Hey Everyone,
I wanted to share a transparent breakdown of how I built my first consumer packaged product — a seasoning blend — from scratch. No selling and no links. Just a learn-from-my-journey kind of post. *I had Chatgpt help me consolidate my thoughts and process into a digestible article.
1. It Started With a Homemade Rub People Actually Loved
I developed a seasoning rub over the years that family, friends, and coworkers constantly raved about. Everyone asked for more, asked me to bottle it, and joked that I should sell it.
So I decided to try.
What I didn’t realize at the time is this:
The spices you buy at a grocery store are NOTHING like the premium, high-quality ingredients a real spice company has access to.
Once I began working with higher-grade ingredients, the flavor profile changed drastically — for the better.
That kicked off a long series of iterations and refinements.
2. Turning the Idea Into a Business
I formed my LLC in Delaware, then realized I needed to register it again in California as a foreign entity. That required:
a registered agent paying CA annual fees getting an EIN and opening a Chase business account using my LLC docs + agent address
Before filing anything, I checked:
domain availability social handles brand name conflicts trademark potential
Then I secured the URL and all socials immediately.
3. I Planned to Bottle Everything Myself… Until I Learned the Smarter Way
My first plan was to hand-make the product:
buy ingredients mix them myself buy empty bottles fill them at home label them pack and ship orders manually
Then I spoke to people in my network who had built real CPG brands and they told me:
“Do NOT manufacture at home. Find a co-packer.”
A co-packer will:
source premium ingredients mix everything professionally bottle and seal apply labels meet food safety standards and ship finished cartons directly to Amazon
This eliminated the need for:
inventory at my house storage units a garage operation manual production the overhead of creating a home “facility”
It made my business instantly scalable.
4. Choosing a Co-Packer
I eventually partnered with The Spice Guy in Denver — legitimate, experienced, and extremely helpful.
We went through multiple rounds of tweaking the recipe:
balancing the coffee intensity adjusting sweetness refining citrus brightness improving the savory foundation keeping salt levels in check dialing in the heat
Each sample got closer until one finally hit the perfect balance.
5. Why I Didn’t Use a 3PL
I interviewed multiple 3PL fulfillment centers.
Every one of them required:
high minimum monthly volume long-term contracts expensive pallet storage fulfillment fees that didn’t make sense for a small launch
Takeaway:
3PLs are amazing once you’re doing real volume — but not worth it for launch.
Amazon FBA + co-packer direct shipping was the far smarter route.
6. Branding, Labeling & FDA Compliance
This part took way longer than expected.
I worked with a designer through dozens of revisions while learning FDA rules for:
ingredient order net weight size & placement allergens nutrition panel formatting min font sizes layout spacing label dimensions
Photography and visual content also took a huge amount of time:
white-background images for Amazon lifestyle shots BBQ shots ingredient shots A+ content modules (very specific pixel sizes) mockups banner graphics
The design work alone felt like its own startup.
7. Amazon FBA Setup
Amazon looks simple from the outside, but onboarding was detailed and strict.
Things I had to do:
business verification identity verification buy GTIN/UPC barcodes create the listing upload compliant images format bullet points build A+ content set up shipping plans carton labeling compliance forms
I kept costs low by:
using GoDaddy’s free hosting pointing my domain to my Amazon storefront to avoid monthly Shopify fees
I also built a simple “Account Xcel” spreadsheet that tracks everything — expenses, margins, inventory, etc.
A huge turning point was when I finally connected with a dedicated Amazon rep, who:
helped verify my brand linked the product to my business guided me on Brand Registry steps
Without that rep, this would’ve taken significantly longer.
8. Trademarking the Logo (and almost getting scammed)
To qualify for Amazon Brand Registry, I filed a trademark for my logo.
In the middle of this, someone emailed me pretending to be a “USPTO review officer” trying to set up a “Trademark evaluation meeting.”
It looked legit — but it was a scam.
Lesson: Always verify through the actual USPTO portal.
9. Production & Logistics
My co-packer produced the first 500-unit run, labeled everything professionally, and shipped the cartons directly to Amazon FBA.
The units are currently:
being received scanned sorted distributed across Amazon’s warehouse network
The listing will go live once Amazon finishes processing.
Surreal moment.
10. Why I’m Launching First on Amazon
Long-term, I’ll build my own website (much higher margins).
But starting on Amazon does three critical things:
✔️ Builds trust
✔️ Builds reviews
✔️ Builds brand identity
Launching a standalone website with zero social proof is significantly harder and more expensive.
Once Amazon seeds the trust, going DTC becomes much more viable.
11. Total Cost: ~$5,000
All-in so far:
Delaware LLC CA foreign registration Registered agent Trademark filing First production run Labels & design Packaging tests Photography & content GTIN barcodes Amazon fees Misc admin
I intentionally kept the startup extremely lean.
12. Launch Prep
Since products aren’t live yet, I’m currently:
planning a lean launch strategy preparing photos and videos finalizing A+ content optimizing pricing and margins keeping overhead as close to zero as possible
13. Lessons I Wish I Knew
1. Don’t bottle at home — use a co-packer.
It saves time, keeps you legal, and scales immediately.
2. Amazon is a trust engine.
Use it first before building your own site.
3. Everything takes longer than you think.
There were countless delays and revisions.
4. You can absolutely launch a real CPG product for ~$5K.
5. Most of the job is logistics and compliance — not creativity.
14. Where Things Stand
No revenue yet. Not live yet.
My product is literally in Amazon’s distribution network waiting to activate.
But I’ve gone from:
Homemade rub → LLC → Delaware + CA → co-packer → branding → trademark → Amazon FBA → inventory shipped
…to being days or weeks from reality.
Happy to answer questions for anyone thinking about starting something similar.
-Cliff
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