Insights — Channel Creation & New Revenue Streams — 3 min read
How to Find New Routes to Market for an Existing Business
A new route to market isn't a new marketing tactic. It's a different way of getting the same strengths in front of a customer who can't currently be reached through the existing one.
In short
A new route to market is found by identifying customers the current sales model structurally can't reach — not because of effort, but because of channel, geography, price point, or buying behaviour — and then working out which alternative route (direct, distributor, partner, digital, a new segment) would actually reach them using capability the business already has. It should be validated at small scale before being built out fully.
Businesses often confuse 'more sales activity' with 'a new route to market'. Hiring another salesperson, running more adverts, or expanding the same campaign is doing more of the current route — not finding a new one. A genuinely new route to market changes how the business reaches customers, not just how hard it tries through the existing path.
Finding a real new route means looking at the current model honestly: who can it reach today, who can it not reach, and why not — then working out whether a different route could close that gap using what the business already has.
Separate 'more effort' from 'a different route'
The first useful filter is whether a proposed change is actually a new route, or just more intensity on the current one. Doubling the sales team, increasing marketing spend, or chasing more leads of the same type through the same channel is valuable, but it isn't channel creation — it's optimisation of the existing route. A new route changes the mechanism by which customers are reached: direct becomes distributor, offline becomes digital, single segment becomes a second segment.
Map who the current route can't reach
| Current route | Who it typically can't reach |
|---|---|
| Direct sales team | Smaller accounts that don't justify a rep's time; distant geographies |
| Distributor network | Customers the distributor doesn't prioritise or isn't incentivised to chase |
| B2B relationship sales | Consumers or smaller buyers who want to self-serve online |
| Project/tender-based sales | Repeat, smaller-value customers outside the tender process |
Match the gap to a route, not the other way round
It's tempting to pick a fashionable route — e-commerce, a marketplace, a partner network — and then look for customers to put through it. It works far more reliably in the other direction: identify the specific group of customers currently out of reach, then choose the route that actually fits how that group buys. A distributor route suits customers who want local stock and support; a digital self-serve route suits customers who want to buy quickly without a sales conversation; a partner route suits customers reached more credibly through someone they already trust.
What a new route requires that's easy to underestimate
Every new route carries setup costs beyond the obvious ones: a distributor route needs partner selection, training and margin structure; a digital route needs content, fulfilment and support; a new segment needs messaging and proof points that differ from the existing customer base. None of these are reasons to avoid a new route, but they need planning for, not discovering mid-launch.
A short framework
- 01List who the current route structurally can't reach, and why.
- 02Identify which alternative route would actually reach that group, given how they buy.
- 03Check the new route uses capability the business already has, rather than requiring it to build from nothing.
- 04Test the route at small scale with a defined group before full rollout.
- 05Decide how the new route will be resourced without diverting attention from the existing one.
When a new route isn't the answer
Sometimes the current route simply isn't being executed well, and the honest fix is better targeting, pricing or sales process through the channel that already exists — not a new one. Building an additional route doesn't compensate for an underperforming core channel; it usually just adds a second underperforming channel to manage.
Evans' Channel Creation Programme works through this process specifically — identifying genuinely unreached customer groups and the right route to reach them, then building and validating it in a structured way. It runs from £1,995 + VAT/month over six months, from £11,970 + VAT at starting price. Managed Channel Growth continues ongoing commercial management from £1,995 + VAT/month.
Could your business support another route to revenue?
Evans Channel Creation identifies, validates and builds additional revenue channels from capabilities a business already has — B2B to D2C, D2C to B2B, product to service, recurring revenue or partners — and says so plainly when a channel should not be built. Programme from £1,995 + VAT per month over six months.
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