Add a Channel, Add a Risk: The Sales Door That Could Sink You

Every consultant wants you to add a door. Almost nobody asks which door you should shrink. And a door closing, not slow growth, is what actually ends product companies.

Every consultant you've ever talked to wanted to add a door.

Add Amazon. Add wholesale. Add a distributor. Add TikTok shop. Add a marketplace in another country.

I have never once heard anyone in this business ask which door you should shrink.

That's strange, because concentration is the thing that actually ends product companies. Not slow growth. A door closing.

The Fear That's Actually Rational

One owner said he'd never let a single platform become more than 35% of his sales. His reason was simple: your legs can get cut out from under you through no fault of your own.

Through no fault of your own. That's the fear, and it's a rational one. A platform changes its rules. An account gets bought and cleans house. A big retailer drops your category. None of it is anything you did. And if that door was half your business, half your business just left.

So the first question isn't "what door do I add." It's "what happens if my biggest door closes on Monday."

The Quieter Version: Your Doors Fighting Each Other

There's a second version of this that's more common and easier to miss. Your doors fight each other.

A maker of hunting knives said it plainly on a forum. His biggest problem with internet sales was the heavy discounting. A physical store couldn't compete with the prices showing up online, and he was watching brick-and-mortar dealers go out of business because of it.

Here's the catch. Both of those doors were his. He sold through the website and through the dealers. He set both prices. His own channels were killing each other, and he was the one holding both knives.

Why the Usual Help Can't Fix This

This is hard to solve with the help that's out there, and here's why.

The person who knows Amazon is an Amazon person. The person who knows wholesale is a wholesale person. Each one will grow their favorite door. Neither one is looking at the whole board, because neither one is paid to.

So every door gets optimized on its own, and nobody is standing over all of them at once, deciding how they should fit together. That's how you end up with channels that compete instead of channels that complement.

Four Questions That Beat a Report

They take five minutes and tell you more than most reports.

1. What percentage of your sales comes from your single biggest door?

2. If it closed on Monday, how many months could you carry payroll?

3. Which door pays you fastest, and which pays you most? They're usually not the same door, and knowing which is which changes how you lean.

4. When one of your doors runs a sale, who calls you angry? If nobody calls, either your doors are genuinely separate, or your dealers have given up. Both are worth knowing.

You already know, deep down, which door would hurt most if it closed. That instinct is usually right. The work is looking at it on purpose, before the decision gets made for you.

If one channel has quietly become most of your business, [book a call here: https://thriveworks360.com/pre-book-a-call

We'll look at your concentration, how your doors affect each other, and how to protect yourself before a decision gets made for you.

Want to sit with it first? [Join our free community here: https://thriveworks360.app.clientclub.net/communities/groups/thrive-growth-community-free/home

for more on channels, pricing, and building a business that isn't one email away from trouble.

Nathan