If your CPG (consumer packaged goods) business has made it past the startup phase, and you have finally built up enough customers that you can pay your bills, you may be considering expansion. This is ultimately a good way to protect yourself from one or two major...

Building a CPG retail product is a store-by-store process. All the advertising in the world will not help you if your branded product isn’t there! In fact, it’s a waste of money. You need to be known to the neighborhood and market area of the store in which you are...

There comes a time in the life of every CPG (Consumer Packaged Goods) business when the founder, who has been making all the sales himself, finally asks the question, “Am I ready to hire a salesperson?” The answer is based on the answers to a series of other...

For years, we’ve been saying that the reports of the death of bricks and mortar retail stores was greatly exaggerated. Amazon 4 Star Stores are adding more weight to that argument. What do Amazon Go, Whole Foods, and Amazon 4 Star Stores all have in common? They are...

Castling is a chess move where, under certain circumstances, you can change your king’s position and the position of your castle (or rook) at the same time. This is generally a defensive move, used to get you out of harm’s way, but it can also position you for an...

For almost 7 years we’ve been writing on the Consumers Brand Builders site about what it takes to build a national brand that’s sold in stores. We cover everything we know and deliver lessons we have learned in down-to-earth, easy-to-understand terms. Our goal is to...

So many successful brand builders watch helplessly as the entrepreneurial spirit of their brand begins to fade as their company grows. It gets simplified and watered down with each new generation. The increasing division of specialized labor that you can finally...

We started in our laundry room with no money and no knowledge of our industry, and ended up in the boardroom of the world’s largest wine company. Now, you can listen to the true story of how we built the Barefoot Wine brand! But don’t worry, we’re not just going to...