received via a discussion thread and I am reposting my contributions to the thread here. As a rule of thumb, natural.organic is always a 50% margin. If selling through UNFI, Tree, etc. there might need to be another 15% added in for them, for a total margin of 65% to WFM, [...]
This is a Quora questions that I was asked to answer. My answer is below. In general, I think it is probably a big deal, since UO is a large and recognized apparel retailer. But I am not specifically an apparel expert, so that real answer is, "it depends". But here is how I would [...]
This book is a fairly easy read with good discussion on the various structures available for investing in local companies and businesses. Vice versa, it also gives a startup or small company an idea of the various ways in can fund its growth from local sources. The author includes many examples of companies that have [...]
If you have many growth opportunities, that's good, right? Well, sort-of. The trick is focusing on the best opportunities and not getting too distracted. Here's what I suggest to pick the right ones: Figure out who is your customer - the really loyal ones. Develop a profile of who that is. Is that market big [...]
