Big dreams are welcome but you also have to be realistic.

When you are not a manufacturer, your chances of your brand actually winding up in super markets are very slim indeed, simply because Super Markets generally sell inexpensive personal care products with very small margins. You will be unable to compete with mainly large factories for large orders. Now, Super Market chains in particular order big and pay nothing.

Department stores are different, there is a possibility of you actually making it into department stores with your brand, if you go about it the right away. I think the best recent example I can give you is a brand called “Rituals” (www.rituals.com). I believe the creator was a Belgian guy and he opened his first store in Amsterdam not that long ago (10 years). What he had going for him was his 12 year experience as a marketing specialist at Unilever for skin care products. In just 10 years time, he has turned a simple local shop in Amsterdam into a multimillion dollar franchise. There isn’t a department store in the Netherlands that does not sell “Rituals”.

What a lot of these great brands, like The Body shop, Origins, Philosophy, H2o, Kiehls, Murad, etc. have in common, is a very simple approach. In fact the whole concept is so simple, it makes you wonder why you didn’t come up with it yourself. People respond to that, I certainly do. My motto: ”Less is better” , there is beauty in simplicity, there is order and a better sense of understanding. Give people too many choices, they will decide on nothing and walk away. You clutter your posters, leaflets or any other promotional material with endless phrases and informational diarrhea, it will never be read. You design and decorate your packaging like a Liberace heirloom, and it will never see the light of day.

What you want, is a lot in a very short time (I reckon). I suggest you take a few steps back and then consider what is to be your next step. Don’t plan too much ahead, things will usually work out in a different way and you need to be flexible and prepared for changes.

That being said,

Create a Long term Action Plan (3-5 years).

Set 1 specific goal for each year.

Try to come up with a few S.M.A.R.T. (Specific, Measureable, Actionable, Relevant and Timely) short term Goals at the beginning of each month. If you do well, you should be able to reach all of your goals within the specific timeframe. If you slack off, you’ll be stuck before the end of the year with too many things left to accomplish.


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