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Should I start a Drink Business? (alien.top)

submitted 11 months ago by UnicornSquadron@alien.top to c/entrepreneur@indiehackers.space

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Hey everyone,

Just want some general opinions about starting a bev company. Im really passionate about drinks and feel like I could have a product that fills a niche or might just be a good beverage in general.

I read previous post about needing capital because of production/distribution/marketing. Most people saying you’ll just fail and waste money.

My plan would be to spend around 50k for formula creation and the first assortment/marketing. Think this is enough? I’d also do local events/festivals with booths and check local stores to see if they’d carry my product.

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[–] AlluSoda@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago (3 children)

Its a very though but also fulfilling industry. I am/was new to it and have a marketing background. At least marketing is a major pillar of any F&B brand. I also know where I am weak (sales, distribution, supply chain) and hired a consultant to fill those gaps.

It can be a pretty long process too. For instance, I signed a formulation agreement with Flavorman to formulate 3 carbonated sodas in December 2022 and finished in August 2023. Typical costs are about $5-$8k per flavor.

During that time, starting working on brand, trademark, some legal reviews of claims and nutrition facts, certifications, sourcing suppliers, website, SEO, found co-packer, UPC codes, can printing. Also got setup on Amazon so it’s ready when I have production.

Recruited a small panel for feedback and also did a small run to start with user generated content and photos. Also created a nice branded sample box and booklet for sending to distributors and retailers when I go live.

I am super excited as my very first pilot run will be on 12/13. Producing 500 gallons of each flavor so about 15k cans. This is considered a very low volume and most co-packers won’t even work with you. I am starting with D2C through my website and Amazon.

With all that, I am in about $60k.

Then in spring, the expectation is that I will land at least one decent distributor (I have a target list with about a dozen in NE) and maybe a retailer. If that happens, I will need to do another production run and likely about 2000-5000 gallons per flavor. That is a much bigger investment. I am holding off on investor money as long as I can.

This is a bit long but I’m living it right now. Lots of tasks but just take it one step at a time.

I have a strong family history of diabetes and hate diet soda. Wanted to create a great tasting zero sugar soda and discovered allulose. Thrilled with how our final formulation came out and excited to bring this to market. Wish you the best of success as well.

[–] garygalah@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

Amazing comment. Congrats on your progress! I have an interest in developing a product in the F&B space but am having difficulty figuring out where to start. What kind sources did you use for research purposes to determine what steps you needed to take?

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