Thursday, November 05, 2026
A group programme and one-on-one coaching solve different problems. Here is who each suits, what The Icehouse publishes, and six questions that settle it.
A major retailer or a bigger competitor offers to put your product on their shelf under their own label, at guaranteed volume, no marketing spend required — and it feels like the growth break you've been waiting for. Kevin has watched a dozen FMCG founders take that deal in the last few years, and he has watched most of them regret it within eighteen months. Private label manufacturing can be a legitimate part of an SME growth strategy. It is almost never the free win it looks like on the term sheet, and the founders who get burned are usually the ones who said yes without running the numbers past the guaranteed volume line.
Private label deals are seductive because they solve the hardest problem in FMCG — guaranteed distribution — without the years of grind that building your own brand shelf presence normally takes. But volume isn't growth if it comes at the cost of margin, capacity, and brand equity all at once. Kevin has seen businesses take on a private label contract that filled 60% of production capacity at wafer-thin margin, leaving no room to service their own branded customers during peak season — and no leverage to renegotiate once the retailer knew how dependent they'd become. The deal that looked like growth on the way in becomes a single customer holding the business hostage on the way out.
1. Cap the capacity — Set a hard ceiling on what percentage of production any private label contract can consume, before you negotiate. Most businesses that get hurt never set this number in advance.
2. Price the exit, not just the entry — Model what happens to your cost base and cash flow if the retailer cancels the contract in twelve months. If that scenario sinks the business, the contract is too large.
3. Protect the brand line — Keep your own branded product's shelf presence and marketing investment intact regardless of the private label volume. The moment your own brand goes quiet to service someone else's label, you've stopped growing your business and started growing theirs.
"Kevin has some amazing ideas around marketing, things we would have never thought of ourselves. He also helped us through the process of getting into supermarkets. He has gone above and beyond what he needed to!"
— Amy Nixon, Icehouse Coaching Programme
Cash flow pressure makes guaranteed volume irresistible in the moment, and the long-term brand cost is invisible on a term sheet — it only shows up eighteen months later, in a P and L that's grown in revenue but shrunk in margin and control. This is a decision that benefits enormously from an outside read before signature, not after: someone who has sat on both sides of exactly this kind of deal and can price the real risk before the ink dries, not once the retailer already holds the leverage.
If a private label conversation is on your table right now, get the numbers checked before you sign — not after.
...and you become the owner who grows the brand on your terms, not a retailer's.
Saturday, October 17, 2026
NZ retail lifted productivity 9.1% without adding hours, while national output per employee fell. Here's how to grow revenue before you grow headcount.
Saturday, October 17, 2026
Most owners expect a coach to fix things in week one. Here's what actually happens in the first 90 days, and why that structure is the real breakthrough.
Friday, October 16, 2026
A 2026 Bain survey found fewer than half of CEOs believe their company can execute fast enough, even with full teams and budgets behind them. Here is the weekly rhythm that turns a good plan into tracked progress for an owner running the show solo.
Friday, October 16, 2026
A bank survey found 98% of small business owners do not know their company's value. Most shrug because they are not selling. That is the mistake: the work that lifts value is the same work that lifts growth right now.
Friday, October 16, 2026
Global surveys put client satisfaction with coaching at 95 percent good or excellent. The unhappy minority almost always skipped the same three checks before they signed. Here is what to check before you do.
Friday, October 16, 2026
67% of founders work more than 50 hours a week, and most of those hours go to re-explaining tasks or double-checking work that did not need it. The fix is matching your leadership style to each task's readiness level.
Friday, October 16, 2026
Seventy-seven percent of B2B buyers call their last purchase complex, with six to ten people in the room. Most SME sales reps still pitch like there is only one decision maker, then blame price when the deal goes quiet.
Friday, October 16, 2026
Eighty-four percent of consumers say they plan to buy from a small business in the next two months. Most of that goodwill never converts, and it is not because customers do not care. It is because there is no specific offer ready to meet them.
Friday, October 16, 2026
Most SME owners are hitting their numbers, so why is confidence falling? The real reason isn't the economy. It's what's missing from next year's plan, and the three-question test that fixes it before you finalise a dollar of it.
Thursday, October 15, 2026
Owners testing something new are far more likely to expect faster growth. Here is how to find the adjacent customer segment sitting right next to yours.
Thursday, October 15, 2026
Thought a business coach was out of budget? For many eligible NZ businesses, the Regional Business Partner Network can cover a large share of the cost.
Thursday, October 15, 2026
Some SME leaders are already getting a half-day a week back from AI. Here is the simple filter that decides what to automate, augment or leave alone.
Thursday, October 15, 2026
It was not the pitch that killed your last deal. It was the four weeks of silence after it. Here is the follow-up sequence most SME sales teams never build.
Thursday, October 15, 2026
Most SME marketing stops the moment someone buys once. Here is the Value Ladder that gives your best customers an obvious next step, and why 74 percent never get one.
Thursday, October 15, 2026
A growth plan with no diagnosis is just a wish list with a date on it. Here is the three-part test that separates a real strategy from guesswork, before your next budget gets signed off.