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Strategic Financial Management for CPG Entrepreneurs: Tips for Sustainable Growth

Clayton Christensen is a Harvard Business School Professor who coined the term "disruptive innovation [https://www.christenseninstitute.org/theory/disruptive-innovation/]." His research shows that 30,000 new consumer products [https://professionalprograms.mit.edu/blog/design/why-95-of-new-products-miss-the-mark-and-how-yours-can-avoid-the-same-fate/] are introduced each year in the U.S., with a failure rate of up to 95%. And unfortunately, more than 80% of new CPG companies [https://www.newhope.com/business-management/lessons-from-a-humbled-natural-cpg-founder] never reach the $1 million mark in revenue. If you run a CPG business, you know the odds are tough. However, the potential payoff can be huge—economically and personally. Rarely do CPG founders go it alone. Partners and investors are often crucial to your success, and the best of them will ask tough questions to ensure you stay on track. Sometimes, these conversations can get intense — especially if you don’t know your numbers.

As a Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) founder, you’ve faced sleepless nights perfecting your product and growing your brand. But when it comes to convincing investors and lenders to back your vision, all that hard work can feel like it’s not enough. Whether you’re explaining profit margins on your best-selling products or answering questions about your cash flow, it's easy to feel out of your depth with every financial misstep ready to be questioned.