And we didn’t see it coming.
After a tumultuous period in our family’s life, we had just pulled together and started a new business – The Anti Hangover.
It’s a delicious honey based gel that prevents hangovers. Duh! And our marketing plan was smart. We didn’t sell it in pharmacies like the other guys! We sold it in liquor stores.
We didn’t have experience in retail, so we had to learn fast:
- How does retail actually work.
- Cold calls suck, but can work really well.
- Giving an invoice, and getting paid are 2 different things.
- You have to sell hundreds of low priced products to make a living.
- The back rooms of retail stores are dirty!
We did pretty well. Two of us got into 150 liquor stores in 6 months. We were finally turning a profit.
And then the government closed all the liquor stores. Apparently that would cure COVID. It was supposed to be for two weeks. It was actually for 161 days! Overnight, we had no outlets, no customers, and no business. And we couldn’t even drink our troubles away.
What did we do?
- We added new products to our range.
- We improved our in-store display packaging.
- We started selling in pharmacies and supermarkets.
We recovered and managed to build enough, that our business got acquired and merged with a long standing brand.
Cool story bro, whats the point?
1. You can’t plan for everything.
2. They don’t teach this in business school.
3. You might have to do what you initially decided against.
4. You should have new innovations and iterations on hand at all times.
5. The perfect environment doesn’t exist.
We were forced to learn and adapt. FAST! And now, through the magic of the internet, I can share those lessons with you.
“How to take a product from idea to on the shelf fast” is coming soon.