I came up with a new type of natural breath freshener that I want to introduce in the US. How do I find commercial retail CPG distribution for my natural breath freshener? This is a Quora question. My answer is as follows: I am assuming you are a new company with a new product. If so, [...]
What questions should I ask customers when testing the viability of a CPG or consumer product idea? This is a Quora question. My answer is as follows: I find that asking people directly about a product idea does not yield the most informative answers. A better approach is to focus more on the outcome that [...]
I would like to know the process of getting a CPG product into retail stores like Walmart and Target. This is a Quora question. My answer is as follows: Here's the best way to get a product in if you are a new company or have never sold in retail before: Your product has prior sales [...]
For this post, I will be discussing a not-so-well known way to supercharge growth in a CPG or consumer product startup, which I had the opportunity to use in a few different start-ups with great success. Which set of results would you rather have? Exhibit B is looking a heck of a lot better, isn't [...]
I watched six start-ups from the MBA program at CU Denver pitch their ideas to a panel of judges and the audience. I love watching start-ups pitch their ideas, as its fun to hear presentations and I always walk away with new information and ideas about what others are doing. All six in this group [...]
I'm mentoring a company and we had some recent email exchanges around company vision. What is it and what goes into developing it? Here's my definition of vision from one of my subscriber-only articles: Your vision is the picture that you see of your business at some point in the future. It is what your [...]
Despite the explosive growth of online e-commerce and its widespread use for buying and selling products, selling products through retailers continues to be the most important mechanism for consumer product companies to earn revenue. The problem with a consumer product company selling at retail is that it is getting harder and harder to secure retail [...]
Is it better to start with a low manufacture suggested retail price in CPG and increase them later on, or start high and lower them? This was a question posted to Quora that I answered, which I have re-copied below: I know consumer products, so can only answer from that perspective: Do your research against [...]
I have never found sales to be much art at all. It's all science and execution, not some black magic. Selling to retail category buyers comes down to a numbers game, where the more you do it, the more you can learn and refine, and eventually, you will succeed. You prepare, rehearse, execute, analyze, refine; [...]
This post provides guidance on using retail CPG brokers and product reps, and is organized as follows: Should I hire a broker? How do I find a broker? How do I manage a broker? Compensation When do I fire a broker? Should I hire a broker? It depends on (1) how big your team is, [...]
