Getting in is easier than staying in.
Two weeks ago a few lucky founders walked out of Bentonville with a yes, posted the photo, and felt like they crossed the finish line.
I remember that feeling. BooginHead got its first Walmart PO in 2012. I drove home thinking the hard part was over.
The hard part started the day the product hit the shelf.
Nobody explains this in the room, so here it is.
The first PO is a test, not a commitment. You launch, and you have about three months to prove the product turns. Honestly, you will know in the first 30 days if it's going to work. The buyer isn't watching your reviews or your story. They're watching units per store per week against the item next to you on the shelf.
Terms come before cash. Net 60 or longer, which means you fund their inventory with your money for two months while you're also paying the bills. A yes you can't fund is worse than a no.
Chargebacks don't get announced. A late ship, a short case, a label off by an inch. They just come off your check. Some are fair. Some you fight. Either way, they're part of the math from day one.
Then the planogram resets. Every item in the category gets defended at the line review, and the buyer has to make room for whatever is new. If your numbers are soft or pricing too high, you're the one who gets deleted to make that room.
That's how brands die at retail. Not at the pitch. At a reset, a few soft quarters later.
BooginHead stayed on that shelf for twelve years because we treated the first PO as the start of the job, not the end of it. Velocity every week. Fill rate every ship. A buyer who knew our numbers before she opened our email.
So if you got the yes: enjoy it. Then get ready for the first 30 days on shelf, because that's when you find out.
Retail is my superpower.