FYI for those interested in Supplements

[themusicman]

So far, I've run into some roadblocks/disappointments when it comes to getting a supplement company up and rolling.

Here are a few of the companies that I've found through these forums or elsewhere:
- PJ Noyes
- Nutricap Labs
- Draco Herbs
- Eye Five

Most of the companies I've contacted refuse to quote prices without a company name, phone number, and address. Or they have restrictively high minimum orders for their products.

PJ Noyes has a 10,000 bottle minimum order for custom formulations. At a guesstimated 2.50-4.50 per bottle to manufacture, that comes out to a $25,000 to $45,000 investment up front. When you are trying to get a 500-1000 bottle first run, this is a huge letdown.

Draco Herbs didn't have all of the products that I wanted to go into my supplement in-house. They have a policy that they do not accept outside products to mix into custom formulations, and their minimum order size for bulk product (herbal products to go into a final supplement) is 5 kg. For an herbal product that is only going to have 100 mg of that product in each pill, that comes out to +/- 50,000 pills.

Eye Five has some terrible AJAX form for quotes on their webpage, and I'm not even sure my request for a quote went through.

Nutricap Labs hasn't gotten back to me, but I will try giving them a call later this week.

I'm really glad that I've spent the time testing the market and audience for my product before spending a bunch of money on a business plan, lawyers, setting up an LLC, etc. All told, I've spent $100 (and $80 of that was free Google Adword credit), so I'm way ahead. I've decided to back out of this endeavor. Interestingly, it isn't really for the reasons Tim spoke about in the 4HWW, he says the constant questions from customers and potential customers were the bane of a supplement company, I think it is all the legal hassle and red tape that has to be navigated even before getting started that makes a supplement company so difficult to navigate.

If you have any questions about my experience so far, ask away!