From Startup to Scale-Up: FMCG Brand Triples Revenue in 18 Months

This Lagos-based FMCG startup had built a genuinely differentiated product range and a loyal early customer base. But it had hit a wall. Distribution was inconsistent. The team was small and stretched. Financial management was informal. The founder wanted to raise equity investment but couldn't produce the financial records or demonstrate the operational controls that serious investors require.

The business had the product. It lacked the infrastructure to scale it.

We approached this engagement as infrastructure builders. The first priority was financial systems — implementing proper bookkeeping, producing clean historical accounts, and building a financial model that could support a fundraising conversation. In parallel, we worked on distribution strategy, identifying the channels and route-to-market models that could achieve national reach without overextending the team.

We also built out the core team structure — defining the roles the business needed for the next phase and supporting the founder through the hiring process for two critical positions: Head of Sales and Head of Operations.

The business successfully raised a seed round 11 months into our engagement, backed by the clean financials and operational systems we had helped build. With the capital and infrastructure in place, revenue scaled from ₦180m to ₦560m in the following 18 months. The team grew from 12 to 34. The founder moved from doing everything to leading a team that could execute without her in the room.