Raphaelhutsebaut
New Contributor
Dear comrades,
it has been a few months now since my first introduction on this forum and after a 'dry' period, things are now starting to accelerate, so I thought starting a progress thread would be appropriate.
Back in January, the idea came to me for a specific formula to create a functional beverage. After much research and realizing the European legislation is still somewhat very strict on the matter, I finally selected my final ingredients to develop my beverage.
After the typical trial and error process, which was I think quite short (around 5 months), we are now approaching a satisfying result and have started small local market research and tasting sessions. Results are very encouraging so far.
The logo and Brand ID are being developed as I write and we have achieved about 75 % of this process as well, as well as package design and branding. All these have been developed in line with the original idea, although with a lot of improvements.
I am now in a situation where I still have my full time job (that I don't enjoy so much, sometimes not at all to say the least) and most of the work described above has been done with no to very small funds.
Here are the obstacles that we face now, in my view;
The success of this product will depend on execution and very much on the marketing strategy, which I will expose in my next thread very soon.
Funding: The funds needed for a first real production batch are not in my possession. In this industry, the MOQ are usually 250K units. But I can finance a first sample production of 1000 units in the next two to three months. If we can show good results and we achieve basics (finished product, brand ID, website and online presence, first sales), I am confident we can obtain the necessary kick start funds.
Entry barrier; my product is genuinely original and doesn't exist on the market yet. But it is not rocket science either and because a "recipe" can not be patented or trademarked, any big dog or smaller out there could easy embark on the ride when it shows some success.
Control: I hold the list of ingredients but not the actual preparation process, which has been developed by a professional flavor company. I didn't think I could have made it myself, not on a commercial and certified level anyway. I have chosen to have a pro developer, and I do think I should buy/own the actual recipe at some point.
Distribution: I do not have experience dealing with distributors, but I do have a lot of experience in hospitality industry.
Content; content creation to support the brand ID and position is in my view very important. I have zero experience in this and after contacting several companies and obtain several offers, budgets are out of reach for now. Not sure yet if I will go through learning curve to produce myself or select a cheaper option (with the risk of lowering perception of brand), or be patient and grow organically until I can go for the first option.
There are other things I didn't mentioned here yet, please feel free to comment and suggest, advice, criticize
Thanks
Raphael
it has been a few months now since my first introduction on this forum and after a 'dry' period, things are now starting to accelerate, so I thought starting a progress thread would be appropriate.
Back in January, the idea came to me for a specific formula to create a functional beverage. After much research and realizing the European legislation is still somewhat very strict on the matter, I finally selected my final ingredients to develop my beverage.
After the typical trial and error process, which was I think quite short (around 5 months), we are now approaching a satisfying result and have started small local market research and tasting sessions. Results are very encouraging so far.
The logo and Brand ID are being developed as I write and we have achieved about 75 % of this process as well, as well as package design and branding. All these have been developed in line with the original idea, although with a lot of improvements.
I am now in a situation where I still have my full time job (that I don't enjoy so much, sometimes not at all to say the least) and most of the work described above has been done with no to very small funds.
Here are the obstacles that we face now, in my view;
The success of this product will depend on execution and very much on the marketing strategy, which I will expose in my next thread very soon.
Funding: The funds needed for a first real production batch are not in my possession. In this industry, the MOQ are usually 250K units. But I can finance a first sample production of 1000 units in the next two to three months. If we can show good results and we achieve basics (finished product, brand ID, website and online presence, first sales), I am confident we can obtain the necessary kick start funds.
Entry barrier; my product is genuinely original and doesn't exist on the market yet. But it is not rocket science either and because a "recipe" can not be patented or trademarked, any big dog or smaller out there could easy embark on the ride when it shows some success.
Control: I hold the list of ingredients but not the actual preparation process, which has been developed by a professional flavor company. I didn't think I could have made it myself, not on a commercial and certified level anyway. I have chosen to have a pro developer, and I do think I should buy/own the actual recipe at some point.
Distribution: I do not have experience dealing with distributors, but I do have a lot of experience in hospitality industry.
Content; content creation to support the brand ID and position is in my view very important. I have zero experience in this and after contacting several companies and obtain several offers, budgets are out of reach for now. Not sure yet if I will go through learning curve to produce myself or select a cheaper option (with the risk of lowering perception of brand), or be patient and grow organically until I can go for the first option.
There are other things I didn't mentioned here yet, please feel free to comment and suggest, advice, criticize
Thanks
Raphael
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