Nothing happens in this world until something is sold.
- They are not making more physical shelf space at retailers. When something new is brought on by a retailer something else goes away. Do not overextend yourself on store count as you are only as good as your sell through. As a startup you have limited resources and you need to be able to support the stores you are in before adding new outlets. In fact having exceptional velocity at a small number of stores is far more impressive than having an exceptional number of stores with substandard velocity.
- Farmers are early adopters. The profitability of their business is limited by the natural resources they have under their control. Thus, farmers are constantly looking for innovative ways to make their limited resources more efficient. If you are solving a real problem, be it through improving yield or reducing costs, you will find willing parties to test your product. That being said, you have to move fast and show a positive ROI for them. Without the ROI you won’t last long.
- Don’t forget to pick up a phone. Direct sales seems to be getting less and less popular. With the rise in popularity of digital sales campaigns and marketing automation people have largely forgotten how to sell person to person. In many cases the scale has flipped so far to the digital side that direct sales has actually become the most financially viable course to grow an early stage business. At the very least it is an amazing way to get real feedback from your consumers quickly.
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