Here at Redrose we work with companies of all sizes in the supplement industry, from international established brands to new start-ups entering the market.
Over our 25 years of manufacturing, we’ve helped hundreds of companies produce new and innovative product lines, so we thought we’d put together a brief step-by-step guide to help you get started in the nutraceutical industry.
1) A gap in the market
In the early stages try to have an idea of the type of product you’re looking to create and even if you don’t have the exact formulation in mind a basic understanding of what you want to create and why is an excellent starting point.
2) Identifying your target audience
There’s no point creating an incredible product line if you don’t have a target audience. Your audience should influence everything; from the ingredients you include and the buzzwords you use in your marketing to the colours you use on your packaging and so much more. Try to identify a niche audience and then build your product ideas from there.
3) Design a clear sales and marketing plan
Now that you have your target market in mind you now need to decide how to communicate with that market and think of ideas to get your products in front of them.
How are you going to sell your products? Are you going to go to retailers and try to get your product on their shelves, sell online on your own site, or sell through distributors like Amazon?
Picture the bread aisle in a supermarket, how do you choose which product to buy? The answer is marketing. You choose something based on the branding, the advertising, the position it is on the shelf, the special offer that is on, alongside numerous other advertising messages. Marketing is crucial to the sales of your products.
There are plenty of online sites which can help you to work through this in more detail.
4) Competitor Research
Once you have a basic marketing plan and have identified your products’ route to market, now it’s time to take a look at those selling similar products around you and see what’s working and not working for them.
Try to choose the top three brands that seem to be making a lot of sales and take notes of where they are selling their products, how much they’re charging and how they are advertising – what can you do differently?
5) Making your Supplements
If you plan to manufacture and formulate the supplements on your own then you will need to obtain your own certifications, insurance and consult with a lawyer about potential repercussions.
Depending on what country you’re looking to sell your products in you will also have to obtain different licences. For example if you are looking to sell your products in the USA, you’ll need to look into FDA regulations to make sure you’re compliant with all of their rules and guidelines.
This can be a long and complicated process which is why many nutraceutical entrepreneurs partner up with an experienced manufacturing company like us.
The benefits of this are endless. At our manufacturing facility all of our customers have access to our nutrition team, are guided through the full process from start to finish and can rest assured that their products are being developed with the highest quality ingredients whilst adhering to all health and safety guidelines.
In addition to this, we can also help advise on distribution and have one of the lowest minimum order quantities on the market, meaning this is perfect for trial orders and testing products in your market.
6) Creating your label
Here within the factory, labelling is a process we can provide for you which means you will need to think about label design as part of manufacturing. You will need to display a nutrition table, ingredients and guidelines for the intended use of the product and depending on the country you’re selling your product in, there may be additional regulations you need to adhere to.
As we mentioned earlier your marketing and branding is extremely important and you need to make sure your brand and the product name is clearly displayed along with complimenting colours and a design that will appeal to your target market. (If you’re lacking inspiration, look back at your competitor research and others on the market. What have they done to stand out.)
7) Distribution
Redrose can fully assist you with your distribution but it is important you have a fulfilment plan. We can arrange delivery on your behalf through our preferred logistics provider and we can also dispatch your products to a fulfillment centre of your choosing.
We have established links with the likes of Amazon and can arrange direct delivery for you. We can assist you with delivery of our moq’s or pallets of finished products to any destination of your choice.
8) Get Selling
Use your marketing and competitor research to identify a price point and then put your marketing plan into action. Whether you’re using social media, online content, influencer marketing or other sales techniques, make sure to keep refining your plan and track where your sales are coming from.
Happy selling!
If you have any questions or would like to know more about the Redrose process, then please get in touch with us here.