Looking for Feedback on my First Fastlane Venture

[Ben Adams]

Around a month ago I had the idea of creating a general health supplement company and wrote up 4 formulas that I think are pretty good. I am passionate about this and I have experience taking most of the supp ingredients throughout my life, I genuinely believe they will improve people's quality of life. I've been researching as much as possible, and just wanted to get some feedback here in terms of how this plan sounds.

I've reached out to multiple manufacturers for quotes, only 2 even bothered responding, and only one with a low enough minimum order to do, I could get 144 60 ct bottles produced for around $2000. I've started a free trial on squarespace and wrote a few blogpost drafts on general health knowledge related to the products, but haven't written any on the product yet. The site obviously hasn't launched yet. I've picked a name, purchased a domain name, and designed a cool logo.

One aspect i'm a little confused about is with proprietary blends. As a consumer I know that proprietary blend means it's most likely BS as they can just pump it full of the cheap ingredient. With that in mind, one of my selling points was going to be no proprietary blends, rather I use the same dosages of ingredients used in tests to ensure they work. I recently heard that it's absolutely not okay to do this because a bigger company can easily steal your formula and crush you. I'm pretty torn right now as to whether I believe that or not, but i'm leaning towards not using a proprietary blend.

Once I launch the first product and get enough sales to reinvest I am planning on launching more products and offering monthly subscriptions with any combination of the products as they are complementary to eachother.

In terms of marketing I think I need to
-write as many blog posts as possible on the site
-maximize seo
-send free bottles to influential bloggers/youtubers/instagramers
-purchase ads on instagram and facebook
-create a fb and insta for marketing
-before manufacturing the product, complete the website/ hire someone to write copy for it and allow a place for people to submit their email address to gauge interest and send weekly email advertisements

I additionally still need to
-test one of the ingredients i recently ordered that i'd never taken before to ensure it works
- pay someone to design a product label
-form an llc and trademark my logo and/or name (When if at all should I do these things? not until i make sales??)
-complete the website
- figure out any other legal requirements from the FDA

Any input is appreciated, I have very much learned as i've been going through this process. The main factors that I would appreciate clarification on are:

1)if my overall plan of first gauging if people are interested via email on website and traffic and then order the sample to sell on the site, labeling and shipping myself, then reinvest that profits for larger orders is a good plan

2)Proprietary blend vs no proprietary?

3) does my marketing strategy look solid?

4)when should the trademarking and llc be done, they are expensive so I don't want to do it before I have to

5) Am I missing anything vital to make this a success?

 

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[Practician]

Hi Ben, I am still a neophyte in the world of business, but my impression is that you are still lacking core parts of a real marketing strategy.

Answers to questions like:
What is your marketing angle, your selling point? Does your product have better performance (how will you convince them)? Is it cheaper? Is it more convenient? Are there other health supplements in your niche? Why is someone going to buy your product, and who is that someone going to be?

For example, maybe your product helps people grow hair, and you know people hate rubbing stuff on their bald heads, so your selling point is "no more messy gooey stuff everywhere, just take a pill". I made that up, but that's an example.

Organic traffic, PPC, and social media are fine, but executing them successfully can be difficult and slow. Just saying you will do them is not really a "strategy". On the other hand, if you have a selling point, then you know you need to look for bald youtubers who are trying to grow hair, or you realize that bald people like to buy hats, so you advertise on hat sites. Execution is still a challenge, though.

 

[Ben Adams]

Hi Ben, I am still a neophyte in the world of business, but my impression is that you are still lacking core parts of a real marketing strategy.

Answers to questions like:
What is your marketing angle, your selling point? Does your product have better performance (how will you convince them)? Is it cheaper? Is it more convenient? Are there other health supplements in your niche? Why is someone going to buy your product, and who is that someone going to be?

For example, maybe your product helps people grow hair, and you know people hate rubbing stuff on their bald heads, so your selling point is "no more messy gooey stuff everywhere, just take a pill". I made that up, but that's an example.

Organic traffic, PPC, and social media are fine, but executing them successfully can be difficult and slow. Just saying you will do them is not really a "strategy". On the other hand, if you have a selling point, then you know you need to look for bald youtubers who are trying to grow hair, or you realize that bald people like to buy hats, so you advertise on hat sites. Execution is still a challenge, though.

Hey practician, thanks for the response, I do have a niche and a target market. I just didn't want to post my exact idea online Besides solving a problem for people in that these ingredients put together work amazingly well, as I have thorough experience as a consumer in this niche, some of my selling points are going to be:

Transparency- in that I am posting the amounts of all ingredients used, will provide links to all studies proving each individual ingredient works

High Quality- in both ingredients, high enough dosages to be beneficial, and quality in customer service, full refund policies, factory is gmp certified, vegetarian/vegan, made in usa etc..

Synergy- further down the line when I have enough funds and theres enough demand selling the first product, I can add more and offer subscription based services for these products which work well together

 

[Scot]

I'll weigh in on the proprietary vs open label. Check out Jym brand by Dr Jim Stoppani. He lists the exact dosages in all of his products.

It's all about building a brand. Nothing is proprietary anymore, anyone can rip off anyone. Focus on the results and building a reputation for your products.

 

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[Ben Adams]

I'll weigh in on the proprietary vs open label. Check out Jym brand by Dr Jim Stoppani. He lists the exact dosages in all of his products.

It's all about building a brand. Nothing is proprietary anymore, anyone can rip off anyone. Focus on the results and building a reputation for your products.

Hey Scot, thank you for the confirmation, I completely agree but I had multiple people that I know irl telling me the opposite, proprietary blends suck!

 

[Scot]

Hey Scot, thank you for the confirmation, I completely agree but I had multiple people that I know irl telling me the opposite, proprietary blends suck!

No im agreeing with you. Proprietary blends suck and are shady. I refuse to take any supplements that say "proprietary blend" or "special mix of"

If I want whey, I buy pure whey isolate.

That's what I was saying about Jym products. Each supp you buy, while it's his specific blend, he doesn't hide what's in it. His pre workout will list each chemical with the exact mg amount.


What I'm trying to say is, customers appreciate honesty. The supplement world is full of what I call "bro science". Be open about your products. Odds are, someone else has thought of it or sells a similar one. Focus on building credibility and a brand.

 

[MoreVolume]

hey Broseph
The supplement industry is very profitable. I've been active (in terms of having my products avaiable for purchase) for almost 2 months now, and ive already recouped my startup costs.

You should know that ALOT of companies BS on their ingredient list. Even ones that don't use proprietary blends. Since dietary supplements are considered a food, the regulation is pretty lax. There are simple requirements that you need to meet by the FDA, in terms of labeling. I know for a fact that one of my competitors are not all the way truthful about their formula, and they are trucking right along because nothing is going to happen. If you really wanted to hide your formula you could do so. Not saying that you should...but you could if it was that serious.

When it comes to offering subscriptions you need to make sure that you have all of your ducks in a row. A business bank account, EIN #, proof of sales. These payment gateways won't approve you to use their subscription apps until you can jump through their hoops. Gateways like Braintree require that you show them 3 months of transactions from your business bank account. Other gateways will require you to pay monthly subscriptions (the irony lol).

In terms of marketing, I don't know what to tell you. I haven't used any real marketing methods yet so im not the one to tell you what you should or should not do. I have a FB, IG and Twitter page to show that I have a presence online, but ive only been using guerilla like tactics to market so far. I think the reason behind my current success is due to my niche so I don't want to get you too excited telling you how ive been getting sales.
You should check this thread out. Ask Me Anything - AMA: New Supplement Biz, Profitable in Month 1
He was able to become profitable using the same tactics. That thread is actually what inspired my marketing techiniques.
But with that being said, im moving on to more serious forms of advertising. By the way don't try to contact that dude because he wont respond lol.

Its good that you plan to hire a copywriter because that is a MUST. I fashioned myself to be a pretty good writer, and did months of research on writing copy. Even then, I didn't get any sales until I hired a professional. With that being said, you're going to have to find the RIGHT copywriter. Finding one online for a cheap price will make it a task to actually find someone who is competent. Alot of the ones you find online don't speak English as a first language, and the ones who do are so swamped with work that they give you half a$$ effort. Its going to be a process.

You should hurry up and register your LLC. You need to have some type of protection just in case things go wrong, and like I said earlier, you won't be able to have a business bank account and gain access to subscripton programs without a corporate identity, so you might as well go ahead and form your LLC and get your EIN #.

 

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[KSR]

This could be a very good thread. @MJ DeMarco potentially notable?

 

[Ben Adams]

No im agreeing with you. Proprietary blends suck and are shady. I refuse to take any supplements that say "proprietary blend" or "special mix of"

If I want whey, I buy pure whey isolate.

That's what I was saying about Jym products. Each supp you buy, while it's his specific blend, he doesn't hide what's in it. His pre workout will list each chemical with the exact mg amount.


What I'm trying to say is, customers appreciate honesty. The supplement world is full of what I call "bro science". Be open about your products. Odds are, someone else has thought of it or sells a similar one. Focus on building credibility and a brand.

No I get that I just worded my response wrong sorry. Yeah the general idea is to be as open as possible because I know how shady the supp. industry is.

hey Broseph
The supplement industry is very profitable. I've been active (in terms of having my products avaiable for purchase) for almost 2 months now, and ive already recouped my startup costs.

You should know that ALOT of companies BS on their ingredient list. Even ones that don't use proprietary blends. Since dietary supplements are considered a food, the regulation is pretty lax. There are simple requirements that you need to meet by the FDA, in terms of labeling. I know for a fact that one of my competitors are not all the way truthful about their formula, and they are trucking right along because nothing is going to happen. If you really wanted to hide your formula you could do so. Not saying that you should...but you could if it was that serious.

When it comes to offering subscriptions you need to make sure that you have all of your ducks in a row. A business bank account, EIN #, proof of sales. These payment gateways won't approve you to use their subscription apps until you can jump through their hoops. Gateways like Braintree require that you show them 3 months of transactions from your business bank account. Other gateways will require you to pay monthly subscriptions (the irony lol).

In terms of marketing, I don't know what to tell you. I haven't used any real marketing methods yet so im not the one to tell you what you should or should not do. I have a FB, IG and Twitter page to show that I have a presence online, but ive only been using guerilla like tactics to market so far. I think the reason behind my current success is due to my niche so I don't want to get you too excited telling you how ive been getting sales.
You should check this thread out. Ask Me Anything - AMA: New Supplement Biz, Profitable in Month 1
He was able to become profitable using the same tactics. That thread is actually what inspired my marketing techiniques.
But with that being said, im moving on to more serious forms of advertising. By the way don't try to contact that dude because he wont respond lol.

Its good that you plan to hire a copywriter because that is a MUST. I fashioned myself to be a pretty good writer, and did months of research on writing copy. Even then, I didn't get any sales until I hired a professional. With that being said, you're going to have to find the RIGHT copywriter. Finding one online for a cheap price will make it a task to actually find someone who is competent. Alot of the ones you find online don't speak English as a first language, and the ones who do are so swamped with work that they give you half a$$ effort. Its going to be a process.

You should hurry up and register your LLC. You need to have some type of protection just in case things go wrong, and like I said earlier, you won't be able to have a business bank account and gain access to subscripton programs without a corporate identity, so you might as well go ahead and form your LLC and get your EIN #.

Hey that's awesome you've already made back your investment, reading this gets me pumped! I'll take your advice and file the llc very soon, would you recommend filing it yourself or paying a service to file it for you?

I'll keep that in mind regarding the copywrite, I really haven't started looking but even when I was in contact with a graphic designer to make the product label and he asked me what I want written up on it, what I wrote up didn't seem very good so i'll even need a professional for that.

I wasn't aware subscriptions are such a pain, I may not implement that to start off anyways, but we'll see.

Thanks for the thread link it looks like a great thread i'll check it out later today when i'm free.

Great advice this really motivated me!

 

[MoreVolume]

No I get that I just worded my response wrong sorry. Yeah the general idea is to be as open as possible because I know how shady the supp. industry is.



Hey that's awesome you've already made back your investment, reading this gets me pumped! I'll take your advice and file the llc very soon, would you recommend filing it yourself or paying a service to file it for you?

I'll keep that in mind regarding the copywrite, I really haven't started looking but even when I was in contact with a graphic designer to make the product label and he asked me what I want written up on it, what I wrote up didn't seem very good so i'll even need a professional for that.

I wasn't aware subscriptions are such a pain, I may not implement that to start off anyways, but we'll see.

Thanks for the thread link it looks like a great thread i'll check it out later today when i'm free.

Great advice this really motivated me!

You should just do it yourself. In my state it was as simple as filling out some forms, and mailing them in with a check. I dont see why you'd need a service to help you do that (if im wrong then someone please correct me)

But yeah bro, good luck. Im fairly new to the industry, and im in a unique niche, but if you ever want to ask me anything ill try to help to the best of my abilitiles.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Check out Jym brand by Dr Jim Stoppani. He lists the exact dosages in all of his products.

It's all about building a brand.

A big part of his brand is his STORY. Very important!

I think to succeed long-term in supplements, you need to have a strong persona and a great story behind the product. And of course, a decent product that works. Otherwise you're just a bro-marketer moving commodities to make money.

 

[Ben Adams]

A big part of his brand is his STORY. Very important!

I think to succeed long-term in supplements, you need to have a strong persona and a great story behind the product. And of course, a decent product that works. Otherwise you're just a bro-marketer moving commodities to make money.

I would agree branding is huge. Although i'm not sure if I have a great story, I have used these ingredients to benefit my own life, so it looks like I need to work more on emphasizing that

 

[BlakeIC]

Wait on forming an LLC/incorporating if you CAN. I would try to wait until you have your first sales/pre-orders.

If you are manufacturing in America (which you should be), some manufacturers may require an UBI number (i think?)

Influencers are a great way to establish brand credibility.
Don't bother with trademarks until you are pulling in sales day in and day out.

5) Am I missing anything vital to make this a success?

Is your product solving a major pain point in your target consumer's life?

This will dictate whether or not your brand/company becomes a success.

P.S.
If you need a label designer, I can put you in touch with a lady who has done label work for me in the past.

The first few label designers I ever had didn't know jack shit about actual label design (and I am not talking about the visual appeal/design).

Let me know, and I'll get you two in touch.

 

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[Ben Adams]

Wait on forming an LLC/incorporating if you CAN. I would try to wait until you have your first sales/pre-orders.

If you are manufacturing in America (which you should be), some manufacturers may require an UBI number (i think?)

Influencers are a great way to establish brand credibility.
Don't bother with trademarks until you are pulling in sales day in and day out.

5) Am I missing anything vital to make this a success?

Is your product solving a major pain point in your target consumer's life?

This will dictate whether or not your brand/company becomes a success.

P.S.
If you need a label designer, I can put you in touch with a lady who has done label work for me in the past.

The first few label designers I ever had didn't know jack shit about actual label design (and I am not talking about the visual appeal/design).

Let me know, and I'll get you two in touch.

Hey Blake, yes I am manufacturing in America, (although i'm still undecided if I was going to order from the smaller manufacturer that has a minimum of 144 bottles, or just go all in with most of my fund to order from a larger manufacturer with a 1000 bottle minimum),

I registered as an llc yesterday but oh well

Roger that on trademarks

The product definitely helps with a problem facing a lot of people

and I am very interested in the label designer, the few i've talked to have barely been able to speak english, I appreciate it

 

[KSR]

Hey Blake, yes I am manufacturing in America, (although i'm still undecided if I was going to order from the smaller manufacturer that has a minimum of 144 bottles, or just go all in with most of my fund to order from a larger manufacturer with a 1000 bottle minimum),

I registered as an llc yesterday but oh well

Roger that on trademarks

The product definitely helps with a problem facing a lot of people

and I am very interested in the label designer, the few i've talked to have barely been able to speak english, I appreciate it

I'm a design student, hit me up if you need someone. I wouldn't mind the portfolio piece.