Yohan Jacob is the President and Founder of Retailbound, Inc.,
a full-service retail consulting agency based in Chicago.
He has been consulting in retail for close to a decade now
since 2008, Retailbound offers retail coaching, retail consulting, and managed marketing assistance to manufacturers who want to sell their products to retailers

Yohan & his team have taught and consulted with over 3,500+ entrepreneurs on how to sell their products to retailers.
Unlike most retail consultants,
Mr Jacob has been on BOTH SIDES of the retail buyer’s desk,
both as a manufacturer and as a large retail buyer.

In this episode you will learn about:

• What you need to know before talking to a buyer.
• What you have to prepare and what they might ask you.
• What retail buyers are looking for in products that they may accept a deal with.
• What the best path for scaling brands that started off from Indiegogo, Kickerster and Amazon.
• How to really test your product before getting it out there.

Guest’s Top Tips

For Yohan, the 3 things that a buyer would want to know before giving your product a chance are:

1. Sales. Will your product bring top line sales?
2. Product Margin. Will your product make them money?
3. Inventory Returns. Will they have to deal with this a lot?

Another tip for Yohan is that you only have 2 seconds to capture shopper’s attention when your product is on retail shelves. Make that 2 seconds worth it, and make your packaging something that is clean and informational.

Last and a very important tip is to not be complacent. Just because you started strong in Indiegogo, you can relax and be sure that you will succeed in the shelves. Starting strong in Indiegogo does not guarantee success in the retail world.

Parting Advice – The Lightning Round

Hiring People

He hires people that are innovative and think outside the box.

Indispensable Tools

• Laptop
• Smartphone
• Tablet

Best Mistake

As a manufacturer, my biggest mistake is assuming to send samples when it is not requested.

Best Resources

• Book: Retail Bound by Yohan Jacob

Key Takeaways (with timestamps)

(8:20) Before anything else, you have to know what you want to gain. Will you be a one-product vendor? Or do you see yourself developing other products to broaden your assortment in the future?
(10:37) Start small, find a few stores, build a few sales history, and understand the process first. This will prepare you for when you are ready for the big players.
(16:53) Emails are not recommended, they can be ignored and deleted easily. What you have to do is call your target. If you get their voicemail, just keep on calling until you are able to talk to them. Once you talk to them, that is when you follow up by email.
(19:30) Before you talk to a buyer, you have to know the stats of your product line. You have to know your week to date sales, month to date and year to date.
(25:30) For your website, you have to have the right copy, the right content and that it is ready when you direct people to it. It’s a big no-no to have something like “The photos will be uploaded in a week” or such.