During the last two weeks, I have begun researching preliminary ingredients for my supplement as well as refine a few more pillars of my brand. Using my competitive analysis and Google Survey results, I have made the conclusion that:
My research and formula will be completed and uploaded by August 18th as per my summer schedule. During this time, I will also calculate my target price/bottle of my supplement that attains 20%-40% product margins after expenses and shipping. In the last week, I met with Mr. Manickam on the 27th who gave me great advice on strategies to decide on the positioning of my brand––including creating a product positioning matrix of competing products to help find a hole in the overall market I can target. My full meeting notes are attached to this post. I also met with Dr. Martin on the 28th to discuss my progress that I have made thus far. In the near future, I will finish my initial formula and get quotes from 2-3 manufacturers in order to get an accurate number of what it would cost to create my supplement if the company were real. I will also follow Mr. Manickam's advice and create a product positioning matrix to get a clear understanding of who I would hypothetically target, as well as find objective indicators that point to the success of my product.
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Beginning this month, I finished making a competitive analysis of competing recovery supplements. I also completed the customer interest Google Survey and received 51 responses, although it did not ultimately prove as helpful as I would have liked due to poor quality responses. My competitive analysis and Google Survey Results Summary can be found via the Project Assets page linked here. From these pieces of information, I have decided on creating an all-in-one athlete recovery formula that contains effective ingredients that promote joint recovery, reduce muscle soreness, support muscle building, and have a calming effect. I would like to note that these areas of focus will likely evolve over time as I delve deeper into the project. Traditionally, muscle recovery and joint repair supplements are made separately––however my goal with my supplement is to allow for advanced endurance and weightlifting athletes to have an all-in-one solution, eliminating the need for multiple supplements.
Based on the competitive analysis and Google Survey, my goal is to create a formula that can be profitably sold at the $44.99-$49.99 price range, including free shipping. My immediate next steps will be formulating the supplement and doing a cost analysis of the manufacturing process–the former of which is on track to be completed August 19. This process will involve hours of thorough research of scientifically-driven studies of various ingredients and their most efficacious dosages, as well as looking through government databases to ensure the safety of the ingredients. Later this month, I will be meeting with Dr. Martin to go over my progress and discuss my research, as well as be meeting with Mr. Manickam on July 28 to help fine-tune my brand positioning and overall identity. In the last couple weeks, I finished setting up my Weebly website before getting started with the summer portion of my project. I began by creating a competitive analysis (it is almost finished!) of competing recovery supplements. Through researching other brands, I have confirmed my initial thought that there are really no other recovery products like the one I hope to create with this project. During this time, I also had the pleasure of meeting with Mr. Jay Manickam, Severn Class of '92, an experienced and successful entrepreneur who has offered to mentor me for my Fellows project. My full meeting notes are attached to this blog post. During the meeting, we discussed strategies for finding my target audience and understanding the positioning of my brand. He suggested to create a Google survey as a data-driven approach to understanding my audience, and I am currently in the process of finalizing the survey questions. The survey should give me valuable insights into customer interest in different aspects of my proposed recovery supplement, and the feedback I get will dictate my target audience and included ingredients in the supplement. In the coming days, I will finish my competitive analysis and publish the survey. I hope to have results and analyze them by July 12, before getting started with researching potential ingredients for the supplement.
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