Most CPG founders only think they’ve made it when they reach $20M. But the real achievement isn’t $20M it’s $2M.

Hitting $2M means you’ve done the hardest stuff in business: 

  • 🛒 Proven consumers will buy your product 
  • 🏭 Developed manufacture processes 
  • 📈 Built a sales process 
  • 📦 Found distribution channels and supporting technologies that work 
  • 👥 Have an org chart and have learned how to hire and fire 
  • 💼 Established business and financial operations 
  • 💵 If not profitable, have a clear path to profitability 
  • 🎨 Have created a name, branding and conducted marketing

That’s the good news.

The bad news is all the things that got you to $2M need to change in order to reach $20M. This often looks something like:

  • 📊 Rationalizing product lines and launching business-driven innovations
  • ⚗️ Reformulatng / reengineering products to reduce costs
  • ⚙️ Improving manufacturing lines and processes to accommodate capacity needs, facilitate innovation and reduce COGS
  • 🤝 Adding dedicated sales lead (if not team) to capture opportunities adjacent to the founders’ focus 
  • 📡 Grow the company headcount without bloat while improving communication 
  • 📌 Introduce leadership routines, incentive systems, metrics and KPIs 
  • 🖥️ Integrate new tools such ERP, CRM, QMS and MES 
  • 📉 Leverage economies of scale improve unit economics and profitability

Maybe the most important aspect of the business to evolve is the brand and marketing.

At $2M, brand and marketing are about hustle and visibility. At $20M, they’re about positioning, differentiation, and value creation: 

  • 🚀 Elevate the brand story beyond the founder and/or the hero SKU 
  • 🤝 Align brand promise and trust with consumers and trade partners 
  • 🖌️ Create an identity with consistency across packaging, digital, retail, and PR 
  • 📦 Design brand packaging that addresses the 5 jobs of packaging 
  • ⭐ Use brand equity to drive pricing power, repeat purchase, and category leadership

This isn’t just fluff — it’s what increases enterprise value.

Not every $2M brand makes it, many stall. But structurally, if you’ve cracked $2M, the path to $20M is achievable.