Before I order 1000+ bottles of supplement, I need a plan!

[edpaiz]

Go for it.

I have yet to hear back on the quote, but from what I've heard I'm assuming around 4$ a bottle. If I can sell them for 10$ a bottle that would be 400 bottles until breakeven.

@edpaiz
I am sure the product works, but I can't help but feel overwhelmed at the thought of trying to sell all these bottles. The thought of negotiating a deal with retail stores terrifies me. Where do I begin?! Maybe I should just order the bottles and this will force me into confronting my fears.

you have 2 ways to go, the long secure way or the fast way, i do not have the patience to go slow i would buy the bottles and see whre i sell them, or you can ask for samples and work with those. The retail world is complex every retail store has different rules and different ways to get their new products. what i did was i contacted the CEO of a company i wanted to pitch my products through linkedin and he directed me to their buying office. This has 2 advantages, you can tell the buying representative that you were referred by the boss, and the boss would know where to direct you. If the CEO does not answer you target a lot of employees from the company you want to pitch too theyll direct you to the right person. After that go in and pitch. The worst thing that could happen is that you get a order for 10,000 bottles and you dont have the money to fund it, but with a purchase order that big i am sure you can get investors (i would love to have a piece of the action if you reach that point)


Look buy the bottles, pitch to retal pitch to small stores and sell 400 between your friends and at your college, those 400 will gain you traction and the worst that can happen i that you sell a 1000 in 6 months gain your money back plus a profit but notice that there is no way the business will gain traction, but beware you will have to sell those bottles yourself, if you dont move they wont, so get out there and start selling them!!!!!! (be sure to setup a website with testimonials and scientific proof of how they work)

i will quote branson: Screw it lets do it!!!

 

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[Bushi23]

So I received the quote. It will cost me around 4k to get the pills packaged like the example shown above. And that's not including the pills that I must supply.

So, it looks like I'm going to have to order the extract in powder form in a smaller amount, and fill capsules myself. Atleast until I get past the testing stage and finding out if this will be a bust or not.

Any suggestions on how to package these individual capsules at home? (what to put them in so I can supply the gas stations)

Excited to start placing the product in gas stations, etc and finding out if it will be a hit.

 

[Eskil]

Yikes, yeah like I thought - those sample packs aren't as cheap to make as one would think.

To go the DIY route, you could get something like these:
Amazon.com: Capsule Connection, CAPSULE FILLER MACHINE FOR SIZE "0": Health & Personal Care

Amazon.com: (5 Scoops) Micro Milligram Scoops 12 - 15 Milligrams Anti Static Polypropylene: Health & Personal Care

You'll find lots of other supplement DIY stuff on Amazon as well (gelatin capsules, and even bulk powders).

Rock on!

 

[Bushi23]

Eskil,

Great find.

Have any suggestions what to put the finished capsule in? Difficult finding a package where one pill doesn't look out of place.

 

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[Eskil]

Hmm no, not at the top of my head but I'm sure you can find something by searching Amazon or Google. Maybe some smaller mom and pop shop packaging companies can also provide you with affordable, small quantity sample sized pouches.

 

[OXVO]

As far as sales marketing goes :

To start online, a landing page would be great to showcase information and generate sales leads. I can point you in the right direction here for sure. This way you can capture data from real people that are ACTUALLY interested in the product and are choosing to request more information.

If your seeking to tackle offline, not really sure what to recommend for you based off what you have stated so far.

The others made some great points. Be aware of what you getting yourself into. It wouldn't be good to get caught up in red tape after buying everything.

 

[BogatiGad]

You could try to negotiate a lower volume with them.

1000 bottles is low volume
Why start selling something and expect to sell less than 1000 pieces??

 

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[thehawkman]

So he doesn't end up like Will Smith in "pursuit of happiness" who tied up all his money in x-ray machines or whatever they were, and then was unable to sell them.

 

[JAWS]

Getting a lower MOQ would be nice, but why not ask for samples of the product first?

That way you may take it around campus, show it off, prove that it is a tangible product, test demand, and then go from there. Even though $4000 isn't a huge initial investment, you are catching a lot more downside by not testing it with WOM first.

My friend and I sell product on our campus, and the most successful ones were ALWAYS the ones we were able to get at least 10+ people's honest feedback about and iterate around that. (ie packaging, concept, $$)

 

[MJ DeMarco]

When I published The Millionaire Fastlane , my first print run was 5,000 books.

Little did I know that selling 5,000 books in self-published format was highly improbable. I later learned that the average self-published book sells about 300 copies. Other data suggests it's actually lower.

I remember telling someone about bucking the odds ... "If I can't sell 5,000 books about entrepreneurship, I have no business writing a book about entrepreneurship."

Several years later I'm happy to report that my next print run will be the 5th.

If you believe in your product and you believe that entrepreneurship is your path, make the leap.

 

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[BogatiGad]

So he doesn't end up like Will Smith in "pursuit of happiness" who tied up all his money in x-ray machines or whatever they were, and then was unable to sell them.

Do you realy think that or you are just trying to be nice to people?

 

[thehawkman]

Do you realy think that or you are just trying to be nice to people?

Not sure if you're being sarcastic or something. If you mean I called the OP a future hobo, that's now what I meant. I'm sure that a lot of people on this board are not exactly rich, so putting 4,000 dollars into a product which he may not be able to sell isn't a good idea. Plus, even if money wasn't a problem, going all-out isn't a good idea, despite all the rah-rah-rah talk. There's nothing wrong with wanting to improve, and there is nothing I hate more than naysayers and people trying to bring others down, but one should always be careful about people asking for an upfront large order. The only reason someone asks for a large upfront order, is to move their product and make selling it somebody else's problem.

 

[Mexidan]

Don´t want to hijack your thread but I´ve done a lot of networking lately which has really helped move my project forward.

I found someone ´developing´ my product for MUCH cheaper than I initially anticipated by using this network and was also able to find a factory with a MOQ of only 500 pieces (instead of 5000).

Really cannot stress enough that simply talking to people and asking the right questions will open doors for you.

 

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[Eskil]

Really cannot stress enough that simply talking to people and asking the right questions will open doors for you.

Amen to that..

 

[WillMitchell]

If you don't validate your product, don't buy samples, and buy way too many - you can still succeed. You're just making it harder on yourself. If you want to identify and eliminate the obstacles and roadblocks that might kill you later (e.g. - My product tastes horrible, it gives some people heart burn, nobody likes my positioning, nobody wants another supplement, people really want a fish oil + multivitamin combo, etc). You're just going to speed up your learning curve. If your goal is to succeed in the hardest way possible, then by all means disregard samples and buy 1,000 of the first thing you get excited about

 

[Bushi23]

Update: I've made my order and production has started - I will keep this thread updated with progress from here on

 

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[WillMitchell]

Update: I've made my order and production has started - I will keep this thread updated with progress from here on

Congrats! Good luck, let us know if we can help!

 

[nope327]

I would say be careful of buying a 1000. I know I got stuck in this a while ago and the whole thing ended up being a scam. I was out $500 (not so bad... still a loss). Since, I have been a bit smarter in the way I handle purchasing larger quantities (make sure your payment can be tracked via paypal or credit card or escrow, etc..).

As for making the large order, many times you can request a sample. In my experience, the sample may be higher in price the the wholesale price you are normally looking at, but count that as your "prototype". If you can't order a sample, you may want to walk away. Most suppliers offer samples. The way to get rid of them - Craigslist, Amazon, eBay, Facebook and then some of that old school sales outside of college bars. Make up samples to hand out with your information and pass them out on a friday night. You may go through 10 bottles, but hey, if you sell 15 bottles because of it, it seems like a win to me. Also, think about offering your regulars extra discounts for bulk orders or offer them a part time sales job

Just some ideas.

 

[Kyleschen]

Any updates?

 

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[eqttrdr]

bump for updates