Many people have ideas for products that they would love to sell but that they have no idea how to go about creating. If you run a website or a small business, then offering your own products might well offer a new frontier and new money-making opportunity.
But how do you go about creating something from scratch? How can you sell a physical product if you don’t have experience in manufacturing or product design? You have two options for developing your own products: co-packing and private label.
Private Label vs Co-Packing
The good news is that it is actually easier than ever before to do this. The key thing to understand is the difference between Private Label vs Co-Packing, which has impressive and unique advantages. In this post, we will explore which is right for you.
Private Label
Many people are uncertain what private label – also sometimes referred to as white label – effectively means. In reality, though, it’s very simple. If you keep that alternative name (white label) in mind, then this gives you a perfect explanation of what you’re getting. Imagine that you want to sell a supplement. When you buy a white label product, you are buying a supplement that comes in a packet that has a “white label.” Of course, that’s not what the customer receives though, because you will work with the manufacturer in order to create your own logo for the label.
That’s the basic idea: when someone buys a product from you and you have gone through a white label company, you will be providing that product as though it were your own. This is common in dropshipping. Dropshipping essentially means that you are selling someone else’s product and they are sending it out on your behalf. This is similar to being an affiliate marketer. The difference is that you are still the one selling – not just referring to the product. You’re essentially passing on that sale.
If this sounds like a matter of semantics more than anything, that’s because it often is. Except that when you choose to make your products white label, that gives you the option to brand it yourself. As far as the buyer is concerned, you are now selling your own product. Their experience is as such:
They buy the product through your website. The product arrives a few days later in the packaging you designed, with your logo. There is therefore no mention of the manufacturer and nothing to suggest you didn’t create this product!
Co-Packing
If that’s a white label product, then you might be wondering what could be superior to this. The answer is simple: what if you also had the option to design the product?
Going back to the supplement example from earlier, even when using a white-label solution, you would normally need to pick a product that already existed. For a fitness YouTuber, that might mean finding a protein shake and then selling it as their own branded shake.
But what if you could instead design your own supplement from scratch? Choosing your own ingredients and everything? Here, you are working with the manufacturer to develop something entirely new that you know your brand will respond to… but there is no requirement to understand how to create those products in the first place.
This is the perfect combination then, as it allows you to not only put your own logo on the product, but to offer something that people can’t find anywhere else – that you can explain the unique benefits of, and that you know your audience is going to respond extremely well too.
This is a business strategy that anyone can benefit from, and using sites like Alibaba.com, it’s relatively easy to find partners to work with. Just keep in mind that in order to do this, most companies will require that you put in at least a minimum order up-front, to begin with. Those businesses don’t want to create a whole new product for you to only sell a single unit! Thus the co-packing solution requires a slightly larger upfront investment.
So, why not start with a white label and then reinvest the money you earn into your next, bespoke, product?
What can Fortress Nutrition LLC do for you?
Rest assured that you’re in good hands with Fortress Nutrition. To learn more about how we tailor our blending, ingredient sourcing, logistics, consumer packaging, and other services to meet customer needs, and to find out how we can partner with you to ensure compliance with new GMO laws, contact us today.