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Full Transcript

Welcome to Small Bites with Stephanie. Three decades in CPG boiled down to one quick lesson at a time. No lecture, no workbooks, just something useful to take with you. All right, let's get into it.

All right, so pick a channel, not a chase. Quick gut check for you. When was the last time you chose a growth channel, you know Amazon or a new retailer or something like that, because you chose it and it was right for your brand, not because the opportunity just landed in your inbox. Most first-time founders are really reactive because chasing growth whenever it shows up, feels productive, but it's often not. So when you don't have a strategy behind you, it can be a problem because you're not quite ready. So sometimes it's great, and that's great too. But here's what you need to do: make sure you're ready, and build the framework to be ready for when you're going to grow. It comes down to three things. So the first thing is, of course, actually define the goal. And more sales is not a goal. I'm sorry, everyone.

That's a given.
Get specific.

You want to grow an email list.
You want to increase repeat buys on Amazon.
You want to boost sell through on the shelf.
Define what that really looks like for you. Then audit what's already in place.

You know your data is one of the best things we can do. So find gaps in your email capture. Are you using subscribe and save? Take advantage of in-store tools. Find the gaps for that goal, and then start doubling down and really get into what's working. Build what's already working. Fill in what's not working, and really identify if something isn't going to work.

And then finally, really, here's where the the data kicks in. Track the KPIs, the key performance indicators that actually matter. Don't get fooled by vanity metrics. Vanity metrics are things like how many people follow you on social media. I don't care how many people follow you. What I care about is how many people engage with you, right? Check in regularly. If some move or other stall, you know, figure out what you can go through those KPIs to figure out and see the cue in the audit, right? The cue for hey, this is working or this isn't working. We need to do something else. Get help where you need it, for what you know you don't know, and especially for what you don't know you don't know.

We are Food Business Success. We mentor early stage founders with real coaching strategies, tools, and systems to help avoid the common pitfalls and build a brand that lasts. We're also home to the Launch and Grow Accelerator, so until next time, happy selling!