A new brand makes baked millet snacks at a price about 60% above mainstream packaged namkeen. Gross margin is 45% if sold direct, falling to about 20% through modern-trade retail after distributor and retailer margins. The founders have ₹2 crore to spend in year one and want to be in 5,000 stores within two years.
Write the year-one go-to-market plan. Decide where to sell first and to whom, how to price and position, how to split the budget across channels, and what would make you change course.
100 points, 60% to pass.
The founders' 5,000-store goal conflicts with the economics: at 20% margin through retail, a premium brand with no awareness burns cash on shelf space and slow rotation. A strong plan starts where margin and the right customer overlap — direct online and quick-commerce in a few metros, targeting health-conscious urban buyers — to build repeat purchase and proof of rotation, then enters a limited set of premium retail stores with that data. Position on a specific occasion (office snacking, children's tiffin) rather than 'healthy'. Budget weighted to sampling and repeat-driving over broad awareness. Milestones: repeat rate, contribution margin per order, sell-through per store in the retail pilot; a weak repeat rate says the product, not distribution, is the problem.