Lets hear how YOU would do it.

[Jason!]

I am confused, does FDA not need to get involved or have you gone through that phase already? I thought licensing drugs were incredibly tough and requires like 10+ years of testing.

Homeopathy doesn't require the same tests as Allopathic drugs as each ingredient is already is included in the HPUS. This is nice but its also a big hurdle as there are a lot of snake oil products out there that go unchecked until they start to bring in some big numbers. At that point a knock on the door from the FDA for a sketchy product is pretty much guaranteed.

I have an FDA attorney I run all my packaging an ad scripts through before production just to be safe.

 

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[Bobo]

Two thoughts:

1. Never say something has an organic scent, you just lost all the organic gardeners like me Vermicomposting meat scraps have an organic scent in mid august too. The blood meal and chicken manure fert i spread on the lawn this weekend does as well, neighbors will forgive me eventually.

2. If you have several distributors interested in it then I would work with each one and do a private label for them. I would also patent my product 30 different ways by varying the ingredient list ever so slighlty so you are giving each one a unique product and sole rights to the magic formula.

3. Then I'd market my own formula too.

4. Marketing guys, good ones, do plenty. Go back and read the generous offer LagunaLauren made you. You might not know who she is and what she knows but I do and I would pounce all over her offer like a fat guy on a donut buffet if'n I was you.

Ok, shit, 2 thoughts when I hit reply, the other two flew out the keyboard before I could hit 'post'.

 

[Jason!]

Two thoughts:

1. Never say something has an organic scent, you just lost all the organic gardeners like me Vermicomposting meat scraps have an organic scent in mid august too. The blood meal and chicken manure fert i spread on the lawn this weekend does as well, neighbors will forgive me eventually.

2. If you have several distributors interested in it then I would work with each one and do a private label for them. I would also patent my product 30 different ways by varying the ingredient list ever so slighlty so you are giving each one a unique product and sole rights to the magic formula.

3. Then I'd market my own formula too.

4. Marketing guys, good ones, do plenty. Go back and read the generous offer LagunaLauren made you. You might not know who she is and what she knows but I do and I would pounce all over her offer like a fat guy on a donut buffet if'n I was you.

Ok, shit, 2 thoughts when I hit reply, the other two flew out the keyboard before I could hit 'post'.

Haha very true on the smell! How about just a very faint "clean" scent?

Like the idea of multiple variations and licensing each one exclusively, that is awesome!
Working on patenting the new version right now so I can run with it.

Great advice, thank you sir! :cheers:

 

[Jason!]

I wanted to update everyone on here. Just about finished reading MJ's book and it's got me more excited than ever to kick this into high gear. I'm kind of bummed after re-reading my previous posts that I'm not further along, but I'm getting there.

Bobo- I took your advice and hired an awesome patent attorney with a chemical engineering background. The patent we're filing covers a bunch of different variations on the product so we can private label unique versions.

The attorney is also filing 3 trademarks for us as well. One for the company name, a second for the product name and a 3rd that covers the product logo. I hired an awesome graphic designer to create the logo and I feel like it has the perfect look to it. The name is absolutely killer too, once I get the trademarks completed I'll post it up so you guys can see for yourselves.

We leased a office with a warehouse in the back for distribution. We also built a laboratory in it so my partner can work on developing new products. So far we've got two awesome new products ready to patent once we have the money, just need to make sure we get one thing done before moving on to the next.

I was kind of bummed that we would have to fulfill orders ourselves until we reach a certain number of sales, but it just didn't make sense to hire it out until we were doing volume. Once we reach a couple hundred units being shipped out a day, we plan on utilizing a fulfillment center with multiple locations across the US.

Our phone center was the next big hurdle. The cheapest US based call center I could find cost $.68 a minute. A really important thing for me is to have any customer that calls in be treated like a friend; Never rushed, taking the time to understand their needs and really listen. I live in Scottsdale and happened to luck out on this one. A buddy of mine runs a virtual office center out here and has the sweetest ladies answering phones as virtual secretaries. We sat down and ran the numbers, I was able to get phone calls for $1 a call, no matter the length. I met the entire staff and couldn't be happier with the setup.

Next is the website. This is super important as it becomes our image until we get into stores. I chose Wordpress for this project because of its killer SEO value and its clean, easy to modify setup. We've got some great domain names to test out for landing pages with the product as well. I just want to be careful that it doesn't ever come off as cheesy. There is a ton of "snake oil" in the natural products industry and it's really important to me that I create an image that encourages people to give this product a chance. We have satisfaction guarantees in place, but I truly believe that the right packaging/branding makes all the difference.

I am a HUGE packaging fanatic. I constantly catch myself buying things just because I like the way they are packaged. I have a friend that's done packaging for a lot of high end companies for the past 5 years. I convinced her to help me design everything the consumer touches and I am thrilled at how it's going. We spent tons of time researching what's on shelves already, any physical issues someone might have that wants to use our product, (ie hands with arthritis trying to remove the cap), colors and how they relate to people, etc. The end design is very clean and medical with just a touch of "Apple-esque" design to it. Combined with our easy to remember name, I'm really hoping this will catch on.

Distribution is our biggest (and most important, in my opinion) hurdle that we're still working on. We have a few MLM's interested already but are always looking for new ones (if anyone has suggestions, please PM me!) I really believe in what MJ says about impacting millions. This is a mass market product with a target audience of anyone that has pain, ie everyone lol. I really focused on the patent because I recognize the value of licensing our product, but I also want to grow my own brand name as an asset. As soon as I have the product in hand I'll be hitting up doctors, chiropractors, sports teams etc, but I really want to get this into stores as a mainstream pain relief product. I've also considered raising capital to fund an infomercial, does anyone have thoughts on that? My main concern, again, is cheapening the brand.

I hope this helps other entrepreneurs out there trying to figure out how to work with physical goods. It's been a long road but I feel like my process is finally leading to an event!

-Jason

 

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[JEdwards]

MLM= Cheapened Brand.

Sounds interesting, thanks for the update.