Know-How Exchange : Strategy

Thank you for responding to my question. You have given me excellent advice on the cost as well as to competing with the various bbq sauces.

The amount of money you'll need will depend on your objectives for this business. Certainly the $250k mentioned above is the ante. If you want national distribution in major food chains, supported by the advertising and promotion they will require, multiply that number by 10x to 25x, or even more, depending on how quickly you want to get there.

What you really need to do is figure out what your objective is and then do some consumer testing in your planned distribution area to see if the positioning concept and the taste meet expectations.

If so, then you'll need business and marketing plans, including a complete category assessment and brand audit for the existing brands in the category. You might also need/want an investor presentation to see if you can attract the financial support you'll need -- unless you plan to do this all on your own.

Thanks -- I realize that that it takes a strong commitment to pusue this business. The feedback that I am receiving is valuable in helping me reach a decision.

Thanks Tim - The video on Jonathan's BBQ sauce was very informative. Listening to his ideas and suggestions from his past experiences has made me want to approch this business in a new direction.

Hey Adohanon!

I feel pretty late to the party here, but I thought I might throw a few things out that may help anyone else who looks this up.

As an successful entrepreneur myself who has been around the block more than twice, I have learned that starting a business is at once less and more than what everyone thinks it is.

Everyone above was giving you prices and costs for how much it may cost in order to give you a realistic picture of what this type of work entails. I believe that it was totally benevolant. However, it skipped a couple of HUGE things about starting a business.

STEPS TO ACTUALLY LAUNCHING A BUSINESS
1) Test your idea - Hold blind taste tests at a local fair. Use top competitors against your sauce. See what happens. (Don't frame this as a challenge - just market research.)

If you get favorable results, then..

2) Niche your market - Specifically, who is most likely to buy your sauce? Maybe the same type of people loved it in your market testing..go further with it and discover your market.

Which leads us to..

3) Message - What does your market care about when it comes to a BBQ sauce? What language and branding can you use to really connect with them and stick in their heads?

4) Now..and ONLY NOW...are you ready to pick a name and incorporate.

From there, even though it might be a bit slow going at times, you can bootstrap your operation, starting at small fairs, etc and expanding outwards. Using the internet is a very, very good idea - even for a BBQ sauce.

You don't actually need to be in a grocery store, after all. It all depends on what you want! If you haven't already, go for it!