Читать книгу Wake Up and Sell the Coffee! - Martyn Dawes - Страница 21

 If you are launching a consumer business, regardless of relationships or agreements with distribution partners, if you don’t win with the consumer you will fail.

 3i was right about Nestlé. It added little of real value, wasn’t a real contract and merely diverted some existing marketing spend my way on a signage package and a small discount on coffee. This could have been withdrawn overnight. The Coffee Nation name would never be worth anything whilst I was selling Nescafé coffee.

 I created my cash issue. I didn’t need a 30-store trial programme and certainly not all over the UK. Trials should have been close to home.

 I tried to raise money for an unproven business. I was lucky to have failed in the fundraising at that time.

 I was busy managing trials, writing and rewriting my business plan and chasing investors. All of this appeared sensible but it did not give me the answer of why I was not selling more coffee. Learn to recognise the busy fool syndrome; it’s a common ailment amongst start-ups.

 If a product doesn’t sell (or in sufficient volumes to become profitable) it’s usually because not enough people want to buy it regardless of how much promotional activity is put behind it.

 I was right to hold on to the fact that some people were buying – it gave me hope and energy to keep at it. Thank God I did. Many people give up just before victory is theirs. My mantra was I would never, ever give up.

 Sell in at the highest level – if you get a meeting with the CEO you’ll actually be talking to someone who can make decisions.

 My agreements with Spar and Alldays were warm, feel-good letters but not trial agreements with clear success criteria signed by both parties.

 It was right – eventually – to call a halt to the expensive promotional plan with Alldays. Many small (and even bigger) companies go bust trying to please their customers. Tell the truth and chances are they’ll stick with you.