Private Label Brand selling Ecological House-Hold Goods

[Walter Hay]

With 20 years experience manufacturing industrial chemicals I might be able to make some helpful suggestions.

Although I didn't produce what I considered to be boring stuff like cleaners, disinfectants, detergents etc. I knew how to make them and did so for family members.

Two relatives had a problem that I was able to help with, and you might be surprised to find how common it is.

They are sensitive to perfumes, both those formerly worn only by women, but now increasingly by men also. Even being in the same room with a women generously doused in perfume would give them severe headaches.

You can buy laundry powder without perfume, and there are possibly a few other products also. I am not sensitive to perfumes, but I have an incredibly acute sense of smell, so the odour is multiplied for me, and I don't like it.

People walk past me in the street and I can tell what kind of laundry detergent they use. I won't go back to a hotel that has linen with an overpowering detergent smell.

There are many products, both household and even automotive, that have perfume added for no good reason.

Auto mechanics have to use sweet smelling hand wash, and perfumed water-displacing lubricants.

If you do some research you should be able to sniff out a niche.

If you want formulas, you don't need to buy books. Most raw materials suppliers have formulas for all kinds of products, and they will provide those because the formulas incorporate one or more of their materials.

Walter

 

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[Champion]

Hey guys, im glad you've found my Follow-Along Thread!

Some background information about me:

- 25 Years old
- Studied Chemical Engineering in University
- Currently working as a sales engineer (stressfull and sucks up a lot of time, but it also gives me a lot of freedom, since its home office and it pays to fund my business)
- 55K Annual Salary

The idea of my business is to offer ecological house-hold goods (Shampoos, detergents, sanitisers, soaps, dish-washer cleaning tabs and washing machine cleaning powder) which contain no harmful ingredients for humans.

The main point of my products is not that they are necessarily "more environmentally friendly", but more importantly, not harmful for humans to touch/work with.

After starting my current job as a chemical sales engineer, I have become a lot more sensitised to how many harmful chemicals are present in our everyday house-hold goods. The point is, even if you wear gloves when working with these chemicals: The permeability rate of even the most chemical-resistant gloves is only approximately 30 minutes until the chemicals are able to pass through the resistant-layer of the glove. This would mean you need to wear new gloves every time you clean the house (way too expensive!) and therefore, the only way to make dealing with house-hold chemicals more safe, is by actually changing the ingredients that are within them.

For sales channels to sell my products im thinking Amazon & Ebay to get started (I have successfully sold products on these platforms before in the past) and building up the traffic to my own Shopify store in the mean time. I will also be approaching organic shops in my local community to offer and sell my products.

I believe that the "environmental", "sustainability" and "Health" niches are quite popular these days, so growing a facebook and instagram community of followers will also be my focus.

What appeals to me most about this business model is that sales will be RECURRING.

Once you win a customer for yourself and keep him/her satisfied, he/she will keep buying from you on and on, again and again!

Since my background is in engineering, I want to really offer value to customers by providing an easy way for customers to calculate "eROI", their environmental return on investment before switching from conventional products to my products. What I mean by that is that I will show example calculations to customers of how they can manage to save money and at the same time be having an environmental impact and most importantly IMPACT ON THEIR OWN HEALTH by using my products.

My current plan of action looks as follows:

1. Find a Supplier to Source my Product or Find a Supplier to Source ingredients and produce the products myself
2. Find a Supplier for ecological / environmental friendly packaging
3. Begin Listing my product on Sales Channels (Ebay / Amazon)
4. Begin building marketing channels (Facebook, Instagram) all through organic traffic, want to keep costs to a minimum.
5. Direct Traffic to my Webshop --> Grow sales and offer more services (eROI calculations and educational blog posts / Information for my customers)
6. Grow my product-line, begin selling in physical shops (organic shops in my local/national community)
7. Grow the business, expand internationally, offer more services and products

Ideas and suggestions about my plan of action or any other general advice are very very welcome and im looking forward to hearing what you guys have to say!

Best Regards,
Champion

 

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[MoneyDoc]

Not trying to discourage you or say it won't work, but this is a very COMPETITIVE market you're entering largely dominated by well known brands. If I were you, I would niche down and pick a more specific area rather than going after such a broad market.

 

[MoneyDoc]

Thanks for your input! Would you consider the following action as appropriately "niching down": Instead of Targeting the entire Household goods market by trying to offer more environmentally sound products, I will only focus on only one household product (Liquid hand soap for example)?

That's an idea I would start with... start a brand in the liquid hand soap category for example, after you've built a name, start to branch out. It becomes so much easier.

 

[mikey3times]

Great thread. Some random thoughts...

How are you going to out-market Method or Seventh Generation? These products are all about proper marketing.

I absolutely HATE the smell of Softsoap and the other options aren’t much better so you might be on the right track.

You might want to watch a few episodes of The Profit on CNBC. Especially the food related episodes where he talks a lot about co-packers and developing a recipe with them. If I recall, there is an episode about making healthcare products with bee’s wax or something similar, which might be helpful.

When it comes time, get good insurance. As MJ says, anything that goes in or on your body needs a very solid insurance policy.

 

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[Xeon]

Didn't see any reply from you to mikey3times about Method. I wonder what's your plan to stand out from the market instead of becoming a MeToo product. Currently it seems like you're focusing on the Whats and the technical stuff like website and terms and conditions etc.

Because if you're going to sell this like a commodity and/or without any interesting angle, it's gonna be hard as this industry is too well established.

Since you have knowledge of chemical engineering, maybe pick a highly specific product which is currently boring and old fashioned, and apply Method's style of marketing to it, and/or target it at a new audience.

Something like shoe shine which is commonly seen as a men's boots product, sell and package the product in girly packaging with feminine marketing collaterals, with the product's purpose as making female shoes look cuter and "fresher" after rubbing on it, and target it at trendy hip women.

This is just a random idea out from my head and the shoe shine is just an example.

Traditional boring product > different marketing angle > Different market

 

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[Bekit]

Ideas and suggestions about my plan of action or any other general advice are very very welcome and im looking forward to hearing what you guys have to say!

Couple of thoughts...

1) Can you create a product that works?
I cleaned houses for a living a while back. I HATED the "ecological" products because they never worked. I had to use TONS more elbow grease to achieve the same result as a nice "bad-for-you" chemical product. Or I couldn't get any results at all. It was like cleaning with plain water and a scrub brush. Useless. So I opted for the "harmful chemicals" version of any product 10 times out of 10, even though they gave me headaches.

2) Is there a felt need?
Not everyone feels the need to protect themselves from harmful chemicals. If they don't recognize their need, you'll have fewer buyers. So maybe think through where you'll find the people who feel the need the most. A good one that was mentioned above was the people who are sensitive to perfumes. Another example is people whose jobs expose them to harmful chemicals. For instance, the dry cleaning industry - can you create a product for them?

 

[Walter Hay]

I have a few comments that I hope will help.
Step 1. It is extremely difficult to get suppliers on Alibaba to dropship. Aliexpress suppliers are almost always happy to dropship.
Step 2. Images on Aliexpress are often poor quality or watermarked. You should buy a sample of each product to get some idea of quality, and you could use them to produce your own images. Don't copy their sales wording either.
Step 3. Won't be possible until you buy inventory to sell on Amazon.
Step 4. I hope you mean ones that are items that are selling well for you, and not hot selling products for other vendors. If they are hot sellers for others you are likely to finish up in a price war.
Step 5. This is a major flaw in your plan. If you buy larger quantities from suppliers on Aliexpress you will be paying a lot more than if you buy direct from the manufacturers. If you have been buying from suppliers on Aliexpress it is almost impossible to locate the real manufacturers on Alibaba. It can be done, but is extremely difficult.
Step 6. At least read through my AMA GOLD! Sharing my lifetime experience in export/import. Product sourcing specialist. so that you have some idea of what is involved in sourcing, ordering, paying, arranging freight, and dealing with Customs without having to know all the rules yourself.

My suggestion is that if your funds are limited, and you like the idea of dropshipping (which I don't), you start off with dropshipping until you (hopefully) build some cash reserves, then forget about dropshipping and proceed to steps 7 and 8.

Best wishes for your success.

Walter

 

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[Champion]

Day 1 Review:

So I got started with researching suppliers for my products ingredients. Turns out there are many suppliers and they are actually quite easy to find! Dont know why.. but in the past when I was trying to source products, it felt like I was never really able to find anything. I Guess the main difference between then and now is that NOW I know EXACTLY what im looking for! (My RAS is doing the work for me)

There is still a lot of research to be done, especially in terms of the chemistry required for synthesising my products and also in preparing for the legalities and passing certification requirements.

I ordered two books today (Total Cost around 60 dollars) which will help me learn more about the chemistry of household cleaning detergents. Im confident that it will be a good investment.

I signed up for two wholesaler sites and also laid out an action plan for the week ahead, which im really looking forward to!

Thats it for now, will keep you guys updated.

Best Regards,
Champion

 

[Champion]

That's an idea I would start with... start a brand in the liquid hand soap category for example, after you've built a name, start to branch out. It becomes so much easier.

Thanks for the advice, I will definitely follow it! Liquid Hand Soap is actually what I wanted to get started with anyhow.

Its actually really crazy, but from my first calculations, I think I will be able to offer quite a premium quality product (Liquid Olive Allepo Soap) for a price thats not even that much higher than any of the conventional chemical stuff being sold out there.

Will post my progress as I move along!

Best,
Champion

 

[Ernman]

Have you considered doing this for the pet industry? Many dogs - I'm not a cat person - are sensitive to shampoos.

 

[maverick]

Stop posting about your plans. Start executing and then come back to tell us the results.

 

[Champion]

Back from holiday!

Hey guys, I just got back from a two week holiday (went to Tbilisi and Istanbul) and im ready to get back into my hustle routine.

I cant stress enough how important it is to take a timeout every once in a while to enjoy the journey and recharge your batteries!

Before this holiday I was feeling completely stressed out and ineffective. Now im ready to rock and roll and continue working on the business.

Will keep you guys updated weekly on my progress.

 

[Champion]

Not trying to discourage you or say it won't work, but this is a very COMPETITIVE market you're entering largely dominated by well known brands. If I were you, I would niche down and pick a more specific area rather than going after such a broad market.

Thanks for your input! Would you consider the following action as appropriately "niching down": Instead of Targeting the entire Household goods market by trying to offer more environmentally sound products, I will only focus on only one household product (Liquid hand soap for example)?

 

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[Champion]

Day 2 Review:

Had a great start to the day and woke up at 6 am. Did my morning routine and got on with my day job.

I have to admit, I was not as productive in total as I had hoped for, but thanks to many helpful suggestions, I have found and acted on the following steps for my business today:

- Contacted a potential supplier for one of my products via phone and email today, still waiting for a email response and hoping they will open an online merchant account for me, where I can order their products as a partner.

- I will order their product without label and do the private labeling myself

 

[Champion]

Great thread. Some random thoughts...

How are you going to out-market Method or Seventh Generation? These products are all about proper marketing.

I absolutely HATE the smell of Softsoap and the other options aren’t much better so you might be on the right track.

You might want to watch a few episodes of The Profit on CNBC. Especially the food related episodes where he talks a lot about co-packers and developing a recipe with them. If I recall, there is an episode about making healthcare products with bee’s wax or something similar, which might be helpful.

When it comes time, get good insurance. As MJ says, anything that goes in or on your body needs a very solid insurance policy.

Hey Mikey, thanks a lot for your tips, especially the point about insurance! I have also burnt myself in the past regarding legal matters and definitely not going to take it on the easy shoulder.

Best,
Champion

 

[mikey3times]

Do you need a website to test the market? Pound the pavement, man. Getting traffic to your website will take time. You can talk to people in today.

Maybe I am missing something. Do you have a product to sell? What happens if your ads “convert”?

Edit: I got you mixed up with the lab glove person. Edited for your product. The message still applies.

 

[nelnhf]

Hey! I'm in a somewhat similar position. All the best and cheers

 

[Champion]

I have a few comments that I hope will help.
Step 1. It is extremely difficult to get suppliers on Alibaba to dropship. Aliexpress suppliers are almost always happy to dropship.
Step 2. Images on Aliexpress are often poor quality or watermarked. You should buy a sample of each product to get some idea of quality, and you could use them to produce your own images. Don't copy their sales wording either.
Step 3. Won't be possible until you buy inventory to sell on Amazon.
Step 4. I hope you mean ones that are items that are selling well for you, and not hot selling products for other vendors. If they are hot sellers for others you are likely to finish up in a price war.
Step 5. This is a major flaw in your plan. If you buy larger quantities from suppliers on Aliexpress you will be paying a lot more than if you buy direct from the manufacturers. If you have been buying from suppliers on Aliexpress it is almost impossible to locate the real manufacturers on Alibaba. It can be done, but is extremely difficult.
Step 6. At least read through my AMA GOLD! Sharing my lifetime experience in export/import. Product sourcing specialist. so that you have some idea of what is involved in sourcing, ordering, paying, arranging freight, and dealing with Customs without having to know all the rules yourself.

My suggestion is that if your funds are limited, and you like the idea of dropshipping (which I don't), you start off with dropshipping until you (hopefully) build some cash reserves, then forget about dropshipping and proceed to steps 7 and 8.

Best wishes for your success.

Walter

Walter, big thanks for your input. As you mention in your post, getting to steps 7 and 8 ASAP is a very smart choice. I will take a look at your ebook for Sourcing from China. Does it also talk about importing products to Europe or only to USA?

Best,
Champion

 

[Champion]

Quick Update from my side, since I havent posted in almost a month, I cant believe so much time has passed already!

I have been HUSTLING HARD, I fking love it.

The Idea I ended up with is different from the ecological household goods as initially intended. However, I am confident in this idea and im going all the way with executing it.

So far, I have done the following:

1. Started my LLC. (the process is not entirely done yet due to bureaucracy taking ages, but im getting there!).

2. Fully finished planning and envisioning my product. Its actually something which already exists in US and also kind of exists in UK (But it sucks in UK). In my country, this does not exist yet. My product will be better than all alternatives on the market and much better quality too. It will not be more expensive than the competitor from US.

3. I found an awesome local producer for my product.

4. Registered my business name Trademark at the german patent office so no competitors can jump on my listing on Amazon and also I will be able to use the ® Symbol next to my brand name. My business is in a niche where trust & credibility is very important, so its a big advantage to have the ® symbol.

5. Created the Value Array and Really put a lot of thought into the customers "NEEDS" which I am actually solving. I will use this to develop angles and hopefully good advertisements to get people to my online store.

An investigation of my current Business Idea using the CENTS model would yield following results:

Control -

YES. I will be producing my product with one supplier for now, however, there are many other manufacturers that can offer similar high quality and I can switch to them incase producer doesnt work. I will be mainly selling through my own website, however, I will also use amazon & Ebay to sell. In addition, I will be approaching retail stores to sell my products offline in their stores.

Entry -

I am a bit worried about this point. Technically, anyone could copy me. All they would have to do is find a producer for the product (Of which there is plenty) and copy everything im doing.... Lets see what happens.

Need -

I believe there is a need for this product. As mentioned, it already exists in US and I know people ordering it here to Europe from there, because its not available here!

Time -

Yes, can be leveraged

Scale -

Yes, can be leveraged in all of Europe and even Internationally.

Next steps to organize:

6. Create Branded Packaging for my product (Cartons and sealed bags, both need my branding!) I need to make the logo and also find the producer that will make the packagings for me.

7. Finish building the website

8. Convince friends to give some reviews on my product (I want to have at least 10 or more on Amazon).

9. Start running Ads to my online store

10. Approach retailers that can sell my product offline in their store

 

[Champion]

Update from my side:

I have got all the legal stuff done now.

My Product and Packaging as well as Website are also ready. (Atleast MVP versions)

Its time to make my first sale!

I have a facebook and Instagram page where I got my close friends to give me likes.

I recently listened to the 1 Page Marketing Plan (By Allan Dib) and really resonated with it.

It felt like I found the book at just the right time when I needed it.

Its Audio version is only 6 hours long and very practical, easy to apply advice.

Im currently drafting my sales funnel / Landing pages etc and I will start launching online advertising campaigns in about a week. Im really excited!

Will keep you guys updated and let you know when I make my first sale!

Best

 

[Champion]

Hey Guys!

Here I am again with an update:

Im currently running and testing my first ads for a super "easy to convert" offer (Free Samples lol!)

I just started running the ads today, so no idea what the results will be. Plan is to let them run for 2 weeks and then sort the good audiences/creatives from the ones that didnt work as well. I also found out about the facebook carpetbomb method, which is really good for finding the right audience for your product.

Thats it for today!

Best
Champion

 

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[Champion]

Hey all, I havent checked in for quite a while, although I have been active on the forum, I still want to give an update on how its going with this business.

I have made a small pivot in my product (although its still serving the same industry). Production is already complete and the delivery should arrive at my place either tommorow or the day after.

My website is ready, all I need is great product photos, once the product is here.

I also still need to build my background email marketing infrastructure. I will do this in the coming break over new years, so that in 2020 I will be able to go full force.

I will be running a facebook carpet bomb campaign over new years as well, to find my niche audience on facebook.

Will keep you guys updated!

Wish you all a merry xmas and happy New years. May we all reach our goals in 2020!

 

[Champion]

Update from my side:

Its absolutely crazy how I always ignored this one advice, that people kept giving me about business:

"Surround yourself with like minded people and find mentors".

Since the new year, I have a membership at wework, which is basically a shared office space. Over there, I met people who are already a few steps ahead of me in terms of what im trying to achieve my business.

They have expert knowledge in building websites, writing good copy, running traffic to website, customer service and many other usefull skills.

I have pretty much spent the last month hustling away, learning shit tons of new stuff that there is to learn.

My life has become pretty unbalanced in the last 3-4 weeks though, unfortunately. I havent gone to the gym in a while (this is also because I was sick), but I realize that I have really started ignoring almost all other parts of my life, to hustle on the business.

Im so excited about all the new skills I was able to pickup in such a short time with the new guys I've been hanging out with and overall, I think it will be positive.

I just need to start re-implementing my health habits so I dont burn-out longterm.

Will give my next update in a week!

 

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[Champion]

With 20 years experience manufacturing industrial chemicals I might be able to make some helpful suggestions.

Although I didn't produce what I considered to be boring stuff like cleaners, disinfectants, detergents etc. I knew how to make them and did so for family members.

Two relatives had a problem that I was able to help with, and you might be surprised to find how common it is.

They are sensitive to perfumes, both those formerly worn only by women, but now increasingly by men also. Even being in the same room with a women generously doused in perfume would give them severe headaches.

You can buy laundry powder without perfume, and there are possibly a few other products also. I am not sensitive to perfumes, but I have an incredibly acute sense of smell, so the odour is multiplied for me, and I don't like it.

People walk past me in the street and I can tell what kind of laundry detergent they use. I won't go back to a hotel that has linen with an overpowering detergent smell.

There are many products, both household and even automotive, that have perfume added for no good reason.

Auto mechanics have to use sweet smelling hand wash, and perfumed water-displacing lubricants.

If you do some research you should be able to sniff out a niche.

If you want formulas, you don't need to buy books. Most raw materials suppliers have formulas for all kinds of products, and they will provide those because the formulas incorporate one or more of their materials.

Walter

Big thanks for your Advice Walter!

From my research yesterday, I already found a supplier in my country that produces all kinds of detergents which are "Perfume Free". The brand also vibes with my "ecological" vision.

The thing is, the supplier already has their own brand and I also see that they sell on Amazon for themselves.

I saw that you offer 1 or 2 ebooks where you talk about sourcing products and private labelling. Does your book also cover how to talk to suppliers and convince them of selling you their product "Unlabeled" so that you can private label it yourself, or even better, having them private label it for you?

Thanks for the help!

Best,
Champion

 

[Champion]

Have you considered doing this for the pet industry? Many dogs - I'm not a cat person - are sensitive to shampoos.

Ernman, thanks a lot for the tip! I have deffinetly had it on the radar, I will look into it in more detail as well now.

Im not sure how human shampoo differentiates from pet shampoo, but perhaps you can even use the same shampoo for both and the only thing you need to change is the packaging!

That would be ideal of course and I will look into it in greater detail.

Will keep you updated.

Best,
Champion

 

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[Walter Hay]

Big thanks for your Advice Walter!

From my research yesterday, I already found a supplier in my country that produces all kinds of detergents which are "Perfume Free". The brand also vibes with my "ecological" vision.

The thing is, the supplier already has their own brand and I also see that they sell on Amazon for themselves.

I saw that you offer 1 or 2 ebooks where you talk about sourcing products and private labelling. Does your book also cover how to talk to suppliers and convince them of selling you their product "Unlabeled" so that you can private label it yourself, or even better, having them private label it for you?

Thanks for the help!

Best,
Champion

In my labeling book I suggest that it can be preferable for you to not have your supplier attach the labels for you.

You need to maintain control of as much as possible of the entire process.

I doubt that many sellers on Amazon would be happy to supply a competitor. You might do better to either make the product yourself (my first preference), or obtain such a product from another country, preferably within the EU.

No, my books don't teach you how to convince manufacturers to supply you with unlabeled products, but in fact if they don't see you as a competitor, most manufacturers will be delighted to supply a new customer - you.

If you intend private labeling, you should at least look at what well thought out branding and labeling can do for you. Have a look at my labeling book contents list:
PUBLISHING - Forum Members and Their Books!?

Walter

 

[Champion]

Day 3 Review:

Im really so so so happy that I started this thread, its helping a lot with staying accountable!

I did some really good research today and I think I now know exactly what kind of a product I need to offer the market to begin with.

For the coming 3-4 Weeks all my energy will go into creating a prototype and finding suppliers to produce my product as well as the intended packaging I want it to have.

Im really looking forward to the weeks ahead and following through with this idea, since the more I think about it, the more long-term potential I believe it to have, but lets see!

I definitely need to use MJ's tips along the way and test every one of the ideas to make sure that its really something the market wants and not just things in my own head.

Will keep you guys updated, thanks for all the help & tips.

Best,
Champion

 

[Champion]

Day 5 Review:

I skipped my review yesterday since not much happened, to be honest, I slacked on the business because of my 9 to 5 job but im back today!

I am focusing on one chapter and one chapter only of MJ's Unscripted book: Kinetic Execution (KE).

I am following the steps and will keep you guys updated!

Best,
Champion

 

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[Champion]

Day 7 Review:

I am currently building a Sales Page using Clickfunnels to test an offer and see how the market responds to it. Im especially facing the challenge of getting all the legalities sorted out (Terms & Conditions, Privacy Policy, etc..). Since I live in Germany and there are a lot of "Ecommerce Lawyers" around here and I have already gotten Cease & Desist orders filed against me before, I really wanna make sure im doing everything correctly.

My plan is to run Advertisements (Facebook Ads and Google Adwords), run the traffic to my sales page and see how many people will convert.

Would be very thankful if anyone can give me tips with regards to what im trying to do at the moment (Building sales page with click funnels and running traffic from facebook/google to convert on an amazon listing / paypal order form).

Thats all for today!

Best,
Champion!