AMA: New Supplement Biz, Profitable in Month 1

[mrf]

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?

 

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[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

 

[pickeringmt]

People see diet formulas, and weight loss pills, or perhaps even work for the manufacturers of such. But they don't see beyond that.

I think you may be on the wrong forum.........
EVERYBODY HERE is here because they see more than that.

 

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[benhebert]

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.

Yes we did. There are some things that you have to spend money on. Insurance is one of them.

 

[eqttrdr]

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

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?

 

[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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[eqttrdr]

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

thanks for the info.. much appreciated

 

[eqttrdr]

if a company wanted to distribute your product in another country or multiple countries. Do you feel it would be better to sell to them as private label, or sell to them as your brand/business but also help with promotions and redesign the label to conform with multiple countries languages and standards?

 

[GravyBoat]

Ben, I am in the process of getting insurance for my edible product as well. Until this thread I figured I would piggy back off the MFG, but realized that could go very very poorly. Do you have any tips for someone in my position? Things I should look for in insurance providers?
Thanks man!

GravyBoat

 

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[RWH3]

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, I watched the entire presentation. Besides Mj's book and all the inspiration, it is the most valuable thing I've taken from this forum. You've helped me clear some self doubt (by answering some broad questions I had been pondering), helped me realize new possibilities for my business model, and overall helped me understand a little more about what it takes to create a successful startup. Your video was just what I needed at this point in time. Thanks a million.

 

[Rhino8541]

Great video, you have some great insights. Thanks for sharing.

 

[benhebert]

Ben, I watched the entire presentation. Besides Mj's book and all the inspiration, it is the most valuable thing I've taken from this forum. You've helped me clear some self doubt (by answering some broad questions I had been pondering), helped me realize new possibilities for my business model, and overall helped me understand a little more about what it takes to create a successful startup. Your video was just what I needed at this point in time. Thanks a million.

Thanks man!

Come to the next Fastlane Meetup for an even better time

 

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[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.

 

[MKHB]

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​

Thanks Ben,

No questions, just soaking it in.

I loved the podcast from Saigon.

You got some excellent comedy timing- it was informative yet funny as hell.

MK

 

[RisingStars]

Hello Ben,

Thanks for doing the ama and for your awesome speech in vietnam. I took a lot of knowledge out of it.
Your website looks absolutely amazing.
Since this ama was created in 2013 how your company is doing now? You passed 100k in revenue in 3 month, did you reach your goal of 1million in revenue for 2014?

Also I was wondering you said you pulled all of your money in your bank account to start the company. If you want to answer this question I would be really interested what amount of money you needed for the start?


Last question I promise: You mentioned that your company is location independent. I saw on amazon that you use fulfillment by amazon. Do you let amazon sent out your shopify orders as well?


Thanks in advance for your answer.

 

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[benhebert]

Also I was wondering you said you pulled all of your money in your bank account to start the company. If you want to answer this question I would be really interested what amount of money you needed for the start?


Last question I promise: You mentioned that your company is location independent. I saw on amazon that you use fulfillment by amazon. Do you let amazon sent out your shopify orders as well?


Thanks in advance for your answer.

Definitely pulled everything I had to get the business started. That wasn't even enough, so I hustled some quick static site to wordpress conversion deals to get the cash that I needed.

We're location independent-ish. Our main office is in Austin, Texas now where most of the team works out of.

Fulfillment is handled by a separate company. We use FBA on Amazon.

 

[RisingStars]

Definitely pulled everything I had to get the business started. That wasn't even enough, so I hustled some quick static site to wordpress conversion deals to get the cash that I needed.

We're location independent-ish. Our main office is in Austin, Texas now where most of the team works out of.

Fulfillment is handled by a separate company. We use FBA on Amazon.

Thanks for your answer, I appreciate it

 

[redline]

Fulfillment is handled by a separate company. We use FBA on Amazon.

Hey,

I hope that nobody asked the question before, because I didn't read the whole thread ;-)

Do you produce your stuff e.g. the Caffeine yourselves, or do you have a large supplier who can bag the supplements and print your brand on it?

Kind regards

 

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[BlakeIC]

Question to both @Eskil & @benhebert

I am in the research process of starting a supplement brand of my own (not related to either of yours) and there is a road block for me

When it came to manufacturing the supplements you guys sell, did your manufacturer already have all those chemicals needed available?

or

did you purchase it from another factory and have it shipped to your main manufacturer?


1 more question, do your manufacturers fulfill the entire process from powder to packaged?

 

[benhebert]

Question to both @Eskil & @benhebert

I am in the research process of starting a supplement brand of my own (not related to either of yours) and there is a road block for me

When it came to manufacturing the supplements you guys sell, did your manufacturer already have all those chemicals needed available?

or

did you purchase it from another factory and have it shipped to your main manufacturer?


1 more question, do your manufacturers fulfill the entire process from powder to packaged?

I get this question asked pretty regularly.

You can either source everything yourself (more work but less cost) or have the manufacturer do all of this (less work but more cost). There's advantages to each option, but depending on the size of your production run it's probably easier to let the manufacturer do it all.

Now the world of manufacturers is a lot like this. For any product business manufacturing is one of the biggest challenges.

If you're new to the industry, I would probably start as either an affiliate or go private label to see if you're successful in selling and this is something that you want to be a part of for the long-term.

Health and wellness is by far one of the most competitive niches on the planet.

 

[whiteflakes]

@Ben I'm kind of ignorant regarding all of this but wouldn't what you did be pretty much private labeling also?

 

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[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

 

[whiteflakes]

I'll just leave this here, NaturalStacks is mentioned in the comments and so is Abelard Lindsay.

https://m.reddit.com/r/Nootropics/comments/2crv37/ciltep_debunked/

 

[BrandonWise]

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)

 

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[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%

 

[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.

 

[Oztrepreneur]

Well said!

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

 

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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]

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!?!?