Nutritional Supplement Advice (Amateur Questions About Starting)

[itsgena]

This idea is quite new to me. My head is always spinning with projects I want to develop in the near future, but my major hobby has always centered around spending hours reading the latest research on nutrition and longevity. I stumbled upon new research using a unique combination of nutrients with success. At present, I have not seen this combination available in commercial products so far. It suddenly popped into my brain that I could take this to market, especially due to the high demand.

My problem is how to go about it...Besides this particular combination I have in mind, I have (up until now) 2 other supplement ideas, so I'm not sure if it's worth all the trouble (especially the expense!) to create an online store and brand catered to these 3 supplements. My idea was having it manufactured and the goal would be to have it sold by major online supplement retailers (e.g. Iherb, Swanson, GNC, etc).

My plan of action is to contact these companies directly (product development) operating under an NDA to see if they're interested in the formulation FIRST. If so, then I can have it manufactured and work with those retailers. Is that the normal course of action? I'm reading that many save their prototyping until AFTER they share their idea and know whether or not it's accepted. I'm just a little fearful because like food, most of this line of work isn't proprietary, and I'm thinking "Even if they do accept the idea, what is stopping them from then accepting the same or almost the same formulation from a major supplement brand once my idea has been copied by competitors?"

So ... I'm going back and forth, and feeling apprehensive about what I should do. Any ideas? Is it better to try to sell individually, or should I try to get it right into the retailers? I notice some supplement companies don't even sell directly, like Doctor's Best. And am I crazy for wanting to hold manufacturing off until I hear feedback from the retailers I want it affiliated with? Any helpful advice?

 

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[youngtrep]

I think you are going about this wrong. I am almost positive the retailers won't even respond to your email, let alone read it. They sure as hell are not going to sign your NDA. There is a massive industry now that caters to manufacturing private label and custom formulation supplements for people just like you. Start contacting them, get a quote for 500-1000 bottles and if you really feel like there is a market, get your formulation produced. No retailer will likely take a chance and use up precious shelf space on an unproven product from a one man band. Not trying to be too harsh, but start reading about the industry and you can learn a ton.

 

[ThaRooster]

well they dont know if they want your product yet, thats your job. Try getting some samples of it first before you get a full 500-1000 bottles of it then start marketing the shit out of it and why product x is going to give you results xy and z. Do more than just make emails call the places too, hearing your voice is going to develop a better connection. And you arent just limited to just selling your product in stores theres tons of companies that sell all their stuff in their own online store and make a killing.

 

[SerpKing]

Whatever you do, don't sit around with cold feet. The key is to get moving and do something

- I would stick with one product starting out
- I would run some type of test to make sure there is a market for this. You can set up a bare bones Ecomm store or sales page and just have the product listed as out-of-stock or create a waiting list. Run some targeted paid traffic in, see if you get some bites. Spend a bit up front and it will save you a fortune if it proves to be a bust
- Call/Email manufactuers and get some MOQ and Quotes
- Lots of guys around to do labels. Elance works

It will be near impossible to get any big retailer to sign an NDA and burn up a load of time discussing your idea. I would focus on Amazon and/or Ecommerce starting out. Finally - I wouldn't lose sleep over your proprietary idea, if it sells at all it WILL be copied and knocked off, that's just the industry.

Good luck

 

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[Phillipbro]

GNC and other supplement retailers probably won't even get a chance to get back to you. There are hundreds of other guys just like you waiting on them for some kind of deal. Instead pave your own route.

First, find out if there is a market for your product, test your market:

StartupBros Market Validation Guide: http://www.startupbros.com/3-steps-to-validate-your-business-idea-for-free/

Pat Flynn's Guide: http://www.smartpassiveincome.com/h...even-made-part-1-making-sure-a-market-exists/

 

[itsgena]

I think you are going about this wrong. I am almost positive the retailers won't even respond to your email, let alone read it. They sure as hell are not going to sign your NDA. There is a massive industry now that caters to manufacturing private label and custom formulation supplements for people just like you. Start contacting them, get a quote for 500-1000 bottles and if you really feel like there is a market, get your formulation produced. No retailer will likely take a chance and use up precious shelf space on an unproven product from a one man band. Not trying to be too harsh, but start reading about the industry and you can learn a ton.

Not too harsh at all, I sincerely appreciate the honesty. I was about to email the supplement seller about stocking my emerging product since the saleswoman was indeed receptive to my offerings, but you're right that I *should* attempt to sell first on my own and establish credibility and "clout" in the market, if you will.


Without giving too much away, my particular product is one of the most perishable in the vitamin industry, so quality is a must for me. I've corresponded with Nutricap Labs and was really discouraged when I saw their "500,000 minimum order" for soft gels line. I was confused when they emailed me back saying their minimum order was 97 bottles with 60 soft gels in each, which is clearly much less than 500k soft gels. I asked again to please clarify, and the second response I received was over 1 million soft gels for a customized order ... at that point I was both confused and let down. Quality is important to me and I know Nutricap Labs is one of the most prestigious supplement manufacturers, not to mention it's only 40min from me (saving me massive shipping fees for bulk orders), but I don't just cannot afford nor store 500,000 to over 1 million of something.

I'm currently now looking into Atlantic Essential Products (1 hr away from me) and Vitalabs. it's hard to find reviews for other manufacturers and all the good reviews are associated with Nutricaps... If anyone knows a trusted manufacturer, please feel free to chime in! Maybe I'm being too paranoid and should just look out for GMP certification.

 

[itsgena]

well they dont know if they want your product yet, thats your job. Try getting some samples of it first before you get a full 500-1000 bottles of it then start marketing the shit out of it and why product x is going to give you results xy and z. Do more than just make emails call the places too, hearing your voice is going to develop a better connection. And you arent just limited to just selling your product in stores theres tons of companies that sell all their stuff in their own online store and make a killing.

Thanks. True, I *do* plan to sell it online first now, and branch out to retailers during that time. My biggest roadblock is that I have absolutely NO connections, but I suppose I am very fortunate to live about 15 minutes from NYC, so I can visit a lot of different places to pitch my product to.

Concerning the 500-100 bottles, I noted just above that I am trying to contact differing manufacturers. The first one I contacted (Nutricap Labs) unfortunately had minimum orders (500k capsules) that I just cannot meet. I am trying to search the 'net for others.

 

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[itsgena]

Whatever you do, don't sit around with cold feet. The key is to get moving and do something

- I would stick with one product starting out
- I would run some type of test to make sure there is a market for this. You can set up a bare bones Ecomm store or sales page and just have the product listed as out-of-stock or create a waiting list. Run some targeted paid traffic in, see if you get some bites. Spend a bit up front and it will save you a fortune if it proves to be a bust
- Call/Email manufactuers and get some MOQ and Quotes
- Lots of guys around to do labels. Elance works

It will be near impossible to get any big retailer to sign an NDA and burn up a load of time discussing your idea. I would focus on Amazon and/or Ecommerce starting out. Finally - I wouldn't lose sleep over your proprietary idea, if it sells at all it WILL be copied and knocked off, that's just the industry.

Good luck

This seems like a pretty solid plan - thank you! I'm pretty certain that I will set up with Shopify once I get the products manufactured. In the meantime, I'm about to check with the laws in my state for establishing a single member LLC and what the specific tax laws are. I'm also looking into trademarking ASAP. I would be fearful about going to market and next thing I know, someone registers my trademark. I'm currently going back and forth with whether or not to patent the blend of the formula (thinking out loud here...).

I'm pretty sure 1000-1500 bottles is avr. for an MOQ? My first quote was 500,000 soft gels, with would translate to about 8,000 bottles, which is too much I can store right now and too much of an expense. I'm trying to find smaller MOQs without sacrificing the quality of the finished product. (Currently on the hunt)

 

[1milclub]

You need to become an INSIDERS. There is a thread for Supplements, and it has tons of info. on finding suppliers, and much more.

The-supplement-syndicate-thread-resources-tips-tricks-information

I have seen companies with very low MOQ - like 24 (for private label of stock formula). Although, there will be some setup fee and it may run into $300-400. I also noticed that some other companies who do not charge set up fee (or very low fee) have product prices higher.

Custom formulation will always have higher MOQ - 10k to 50k depending on the company.

 

[eqttrdr]

Quality is important to me and I know Nutricap Labs is one of the most prestigious supplement manufacturers,

I have had nothing but problems with Nutricap labs, piss poor customer service, misleading and like to play games. I dont have time for that so I will always use anyone else for my supplements

 

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[DeletedUser2]

get an INSIDERS sub. read the thread.
custom formulations are expensive, and may not work. you can contact formulator's however (there is a whole industry of them) and GNC will not sign an NDA. if you make it, it only takes about a 1600 dollar test to reverse engineer it, and copy it.

GNC will only take into their shop when you have proved the market.
sell enough of them, and they will bring you retail.

I would suggest putting something together first, get "pre orders" by saying you will sell the 1st 1000 bottles, and when you have 1000 sold, you will order them.

there are a dozen ways to make this a working test.

do that first.
THEN figure out if you want to spend the money.

unless you can afford to blow 100K on the learning curve.

Z

 

[Ben Adams]

I have had nothing but problems with Nutricap labs, piss poor customer service, misleading and like to play games. I dont have time for that so I will always use anyone else for my supplements

Just wanted to bump this thread to agree with this statement, I'm trying to get my product manufactured and at first they were very responsive and now theyre completely ignoring me when im trying to find out the bottle label dimensions in order to get a graphic designer to do my label. If anyone knows any decent manufacturers that either give samples or have 500 or less minimum orders please let me know

 

[gouhst]

I've been looking into launching my own supplement product as well, and all the tips here have been extremely helpful. I've found a few manufacturers that have an MOQ of 1,500 bottles for a custom (tablet) formula, but found a few lists (GMP certified with NPA and NSF here and here) and am planning to contact a lot more. Putting up a website and trying to sell product before ordering all 1,500 or whatever to estimate demand is also something I'll do.

 

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