Now, when you start a consumer company... you first start off by designing a new product that serves a niche audience...
Get the manufacturing outsourced from a factory...
And then focus all efforts on distribution... online first... gradually focusing on going offline to niche early adopters...
And then there was the ex-MD of Puma India...
Who decided to first buy a factory... not just any factory... one of the largest shoe manufacturers in India called Mochiko shoes...
And instead of building his own brand... took an exclusive license from the Italian brand Lotto to design, manufacture and distribute their shoes in India...
And when you've headed one such global company in India... money flows in from the likes of Nexus Venture Partners, Convergent Finance and Spring Marketing Capital...
And here's the lesson for D2C founders...
The party is over for you to just design a new product and run ads or content to sell it online...
With huge spends on Google ads, pureplay online D2C brands cannot survive anymore...
The edge now has changed to the likes of...
- Owning specialized manufacturing that competitors don't have
- Having offline distribution network that your peers are yet to build
- Having access to equity capital, while others continue to struggle with debt
While Pranathi at The Ken did a great story on Agilitas...
If you wish to build a consumer brand...
I'm doing a two day program called "Founders of Tomorrow", where I explain everything from what to build, how to source, how to finance, and distribute your products.
You can sign up at casarthakahuja <dot> com. Link in the bio / comments. Last day to register.
casarthakahuja
This post was originally shared by Sarthak Ahuja on Linkedin.