AMA: New Supplement Biz, Profitable in Month 1

[benhebert]

Hey fastlaners,

I've been posting here for a while on blogging and internet marketing strategies, but I just launched my new business @ naturalstacks.com and after less than one month we are profitable and are clearing XX,XXX this month. It's enough to buy a ton of MacBooks.

As an entrepreneur, I'm always looking for ways to stay focused and work smarter. We created products that we can use without the compromise. All-natural, zero synthetics and manufactured in America.

What is it?

NaturalStacks.com has released the world's first an only CILTEP nootropic. CILTEP is theorized to improve memory, retention and motivation and has been mentioned by famous entrepreneurs like Tim Ferriss. Tim said that CILTEP is "more effective than modafinil" a statement that we proudly tote.

We're also at war with the supplement industry and have decided to go completely transparent with our labeling and ingredients. Most people hide behind fake "proprietary formulas", we don't.

Keys to early profitability

Established credibility early: We were able to bring in the stack's creator and have him personally formulate CILTEP for us. He perfected the stack and made it even better. Through our partnership he has gone on to promote the stack and it has given us credibility in the market.

Pick the right partners: Our marketing has been extremely limited but we did make a few appearances on podcasts like this one at SMARTDRUGSMARTS. With a new product, it's important to get the word out to the hardcore / early adopters first. These people will become champions for your brands.

Offer a great deal: When you don't have the trust of the market yet, you need to help convince them to buy. By creating credibility through the right type of partnerships, we were able to offer an outstanding buy.

You too can get in on the deal (expiring today):
Buy CILTEP and get SMART CAFFEINE for free. ​

Smart Caffeine is caffeine + l-theanine the natural calming agent found in green tea. It's an awesome energy boost that's way cheaper than coffee or redbull and cleaner as well. No jitters or anxious feelings.

Additional notes:
- website is built on shopify
- hired a developer for additional customizations (highly recommended)
- working on installing office autopilot and integrating w/ shopify
- entered the shopify build a business contest

ASK AWAY​

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Get in contact with me in a few months, when you can show me 3 month prior steady sales growth.

I'm sorry... why should he get in contact with you? Why must he prove to you 3 months of steady growth? Who are you?

 

[benhebert]

I'm sorry... why should he get in contact with you? Why must he prove to you 3 months of steady growth? Who are you?

Thanks MJ for standing up me there, it's an appreciated gesture.

We've been able to prove our business model and build our brand significantly since I last posted here.

I recently did an interview with Terry Lin of BuildMyOnlineStore.com where I talk about doing $100,000 in sales in three months at Natural Stacks.

Listen to the podcast here.

 

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[benhebert]

Awesome... congrats on the success!

My questions are...

#1 - How did you get into contact with the key people that help get your product popularized

#2 - What is in it for them to help you?

#3 - How did you keep control, not allowing them to take your idea and do it on their own?

Bonus: What was the most difficult thing you had to overcome in doing this, and what lesson will you remember from it?

1. Reaching influencers is a skill that I'm still working on developing every single day. The basic premise is that we're all selfish and busy. You need to realize this and craft your offer so that it includes incentives and doesn't waste time. Nobody wants to hear your life story, pitch fast and realize you may only have the chance to pitch one.

2. Pay it forward. We're trying to do something incredible and they want to be part of the movement.

3. There's no such thing as control. We can only continue to evolve, iterate and push forward. If you focus on competitors and react defensively all of the time, you stifle innovation.

FAILURE TO INNOVATE = DEATH

Bonus: I withdrew my entire savings account in cash and deposited it into my business partners bank account. I remember holding the money and telling my girlfriend that if this didn't work out, she'd have to help me out for a month or two. That was pretty scary. Oh and I had never even met my business partner in person before.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Do you have liability insurance? (God I hope so.)

And if so, who is it through?

For anyone entertaining starting a supplement business, you cannot go without it.

 

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[benhebert]

I think what people are missing is that this individual is ask very specific questions while he does not have a business in the industry.

Even if I were to deep dive into them, it wouldn't help move the needle one way or another because they're totally irrelevant before you launch.

And seriously... getting a food or supplement product manufactured in China and then shipped to the United States? Are y'all crazy!?!?

 

[benhebert]

Do you have liability insurance? (God I hope so.)

And if so, who is it through?

For anyone entertaining starting a supplement business, you cannot go without it.

Insurance was a top priority for us early on.

Right now we're investing heavily into setting up our corporate structure for protection and scale.

These two decisions are critical for taking your business to the next level.

Also...

I recently gave a presentation here in Vietnam to a bunch of entrepreneurs about growing from 0 to 100k in less than 100 days while being totally bootstrapped.

Video below -

 

[benhebert]

What factors in your opinion have lead you to be able to do that so quick?

Do you have previous experience in the space?

How did you uncover the need?

Great thread, thanks for sharing. $Rep transferred.

Since founding my music blog, I found that one of the major reasons it was / is so successful is that it capitalized on a trend. I always think of opportunities in terms of where the market is going, not what's working right now. That coupled with long-term strategy is usually the most successful option. We are the company there for where the market is moving.

I don't actually have any experience in the dietary supplement space. I despise 95% of the industry as most products are complete scams. This is motivation to fix, disrupt and make the right changes for the consumer.

Uncovering need is as simple as getting to know your market. Live where they live. Eat where they eat. Think how they think. Build the ideal product that solves their needs, overcomes hesitation and delivers incredible value.

 

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[JasonR]

No need to be a douche. Don't reply if you don't want to answer instead of your smart a$$ remarks.

I really don't like all of the name-calling going on in the forum. Ben has been very helpful, and I'm sure he gets tired of the same questions.

First, if you know anything about supplements, health, food products - you know that no one in the USA wants products from China.

Second, the marketing question is a very tough question to answer, and it's not quite clear what he's asking.

The large part of the cost of your product or service will be the cost to acquire a customer, or CPA (Cost Per Acquisition). You'll hear this most in the marketing/paid advertising world. CPA can vary wildly, but if you do your own research you can start figuring this out. If you don't have enough margin in your product to account for CPA, you are already dead in the water.

 

[benhebert]

Wow that's with minimal ad spend still?
Did you have to get clinical trials done?

We're actually canceling our ad spend on Google + Facebook and focusing our resources (time + money) on creating valuable content for the community.

Our vision is to create actionable information that people can use to live more optimal lives.

How do you feel about Shopify's large transaction fees? $xx,000 with a 2.25% rate is a nice chunk of change.

That's assuming all of our transactions have gone through Shopify! That said 2.25% is pretty standard in credit card processing. We don't have to have a merchant account or deal with the amount of BS involved with operating one.

When I worked at GiftCardRescue.com as operations manager, we scaled that business to $2mm the second year I was there and a lot of the business ran through our merchant processor account. LORD OH LORD was it expensive and such a hassle.

Stripe is beautifully simple and amazing. So is Square. They take what Apple does best and iterate it within their own companies. Closed ecosystems and a flawless product.

Paypal also sucks.

 

[benhebert]

You hit it spot on! Congratulations on your success! You said that most in the industry, their products are scams, may I ask how did you differentiate your product vs. theirs? Some would go hard on the pro's of their product, some would focus on the competition's negatives and some would combine. Which do you think is the best approach? I just like to get some ideas.

Thanks and more success!

There's no value in trying to mimic or copy people. Innovate instead.

Great AMA, thanks for sharing! I love the design and product showcasing. Did you hire a designer to do the photo edits of the actual product?

Design isn't just design. Design is everything.

You'll figure out very early that design is worth every penny.

 

[benhebert]

Hi @benhebert , seems im 2 years late to the party but here goes:

- Why have you decided to manufacture in America vs somewhere else cheaper (China/SE Asia) and then import it? You could get the stuff tested with a CoA, see that it comes from a GMP facility, etc

- Is your formula open source just because the inventor had decided to do it so before you partnered up with him? Would you have preferred for the formula amounts and ratios to be proprietary yet disclosing the standarization of herbal potency of each component?

- What are the best "creative examples" of deals that can be made with influencers that can distribute you product?

- What is the percentage of product total cost that is dedicated to marketing? (not taking into account distributorship deals)

1.) Silly question

2.) A lot of companies have adapted our model of open-source. It's awesome.

3.) Usually creative = confusing. Find a deal that benefits both parties.

4.) 1000000%

 

[benhebert]

You hit it spot on! Congratulations on your success! You said that most in the industry, their products are scams, may I ask how did you differentiate your product vs. theirs? Some would go hard on the pro's of their product, some would focus on the competition's negatives and some would combine. Which do you think is the best approach? I just like to get some ideas.

Thanks and more success!

There's no value in trying to mimic or copy people. Innovate instead.

 

[benhebert]

Ben,

Thanks for doing this AMA.

I was going to send you a message on LinkedIn, but thought it'd be more valuable here if you want to share.
You mentioned that you had never met your business partner before, yet you wired money to his account.

• How did the business idea develop and how did you two initially begin working together?
• Who is responsible for what on the team?

I'm responsible for the front of house (website, marketing, business dev, customer service) and then my partner is reponsible for (logistics, sales, accounting).

We run teams in those areas, but are both very involved in each.

 

[BlakeIC]

I assume you have also been asked this before @benhebert
Without you hiding whats in your ciltep with a proprietary blend have you had to deal with a loss of consumers to competitors that you are aware of?

Have you seen an increase in competitors?

I 100% understand the approach of doing so, this is something I am thinking about trying out to see how it goes

 

[100k]

1.) Silly question

2.) A lot of companies have adapted our model of open-source. It's awesome.

3.) Usually creative = confusing. Find a deal that benefits both parties.

4.) 1000000%

No need to be a douche. Don't reply if you don't want to answer instead of your smart a$$ remarks.

 

[benhebert]

How did you figure out what type of product to sell?

How long did it take to formulate the stack?

Do you sell only through the website or you use other distribution channels?

What was the initial investment in the business?

The product had been discussed about in multiple forums and podcasts. We just put it all together into one easy pill for people to take.

We formulated the stack based off of existing research, but it was upgraded with Abelard Lindsay's research. All of the information is available online and if you'd like you can make the stack by buying each ingredient individually.

We sell through the website and other wholesalers just like most retailers.

The original investment wasn't as much as you'd need to develop an APP, but still required that I wipe out my savings account. Like anything else the higher production run you go on the cheaper the product will be, so we invested a lot knowing that the product would sell.

 

[benhebert]

What would you say is the key factor that has allowed you to scale to this point so quickly?

Also what are your opinions on Shopify? Is it a platform that has allowed you to provide all of the functionality that you needed/wanted? Can it scale comfortably along with the business?

We provided something that the market needed. We were constantly in the forums and everything before, so we saw an opportunity and moved quick on it. The product came out a little bit later than expected, but the delays have all lead to big partnerships and developments which have put us in this position for success.

Shopify...

I've used a custom built e-commerce solution when I was the first employee at GiftCardRescue.com, I've dabbled with volusion (absolutely hated it) and also Woocommerce.

Shopify is by far the best out of them and the apps that they have on the platform make it so easy to do. What I recommend however is finding a front end developer who can make it all work and tweak the theme so it's more personal and custom. The current shopify themes available are all pretty basic and don't meet the needs for websites that require more than just a few pictures and a line of text to sell something.

 

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[exige]

Do you think the $xx,xxx is sustainable or just an initial pop because of the forum interest?

 

[Bercha]

How long was the research time to develope this product?
Did you have to go through any FDA type tests?
Can you ship to customers outside USA?
Do you need to announce the product in EU countries, to ship to that EU country?

Thanks a lot for doing this, speed added

 

[Phillipbro]

Congrats on doing 100k/3 months that is an inspiring accomplishment. Your site also looks great, what platform are you using?

 

[benhebert]

Congrats on doing 100k/3 months that is an inspiring accomplishment. Your site also looks great, what platform are you using?

Thanks mate. We're built on Shopify. We started with an out of the box theme and have worked with a front-end developer to make changes as necessary. There are a lot more things we're working to fix as well!

 

[Shuffle]

Nice going man! I knew I recognized the supp from somewhere and it was cause I saw it on Dave Asprey's site. Best of luck to you and your future endeavors! I'll definitely be trying them out

 

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[Bowden]

Man this thread is AWESOME

So you say it helps with memory, something I have trouble with after being thrown around by an IED.

Think it could help me out some?

 

[RyanC]

Oh and I had never even met my business partner in person before.

Risk pays off...sometimes. I am sure, it depends on the situation and you evaluated everything but I don't think, I could do this. Giving all my money to someone I don't know in person...I wouldn't even give him/her all my money if it was my best friend

 

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[Silverhawk851]

Congratulations! Killing it. Ramping to $100,000 in 3 months is a phenomenal thing to be able to say. What factors in your opinion have lead you to be able to do that so quick? Do you have previous experience in the space? How did you uncover the need?

Great thread, thanks for sharing. $Rep transferred.

 

[youngtrep]

Insurance was a top priority for us early on.

Right now we're investing heavily into setting up our corporate structure for protection and scale.

These two decisions are critical for taking your business to the next level.

Also...

I recently gave a presentation here in Vietnam to a bunch of entrepreneurs about growing from 0 to 100k in less than 100 days while being totally bootstrapped.

Video below -

Ben, awesome job on everything you have accomplished thus far. Digging a little more on the insurance aspect, did you purchase coverage beyond the protection afforded by your manufacturer? Even with 100k in revenue the quotes I have seen for dietary supplement insurance would be tough to afford.

 

[Deon]

My man! Facebook page liked... The website is gorgeous, and i'm into nootropics so I'll be ordering CILTEP as soon as i go back to the US (I'm on travel now)... Good luck!

 

[vinisterz]

wow this is awesome! congrats ben! website is well constructed too

 

[benhebert]

do you have to have your own supplement insurance or can it just be through your manufacturer if they put your company on their insurance policy?

I strongly advise that you do not rely on the manufacturer for insurance.

 

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