Drivepoint

Care/of vitamin brand is shutting down

@gardnersmitha @drewmarc @brettbone @simplemodernco @andrewbcase @noonbrew Register here: drivepoint.io/webinars/hard-…

Pumped to have @drewmarc live tomorrow along with @brettbone from @simplemodernco and @andrewbcase from @noonbrew to talk pricing. Such a cool topic that overlaps with finance, marketing, math, psychology and culture. Everyone has to make calls on pricing, and yet so often it's ignored as a strategic lever...let's fix that.

Pricing = most under-used lever to boost a brand's contribution margin We're doing a webinar tomorrow with Drivepoint, Sipmle Modern, and @andrewbcase from NoonBrew to talk about how to do it strategically. Link below to register!

New CPG brands often think about two paths to launching their business: 1. Ecommerce – DTC (high CAC) and Amazon; or 2. Retail – premium grocers, then big chains (cash intensive) But what if there was another way? A path to sales and momentum without the huge upfront costs? I think there is. For most new better-for-you CPG brands, the current wisdom is to start selling in some small premium grocers like Erewhon or Gelsons, then quickly move to Whole Foods and Target. Great. But there are significant costs to that approach. Slotting fees, promotional trade spend, brokers in the middle taking their cut. All at a time when the brand is relatively unknown, so the sales velocity isn’t there to offset the upfront costs. This makes launching in retail a very cash intensive exercise. All before you even know if the brand is likely to be a success. But what other options are there? Independent retail can be a more profitable and forgiving channel than any other. You can make mistakes, try new things and figure out what works best. Experiment with different point-of-sale marketing materials, different price points, price promotions, sampling and demonstrations. Really hone the process of ensuring your product sells through at retail stores before approaching the big chains. And what’s more, if you set yourself up with some good, localized distributors and a few sales reps, you have no slotting fees, no charge backs, no huge trade spend obligations and no middle man brokerage fees. You can hustle as a small group to sign up accounts and work closely with distributors to service those accounts well. And profitably. Build your volume, build some cash, be confident that your product is working before you take those meetings with Target and Whole Foods. It doesn’t have to cost $ millions to successfully launch a CPG brand. But you might need to do things differently and follow the path less travelled.

If you’re a brand founder in Austin, come on out tonight! We’re hosting a get together with @obviceo and @chewonthisdtc and an awesome group of founders.

▶️ Watch the full webinar: youtu.be/aJglBsF0VtA 📊 Get weekly updates on these metrics (and much more): drivepoint.io/dtc-benchmarks

📈 @YETICoolers. @Crocs. @lululemon. @wearfigs. @WarbyParker. How can watching public market consumer brands like these help smaller companies navigate the M&A landscape in 2024? @gardnersmitha broke it down with data from our DTC Index in a recent @TheFortiaGroup roundtable.

🔴 Happening Now: Join our CEO @gardnersmitha and @TheFortiaGroup for a discussion on ecommerce brand valuations, including insight into the most recent comps for your business. Register and join now: bit.ly/3tYQpld

Every consumer brand could use a healthy dose of financial clarity... "Drivepoint will actually help you figure out what your pathway looks like as a DTC brand. We've unlocked some big, big insights for our strategic finance, thanks to their models." 👉 hubs.li/Q02hrYtW0

Your strength in DTC can be a major asset when leveling up into wholesale. Take it from @oatsovernight and @getgraza 👇 hubs.li/Q02gSsxw0

Happy Wednesday! If you've already spent too much time this week manually wrestling with financial models, there's a better way. Take it from the team at Ibex → hubs.li/Q02gQMJH0

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Manual FP&A processes can only get you so far… As @TasteSalud's growth exploded, @TylerMcCann and the team knew they needed a better way to track and forecast increasingly complex financials. @TasteSalud 🤝 @Drivepoint_io → hubs.li/Q02gjCgP0

Everyone's always talking about margins - and obviously not these ones 👇 But in finance, there are product margins, contribution margins, gross profit margins, net profit margins…the list goes on. These are the margins that truly matter in DTC → hubs.li/Q02g45q50

Growth at any cost doesn't fly anymore in DTC. For beauty, personal care, and wellness brands prioritizing profitability in 2024, start paying close attention to these financial metrics → hubs.li/Q02fTGF80

Always love to see founders and brands we work with in the spotlight! A must-read profile on the explosive success of @getgraza 🫒🚀

Get the scoop on how @drinktenzo made it happen with these 5 finance tips for growing consumer brands 👇 drivepoint.io/post/tenzo-ste…

🍵 3. Grow efficiently as an omnichannel business, selling matcha products DTC online, and through thousands of stores and cafés.

"For a year, we had no clue what we were doing." Over time, @sodell244 and the @drinktenzo team figured it all out and built a powerhouse finance function. ⬇️ Now, a modern FP&A approach enables them to do these 3 things (plus so much more)...