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Survive to Thrive
Scaling a brand in the natural products industry is as hard as hell. That is just a fact, there is no way around it. We read about the “over-night” successes that in reality were 5 to10-year slogs with pain, suffering and a lot of luck. Sadly, for every one of those, there are a 100+ that last less than two years. You get my point, not easy!
In the early days, which I will operationally define as pre-seed to series A, too much focus is placed on growth. That’s a mistake. I know it sounds weird, but a growth-only focus can lead you down a path that can kill your brand and business.
During this phase of your business, your mantra should be to “survive to thrive”. I am not sure where I first heard that phrase, but I’ve co-opted it as my own. Let’s first define thrive. I will offer this as my definition. To thrive means that your brand has proven traction and a clear path to profitability. The underlying assumptions in your growth hypothesis have been validated, and you’re ready to scale. Further, investors believe in the upside and feel it is de-risked enough that they want in. Indeed, other elements could be included, revenue, buzz, but the above is good enough for the purposes of this article.
Getting from the early stages to a place where a brand can thrive is a bitch. There is no better way to put it. So, if the mantra is to survive to thrive, what action can…
