Feel free to reach out. I am happy to share from my journey. 15,000 cans is basically 5000 per flavor. Or about 420 cases per sku. Margins get way better with volume. Normal MOQ’s of real production runs are about 200,000 per sku! That is basically a full truck. So when you print cans normally, that is the volume you deal with. You could order the 200k cans and do a couple production runs to help. The cost per can for 15,000 for me is about $1.30/can. (I will lose money on each case i initially). At full ramp production, cost drips to about $0.55-$0.60 for me. For instance, regular offset printed cans like a Coke can might cost $0.10. But with low volume, you have to use shrink wrap cans or digital printed cans. Those are closer to $0.35. Oh… I learned all about can lids too such as 202 LOE vs CDL. I wanted gold lids which turned into a hassle. One nice thing about this business is due to the timeframe, you can sort of pace yourself especially if you work full time. Ince you go live, it will likely take more time. But for now, website, branding, formulation, are less time dependent.

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.

I am very entrepreneurial but keep getting pulled into corporate world. I tell myself that I am finding companies that value my “entrepreneurial” mindset. A similar mindset is a “growth” mindset. Maybe search for jobs that want a “growth” mindset. You will see that much more often.

What I mean by applying an entrepreneurial mindset in a corporate world is the ability to think creatively and bring innovative ideas to life. Not just settling on status quo. Often with limited or no added resources. This could mean a new approach to marketing, launching a new channel, product positioning to a new segment, finding opportunity gaps in SEO, new verticals, etc.

I am constantly amazed at how companies sort of get complacent and just keep the gears moving but truly lack that “entrepreneurial” mindset to see a new customer need and bring a new initiative to life.

Unfortunately, I don’t see a lot of companies that actually want to hire for that. Some like Google used to encourage intra-praneurship.Most will see you as a flight risk.

Give the “growth mindset” search a try. Might have more luck.

Totally. Can feel pretty alone pursing without a partner or support as well. Sometimes I think it’s sort of a lack of respect/empathy. I have a strong 25 year career in marketing and some tech background but not a developer. Sometimes it feels that developers minimize the value marketing brings. “I could just run some PPC ads…”

Vice versa… non-tech people can say things like, “oh, I’ll just hire a cheap developer from overseas.”

But in reality, they both add value and when combined are often stronger than each individually.

I would suggest both. FBA is both fulfillment and your product o. amazon marketplace. You can connect shopify to use Amazon to fulfill your Shopify too. Amazon MCF can use your FBA inventory to fulfill.

This way you get the exposure of Amazon and still have fulfillment of your shopify store.

For me with kid in college, family to support, not enough capital and bills to pay, it’s my only option. But hopefully I can ramp up the business enough to transition to the start-up full time. Even if I take a 50% paycut and lose insurance…

For me with kid in college, family to support, not enough capital and bills to pay, it’s my only option. But hopefully I can ramp up the business enough to transition to the start-up full time. Even if I take a 50% paycut and lose insurance…

A good rule of thumb at this stage is about 3x discretionary cash flow. That is a bit different than the formal EBITDA which may be near zero or even negative. Think of this number as what would go away if you were to sell. If you have any salary or somewhat personal expenses like auto, insurance, etc. Totally just a rule of thumb. If growth is flatish, that multiple might be closer to 2x when revenue is this low. If growing fairly fast and profits rising and building a brand, that multiple may be closer to 5x.

Show me a product with no competition and I’ll show you a product with no demand. Seriously though, there are almost always competitors. Key is to find your own niche. Sometimes that can be pure branding (i.e. Liquid Death water), positioning of a core value proposition (i.e. Volvo = safety).

Start with your ideal customer and think about what they value.

For instance, ceramic coatings are somewhat trending, maybe your brand could focus on that. Or maybe your concept is really glossy, lean into shine/gloss/bright into your brand. Maybe its about durability… make something like RhinoGuard, Diamond Coat, etc.

I actually think this is a great concept for a start-up. Relatively low cost to get product formulated and you can get quick customer feedback. Hit up detailers and get feedback. Actually, interview some before hand and see what they like. You’ll probably learn about some pro incentive programs that you could model as well.

Good luck!!

Not a lot of love for the brand name lol. Maybe, I will go the Smuckers route… “With a name like AlluSoda it has to be great.” :)

On a serious note, suggestion for others. When getting a domain name, try to also get singular/plural and common misspellings of the .com name. In our case, main brand is Allusoda. But we also have:

AlluSodas

AluSoda

AluSodas

AlluPop

AlluDrink