# Move the sales bet to wholesale

Source: https://ivankamenken.com/channel-bet-review · Last updated 27 October 2026

The Channel Bet Review is a one-page decision Ivanka Menken uses inside Builder-of-Leaders Mentoring, a 6-month 1:1 programme at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST. If you are keeping a catalogue, a marketplace and wholesale alive at once and none of them is winning, you write one channel bet, name the partners it targets, hand one part of that relationship to a leader for 14 days, and name who reports on it.

## Every channel is alive. None is winning.

- You sell through a catalogue, a marketplace and wholesale, and none has your full attention.
- No channel has a written bet: what it must deliver, and by when.
- The channel that could grow has nobody but you looking after it.

**AN EXAMPLE:** A 25-person product company. The catalogue still goes out and costs more than it brings in. The marketplace is crowded and eats the team's time. Wholesale has the best buyers and no owner: the founder handles every retailer personally, when there is time. Every channel stays open because closing one feels like losing sales.

### THE CHANNELS, BEFORE THE REVIEW

- Catalogue: alive, costly, no bet
- Marketplace: alive, crowded, no bet
- Wholesale: alive, no owner, no bet
- Founder: the relationship manager for all three

## A channel bet is a release decision, not a marketing decision

The founder in the example had tried the usual answers: test another channel, keep all of them running, ask the team to look after each one. More channels meant thinner attention on every one of them, and the founder stayed the person every buyer relationship ran through.
Ivanka looks at who holds each channel. None of the three had a written bet. The catalogue was using cash. Wholesale, the channel with the most promise, had no owner, because its relationships still sat with the founder. The channel question was really a release question: which channel do you back, and which part of it do you hand over so it can grow without you?

> Backing a channel means letting someone else run part of it. Until then, it is a hope with your name on it.

**The cost of staying stuck:** Staying stuck splits attention and cash across every channel, so none of them gets the focus to work, and every buyer relationship still waits for the founder.

## The tool: Channel Bet Review

The Channel Bet Review puts the channel bet, its economics, the target partners, the release notch, a 14-day test and the reporting owner on one page, so one channel gets backed and one relationship leaves the founder.

It is a one-page decision, not a marketing plan. It compares what each channel returns after its own costs, chooses one to back in writing, and names the part of that channel's relationships the founder hands to a leader first.

It replaces keeping every channel alive because closing one feels risky, adding another channel when the current ones stall, and a founder who is the relationship manager for every buyer.

### What goes on the page

1. Channel bet: the one channel you back, and what it must deliver
2. Economics: what each channel returns after its own costs
3. Target partners: the buyers or retailers the bet is aimed at
4. Release notch: the part of the relationship a leader takes over
5. 14-day test and reporting owner: who runs it and who reports back

It sits inside Builder-of-Leaders Mentoring, beside the Release Dial and the commitments-kept count on the monthly scorecard. One release each fortnight is the programme's rhythm. No separate checkout.

## Choose the bet, then hand over a notch

In the example, Ivanka and the founder put the three channels side by side. What does each return after its own costs? Which buyers does wholesale need? Which part of those relationships could a leader hold now? They write the review: wholesale as the bet, the target retailers, the release notch (weekly contact with existing stockists goes to the sales lead), a 14-day test and the reporting owner. Before the next session, the founder stays out of those conversations.

### The questions

- What does each channel return after its own costs?
- Which one channel will you back in writing?
- Which partners is that bet aimed at?
- Which part of those relationships can a leader take over now?
- Who reports on the 14-day test, and what will they report?

### THE FOUR-STEP LOOP

1. The one thing: The channel you will back.
2. The numbers: What each channel returns after its own costs.
3. The story: Why every channel stays open, and every buyer still calls you.
4. The commitment: Hand one notch to a leader and hold it for 14 days.

Before the next session, the reporting owner brings back the 14-day record: which partners were contacted, what moved, and what came back to the founder.

## One bet, one release, one owner

By month 6, channel decisions are written down and the founder is no longer the relationship manager for all of them.

**NOW**

- Every channel stays alive by default.
- No channel has a written bet.
- The promising channel has no owner.
- Every buyer relationship runs through the founder.

**BY MONTH 6**

- One channel bet chosen in writing.
- One relationship released and held for 14 days.
- A named reporting owner for the channel.
- The next release already on the page.

The container: 12 fortnightly 60-minute sessions, one release each fortnight, a monthly scorecard, reviews at month 3 and month 6.

## The release is held, not hoped for

Ivanka Menken built Builder-of-Leaders Mentoring for founders of $500K to $3M businesses who build leaders but still do it all. She asks the hard question and holds you to the release you write down.
The Channel Bet Review is one of the tools inside that work. It does not replace your sales team or your marketing plan, and it does not choose the channel for you. It makes the bet, the owner and the 14-day test visible.

> Ivanka has the unique ability to ask the challenging questions and be supportive at the same time.
>
> Business owner

## Who fits, and who does not

### It fits

- You run a $500K to $3M business selling through more than one channel.
- No channel has a written bet, and none is getting your full attention.
- You have a leader who could hold part of a channel's relationships.
- You will stay out of those relationships for 14 days.

### It does not fit

- You want leadership theory rather than a decision to test.
- You want a done-for-you sales or marketing fix.
- You want to keep every channel and every relationship yourself.
- You sell through one channel and it already works.

### Investment

**AUD $1,500 per month ex GST, 6 months.** The Channel Bet Review is part of Builder-of-Leaders Mentoring, a 6-month 1:1 programme at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST. It is not sold separately.

Included:

- 12 fortnightly 60-minute sessions
- One release each fortnight
- A monthly one-page scorecard
- Reviews at month 3 and month 6

Three founding places in total, shared across all 1:1 mentoring, are available at AUD $1,000/month ex GST, in return for honest monthly feedback and a testimonial, which can be anonymous.

- [Join Builder-of-Leaders Mentoring, AUD $1,500/mo, 6 months](https://buy.stripe.com/3cI8wPay4gsV7tg6nSdQQ0z?utm_source=ivankamenken&utm_medium=showcase&utm_campaign=b5-wholesale-channel-bet-review)
- [Book a 20-minute intro call](https://theartofservice.zohobookings.com.au/?utm_source=ivankamenken&utm_medium=showcase&utm_campaign=b5-wholesale-channel-bet-review#/15606000001356030)
- [See the Builder-of-Leaders Mentoring programme](https://ivankamenken.com/building-leaders-not-doing-it-all)

## Questions about Channel Bet Review

### Is the Channel Bet Review right for my business?

It fits when you sell through several channels, none has a written bet, and the most promising one still runs through you. Ivanka Menken uses it inside Builder-of-Leaders Mentoring to choose one channel and hand part of it to a leader. The programme runs 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST, and the review has no separate checkout.

### What happens in the work?

Ivanka Menken puts your channels side by side with you, asks what each returns after its own costs, and you write the review: one channel bet, its target partners, the release notch, a 14-day test and a reporting owner. You stay out of those relationships until the next session. It is part of Builder-of-Leaders Mentoring, 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST.

### What changes by month 6?

One channel is backed in writing, at least one of its relationships is held by a leader, and a named owner reports on it. In Builder-of-Leaders Mentoring, Ivanka Menken checks each 14-day test and sets the next release. The programme is 12 fortnightly 60-minute sessions over 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST.

### What is not included?

Ivanka Menken does not write your marketing plan, manage your retailers or choose the channel for you, and this is not leadership theory. You make the bet and your leader holds the relationship; she holds you to it. Builder-of-Leaders Mentoring runs 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST.


## Back one channel, and let someone else run part of it

If every channel is alive and none is winning, start with Builder-of-Leaders Mentoring. The Channel Bet Review is inside it, and the 20-minute intro call is where you can see whether it fits.

- [Join Builder-of-Leaders Mentoring, AUD $1,500/mo, 6 months](https://buy.stripe.com/3cI8wPay4gsV7tg6nSdQQ0z?utm_source=ivankamenken&utm_medium=showcase&utm_campaign=b5-wholesale-channel-bet-review)
- [Book a 20-minute intro call](https://theartofservice.zohobookings.com.au/?utm_source=ivankamenken&utm_medium=showcase&utm_campaign=b5-wholesale-channel-bet-review#/15606000001356030)
- [See the Builder-of-Leaders Mentoring programme](https://ivankamenken.com/building-leaders-not-doing-it-all)
- [The Ownership-Rating Gap](https://ivankamenken.com/ownership-rating-gap-scorecard)
- [Fire Yourself From a Role](https://ivankamenken.com/fire-yourself-from-the-role-you-hold)
- [Search-First Communication Rules](https://ivankamenken.com/communication-rules-that-cut-interruptions)

- Every way to work with Ivanka: https://ivankamenken.com/work-with-ivanka