Launching a brand is a bit like planting an orchard. You don’t start with apples, you start with a sapling. You water it, nurture it, maybe even give it a motivational speech or two. Then, after years of what looks like nothing, bam! there are piles of fruit everywhere.
Except in business, we’re all so twitchy and impatient that we’re more likely to dig up the tree halfway through to see if it’s growing roots than to leave it to mature slowly but surely.
Here’s the boring but honest truth. Success doesn’t happen overnight. It doesn’t even happen in five years. Based on 30 years of watching brands rise (and fall), 10+ years is about what it takes for a brand to fully get into its stride. So the real question isn’t if you’ll have to wait, it’s how will you use that time to your advantage?
For those impatient souls who can’t stand the thought of waiting, here are three ways to stack the odds in your favour, without committing what we like to call “idea infanticide” (a.k.a. killing off great ideas before they’ve had a chance to grow into good ideas).
1. Start thinking like a cockroach not a rhino
Big brands love to charge into the market like a rhino with big, loud, and very expensive marketing campaigns. That’s all great but there’s a catch. Rhinos are easy to spot and even easier to take down. Startups, on the other hand, operate more like cockroaches. They’re scrappy, nimble, and incredibly hard to kill!
What does that actually mean in practice?
Start out by testing, learning and remembering that you’re in “discovery phase”
Get your product on the shelf in a small way and see what happens. Watch the rate of sale like a hawk.
React quickly to failures and successes.
Nip, tuck, pivot, and pivot again until you find what works.
The “discovery and validation phases” are where your only job is to test your hypothesis to see if you can survive.
Once you’ve got your “secret sauce” (you’ll know because people start buying without you begging them), you’re ready for the “efficiency phase.” This is where you tighten the thumb screws, optimise costs, and get ready to scale. (n.b. when you scale, you scale the good bits as well as the bad bits so make sure there are no cracks that will turn into crevasses!!)
2. Beware the “launch and leave” trap…
Big corporates love a good launch campaign. They’ll throw millions at it, pat themselves on the back, and then promptly walk away. The result? A shiny new brand that’s been left to fend for itself and gradually fades as the next big campaign comes along and steals the show.
It’s no wonder the numbers are grim. According to Marketing Week…
50% of big launches decline in year two because the support vanishes.
80% don’t make it long-term and die quietly, and then no one talks about them.
Here’s what small, challenger brands get right…
They launch and love. Instead of treating a launch as the end goal, they see it as the beginning of a long-term relationship. They nurture their brands, adjust their strategies, and stay the course, even when it’s not glamorous.
3. Learn from the greats (patience is just the beginning)…
The people who consistently build great brands have a few things in common.
- Patience – They know that slow and steady wins the race. Overnight successes are just slow burns that nobody noticed.
- Kindness – They build trust with their teams and customers alike. Success is rarely a solo act.
- Intuitive Intelligence – They balance gut instincts with cold, hard data.
These traits don’t just make you a better brand builder, they make you a better leader. And in the world of business, that’s more than half the battle.
So what’s the big takeaway?
Overnight success takes time. It’s an inescapable fact. But it doesn’t mean you should sit around twiddling your thumbs. Test. Learn. Adjust. Build your foundation so when the time comes to scale, you’re scaling a solution, not a problem.
And when you’re tempted to rush, remember this…
Impatience kills more good ideas than bad luck ever will!!
So, keep planting those saplings and watering them with just the right mix of grit, patience and clear strategic planning.
Here are three ‘patient overnight sensations’ that walked through our doors and did all the above…
St Pierre – 26 years to £300m
- Founded in 1996
- Revenue: £16m (2010) to £150m (2022)
- Sold to Grupo Bimbo for £300m (2022)
- UK sales grew 44% (2024)
Tyrrells – 14 years to £300m
- Founded in 2002
- Revenue: £16.9m (2011) to £49.3m (2015)
- Sold to Amplify Snack Brands for £300m (2016)
- Overtook Kettle as the leader in the hand-cooked crisps category
Picnic – 9 years to €3.3 billion
- Founded in 2015
- Revenue: €1.25 billion (2023)
- September 2021: Raised €600m from investors including The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Trust
- January 2024: Raised a further €355 million from its shareholders
- Valued at: €3.3 billion
