Today’s post is a long and exciting guest post from one of our more inactive members of the jungle. He’s been inactive because he’s been executing (and partying). Once you read it, you’ll realize that I don’t have to give much of an introduction/explanation because it’s complete in it’s current form.
Any thoughts on product liability insurance / insurance providers when starting a dietary supplement e-com brand (product is a natural herb, nothing else)?
Exactly what I needed, thank you so much! I've been thinking about doing influencer marketing, but have come up with a million excuses as to why I shouldn't. This was the push I needed to just frickin do it. THANKS!
This was a very helpful start-up post. Can't wait for an update on how various advertising tests went (e.g. IG, email, google, SEO etc).
Would absolutely subscribe to your substack. Each of these sub-heads would be great as expanded posts, including drilling down to individual posts on each ad-method (IG, tiktok etc).
Great name too.. pelosi could definitely benefit from some Liver shield ;)
Do you recommend running ads prior to product launch? I am in health supps niche I have been pumping content on IG and TikTok and have 30 preorders. Seems like a waste of money to run ads before even having a product ready to go. I could be wrong, lmk your thoughts.
After doing some organic influencer marketing with pro athletes (all enjoyed it) I've concluded that my product is viable. A pro sports team also reached out to me and wants to order. Do you think I should wait to run advertisements till post launch? This is all still super new to me. Thank you for all this great content.
Average Order Value (AOV) and subscriptions are key - what do you mean by the product should intersect between these 2? As in recurring non-subscriptions orders and subscription orders volume should be split 50/50 ?
I think you're overthinking this. I think he just meant that the AOV should be high enough to be meaningful but not too high that it's not a blocker to be a recurring order.
I'm dumb and newish. I'm a physician, I'm in a super hot and in-demand field. Problem is I'm also dumb as rocks. Where do I find the "This is what you to do for WiFi money 101"
I have lots of ideas for my practice, but no... idk, abilities or skills in setting up an electronic business (or physical for that matter). I'm in somewhat of a niche field and going even more niche, but EXTREMELY in demand
Yep! It's not super cheap of course, but I personally wouldn't enter the health supplement space without it. If you google coverage specifically for health supplement companies, you will be able to find it.
Thanks for this very comprehensive write-up and thanks to Opossum for sharing it with us. I'm also in the health niche, so it's great to see somewhere succeeding in a ymyl niche.
Pelosi, did you jump directly into this from your day job or start an affiliate first?
Likewise, it's a pleasure to meet a fellow consumer health entrepreneur.
I started Avenir while I was still working my day job and then left very soon after launching the Liver Shield product and becoming revenue-positive. Of course not the least risk-averse path, but I was burnt out from my job and confident in the business model, so just quit and went for it.
I personally use UpWork for all of my sub-contracting requirements (virtual assistants, web developers / designers, graphic designers, etc.).
I would recommend putting out a posting on Upwork - you will probably receive 50-100 inquiries from around the world within the following 24-48 hours.
From there, I go through each profile, read the reviews, their prior experience, their portfolio of work, etc. to get the list down to 5-10.
From there, schedule 10-15 minute zoom interviews. A key thing you're going to want to vet for is written AND verbal english speaking ability. I was lucky enough to find one with extensive health supplement experience as well.
Once you've selected one, invest meaningful time upfront to build systems and train them on everything. It's never fun to do this, but it'll be well worth the time investment.
@bowtiedpelosi super interesting article! So did you totally skip the "demand test" and just go straight to producing product? How did you get the comfort level you needed to make that significant investment?
Great question. Admittedly, I did take a riskier path here and did not do the "demand test" that folks like Opposum and Bull typically recommend (I should have though and would absolutely recommend doing this, especially if you're pursuing high price point products).
I was able to get comfortable because 1) I had personally used similar products for years and knew there were tons of other people like me out there looking to address the same pain point and 2) I had gotten countless friends & family members to use similar products. The liver health market is also massive, and I was confident that my brand and marketing angle were unique enough to carve out a profitable niche and start stealing market share from some of the other competitors.
I was also VERY frugal with the amount of time and capital I committed to Avenir in the earlier stages of the company. My MO has been to only allocate more time and capital as it becomes justifiable to (overall business momentum, revenue growth, etc.) if that makes sense.
I'm still not at the point where I'm willing to go completely all-in from a personal capital investment perspective, but I get closer and closer as time goes on.
@bowtiedpelosi do you mind sharing the agency you're working with?
Any thoughts on product liability insurance / insurance providers when starting a dietary supplement e-com brand (product is a natural herb, nothing else)?
Get a bunch of quotes and compare them. Insurance is an opaque world.
Exactly what I needed, thank you so much! I've been thinking about doing influencer marketing, but have come up with a million excuses as to why I shouldn't. This was the push I needed to just frickin do it. THANKS!
This was a very helpful start-up post. Can't wait for an update on how various advertising tests went (e.g. IG, email, google, SEO etc).
Would absolutely subscribe to your substack. Each of these sub-heads would be great as expanded posts, including drilling down to individual posts on each ad-method (IG, tiktok etc).
Great name too.. pelosi could definitely benefit from some Liver shield ;)
Do you recommend running ads prior to product launch? I am in health supps niche I have been pumping content on IG and TikTok and have 30 preorders. Seems like a waste of money to run ads before even having a product ready to go. I could be wrong, lmk your thoughts.
You should run ads to test your product viability but not for shits and giggles.
After doing some organic influencer marketing with pro athletes (all enjoyed it) I've concluded that my product is viable. A pro sports team also reached out to me and wants to order. Do you think I should wait to run advertisements till post launch? This is all still super new to me. Thank you for all this great content.
If you already have product market fit, why would you run advertisements when you don't have product?
Great read BTP, informative & motivating
Average Order Value (AOV) and subscriptions are key - what do you mean by the product should intersect between these 2? As in recurring non-subscriptions orders and subscription orders volume should be split 50/50 ?
Kudo's & well done so far
I think you're overthinking this. I think he just meant that the AOV should be high enough to be meaningful but not too high that it's not a blocker to be a recurring order.
Glad to see a fellow penn state alum killing it! All best from Dubai.
I'm dumb and newish. I'm a physician, I'm in a super hot and in-demand field. Problem is I'm also dumb as rocks. Where do I find the "This is what you to do for WiFi money 101"
I have lots of ideas for my practice, but no... idk, abilities or skills in setting up an electronic business (or physical for that matter). I'm in somewhat of a niche field and going even more niche, but EXTREMELY in demand
I'm confused on how you're confused. Have you read the Substack from the beginning?
I guess my biggest holdups are setting up a website but I'll have to give it another go-around.
Have. You. Read. The. Substack.
There's multiple posts on this on the Substack and my website.
Hey bowtiedpelosi!
I am in the final stages of launch my wifi healthy biz
Question, did you also invest in general liability insurance?
Yep! It's not super cheap of course, but I personally wouldn't enter the health supplement space without it. If you google coverage specifically for health supplement companies, you will be able to find it.
Lol BowTiedPelosi, gotta love the name
Thanks for this very comprehensive write-up and thanks to Opossum for sharing it with us. I'm also in the health niche, so it's great to see somewhere succeeding in a ymyl niche.
Pelosi, did you jump directly into this from your day job or start an affiliate first?
Thanks again!
Likewise, it's a pleasure to meet a fellow consumer health entrepreneur.
I started Avenir while I was still working my day job and then left very soon after launching the Liver Shield product and becoming revenue-positive. Of course not the least risk-averse path, but I was burnt out from my job and confident in the business model, so just quit and went for it.
Where did you find and vet your VA?
I personally use UpWork for all of my sub-contracting requirements (virtual assistants, web developers / designers, graphic designers, etc.).
I would recommend putting out a posting on Upwork - you will probably receive 50-100 inquiries from around the world within the following 24-48 hours.
From there, I go through each profile, read the reviews, their prior experience, their portfolio of work, etc. to get the list down to 5-10.
From there, schedule 10-15 minute zoom interviews. A key thing you're going to want to vet for is written AND verbal english speaking ability. I was lucky enough to find one with extensive health supplement experience as well.
Once you've selected one, invest meaningful time upfront to build systems and train them on everything. It's never fun to do this, but it'll be well worth the time investment.
Good luck!
@bowtiedpelosi super interesting article! So did you totally skip the "demand test" and just go straight to producing product? How did you get the comfort level you needed to make that significant investment?
Great question. Admittedly, I did take a riskier path here and did not do the "demand test" that folks like Opposum and Bull typically recommend (I should have though and would absolutely recommend doing this, especially if you're pursuing high price point products).
I was able to get comfortable because 1) I had personally used similar products for years and knew there were tons of other people like me out there looking to address the same pain point and 2) I had gotten countless friends & family members to use similar products. The liver health market is also massive, and I was confident that my brand and marketing angle were unique enough to carve out a profitable niche and start stealing market share from some of the other competitors.
I was also VERY frugal with the amount of time and capital I committed to Avenir in the earlier stages of the company. My MO has been to only allocate more time and capital as it becomes justifiable to (overall business momentum, revenue growth, etc.) if that makes sense.
I'm still not at the point where I'm willing to go completely all-in from a personal capital investment perspective, but I get closer and closer as time goes on.