Road Trips with People Building and Growing Emerging Brands.

In today’s episode of Road2Retail, the discussion centers around how to handle getting "The Call”. The call in question is when your buyer calls you and tells you things are not going well, your brand is not meeting expectations, and action needs to be taken. We discuss the importance of not going into a panic and how to think through and frame your response to the buyer's call or email. If you understood and captured the buyer's expectations (including what success looked like) at the time of acceptance- you should not be surprised if you are tracking the data. We will offer you a checklist to consider before engaging with your buyer.

Road2Retail- Episode # 13: Hiring a Broker to Assist with Sales On today's Road2Retail podcast we interview Rob Maxwell- Senior Vice President of Dirty Hands Growth Services. In this episode, we begin the discussion with Rob by asking how to know when a small/emerging brand is ready to hire a broker to assist with the Sales effort.

In today's episode, we speak with Afif Ghannoum- CEO of BIOHM Health. BIOHM Health is a firm helping consumers support their overall wellness by helping to optimize their gut health. Afif shares with us his insights into building a science based brand, the importance of differentiation, some tips on being well organized before attempting to raise money, and some watch outs when you consider whether or not the time is right to go to traditional retail. Afif also offers his viewpoints on getting started as a DTC business. We hope you enjoy this episode and pick up a few ideas to help you with your business building journey.

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In today's episode our guest is Krista Anderson- the founder and CEO of Esstar. Esstar focuses on helping consumers find brands that promote a healthy eating lifestyle. Krista currently lives in, and works from, the South of France. Krista has a tremendous business origin story as a stage 4 cancer survivor; she shares with us some great insight into her entrepreneurial journey.

On today's Road2Retail podcast we speak with Minor Hinson. Minor is the Chief Investment Officer for Bourne Partners Strategic Capital. Minor provides an overview of what investors look for when considering an investment in small, emerging brand as well as what kind of information should be included in a pitch deck and finally- what makes a good match between an investor and an emerging brand/entrepreneur. We hope you find today's show informative. Please follow us at Road2Retail on YouTube or share via our LinkedIn page.

On today’s podcast we interview Dawn Kelley, the CEO of Barney Butter- the great tasting almond products brand. In this episode, Dawn shares great advice for small and emerging brands on the lessons she has learned on her journey to building the Barney Butter brand into one of the leading positions in the almond butter category. Dawn shares key moves her brand has made, what she would do differently if she could, and explains why sell through for a brand is more important than sell in. She also discusses her approach to retailer expansion and what she would be looking for in an investor if Barney Butter were to raise growth capital. We hope you enjoy (and share!) this great episode.

In today's episode (Episode 8) of The Road2Retail we discuss the importance of having a Go-to-Market strategy for your brand. This document becomes your GPS to building and growing your brand at retail. We discuss the specific components of the Go-to-Market strategy including, the optimal class of trade to approach first, the specific retailer within the class of trade to focus your efforts, pricing, and most importantly- the cost of failure. Please follow us on our Road2Retail LinkedIn page or our YouTube channel for our past and future episodes.

On today’s Road2Retail podcast we interview Chris Hunter, the co-founder and CEO of the Koia brand. In this episode, Chris shares great advice to small and emerging brands on the lessons he has learned on his journey in developing the Koia brand. Chris shares his view on how to know you are ready for retail, mistakes to avoid, and how best to raise investment funds. You don’t want to miss this great episode. Follow us on our YouTube channel at Road2Retail.

In this week's Road2Retail podcast episode, Bruce Montgomery offers his views and commentary on the recently completed NACDS Annual conference which was held in Florida April 23-26. This is a key event for manufacturers, suppliers, and retailers in the health and wellness space. It is great to see key industry meetings coming back to in person attendance.

In today's episode, we had the opportunity to interview Mr. Jamie Grace, a long time former Walmart buyer across multiple categories. In this episode, Jamie shares great advice for small and emerging brands: What is the mental checklist a brand should think through before going to retail in general and Walmart specifically? What does a brand have to get right before approaching a retailer and what mistakes have you repeatedly seen made by small/emerging brands? What is the best way to secure a meeting at Walmart? What moves have you seen small brands make that have done things right?

In today’s episode, we are going to discuss how to prepare for a retailer meeting. You have worked hard to secure this key meeting for your brand, now we are going to share with you how to make sure your presentation works virtually (Zoom) or in person. We will share with you how to prepare an agenda, make sure your meeting runs smoothly, and how to be clear what you want out of your meeting? Brevity, clarity, and concise communication to a retailer buyer is key: How is your brand different? How will you help drive their category performance?

Once you have narrowed down the ideal retailer to approach in an attempt to expand your business, how do you get a meeting with that buyer? Relationships matter! Do you have a key contact that can recommend you and your brand to the retailer? Is your product truly unique and different? Retailers want to grow their sales- not just divide the same pie into more pieces. Is your team credible- meaning do you know your category and have you worked with this retailer before? And lastly, can you fund your brand at a competitive level?

What do you need to consider before you attempt to approach a retailer seeking distribution for your small/emerging/challenger brand? Can you produce with consistency at scale? How confident are you in your manufacturing partner? Is your supply chain stress tested? Do you have a 'go to market strategy' developed? Do you understand the criteria for success the retailer will place on your brand? Do you understand the cost of failure?

The Road2Retail has been developed to help emerging and challenger brands best determine when and how to go about securing distribution in food, drug, mass, club and dollar brick and mortar classes of trade. Our insight is based upon years of experience, interviews with buyers at a dozen large retailers, and ongoing discussions with manufacturers and suppliers that support brands. After years of leading and managing these business building initiatives for companies we worked for directly, we now help emerging brands navigate this important, yet complex, process.