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Small production runs for start-ups in Europe
Hi All,
I see that there is a company that specialise in small production runs (down to $300) in the US (Debut Development LLC) from the “Bee cosmetics discussion”.
Does anyone know if there are similar manufacturers, particularly in Europe and could they supply any names?
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9 Replies
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There are numerous contract manufacturers in the UK and Europe but I don’t know if they contract as low as $300 or even £300.
Best look in one of the trade magazines (e.g SPC) or check with the CTPA.
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Thanks Johnb. This is just to get an understanding at the moment on what the absolute minimum costs and volumes could be to get some trial products produced without filling my kitchen, should I go down this route.
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Check on the SCS group at LinkedIn.
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Thanks heraklit and Babzchemist! Very useful
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I see that there is a company that specialise in small production runs (down to $300)
What do you mean by that? The 300 dollars is the sum of the costs for…?
Do you want to start your own cosmetic line and don’t want to do the production yourself?
I’ve been considering starting something aswell, real real small. Or somehow be working in this branche, whether it’s my own company or someone else’s.
My passion has always been preparing pharmaceutics, whether it’s preparing parenteral chemotherapeutics in a clean room environment or making bulk or ad hoc skin products/dermatics. (I’m a pharmacy technician in a GMP certified hospital pharmacy btw)
And now that the preparating aspect in pharmacies becomes less and less, even in hospitals, my job becomes less and less interesting.Sorry for being off topic, but I’m really considering a career move.
Good luck with your plans and aspirations, Pete!
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Hi AnnaLavar,
Regarding the 300 dollars, I’m basing this on the Debut Development LLC advert that appeared in another discussion. Essentially, if you don’t want to produce your own cosmetics and would like to get very small batches of a few different products made to test the market, spending hundreds rather than thousands of dollars/Euros sounds far more attractive to me as a starting point.
As with you, I am primarily interested in pharmaceuticals but this is expensive to get into. I am looking as cosmeceuticals as an alternative option; primarily producing ingredients (chemistry using natural enzymes which is where my mains skills lie), but with product formulation as a backup to sell my own products if I can’t sell the ingredients. I could then progress to pharma development later.
I should start a string about alternative ingredients soon as there seems to be a disconnect between large and small company approaches. I am hoping there might be opportunities to market non-commercial ingredients to medium sized companies with aspirations to expand.
However, being a scientist, I like to gather lots of info before diving into anything. Some might see this as too cautious, but for better or worse, it’s how my mind works.
Good luck with any career changes you make too!
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I hear you. I would like to produce my own batches though, but only for a small market, I’m figuring out what the possibilities are, and all the regulations, which are a lot.
I’ve got a strong feeling that this is the direction that I want to go further into. I don’t know yet how and just having a feeling ain’t enough.
Although I did formal courses/trainings on how to start and keep a small business running (in the past), there still is so much involved. And since those trainings lie in the past, I would really need to update my knowledge. With ‘formal’ courses I mean, here in the Netherlands, if you wanted to start a business, no matter how small, you were obliged to follow these and I have the papers for that. Nowadays these courses are no longer an obligation if you want to start something, but I would surely recommend it.
And competition in this branche is gigantic, there isn’t exactly a shortage of cosmetic products c.q. companies… so I’m afraid, after all the searching and figuring out, I’ll come to the conclusion to just keep it as a hobby…
We’ll see. Excited about @Perry ‘s courses. They can always come in handy!Wishing you good luck aswell!
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I understand what you say. What I feel is the best approach (for me) is to look for a business partner. I am sure I could do the stuff involved in the day-to-day running of a business, but to be honest, it doesn’t appeal to me.
I’m much happier coming up with ideas and making them work. I also quite like hunting down their market value, although this part is new to me. Like you say, a feeling ain’t enough.
I think I might ultimately go for an in-between option. A company that provides contract research and synthesis services, but also produces and sells some of its own products. We could then test what is most profitable. I have an ex-colleague that seems to be thinking along the same lines and is evening willing to commit his own money. I am tempted to hook up with him, but it would need to be a strong business case before commiting any of my own money.
Regarding cosmetics, I have been in touch with DIY-Bio in Barcelona. They are a group of volunteers that are interested in biology and in trying to involve the public (similar to the garage genetic engineering movement in the US). I want to run a project there on making natural cosmetic formulations for fun and perhaps also extracting our own natural products (to give it a more bio angle). I could see this as a win-win-win situation. I learn about formulations, gain new contacts with interest and get a free area to test it out.
Could then consider whether to use this along with ingredients that the bigger companies use that are unavailable to small ones. There should be an anle here but unfortunately the area is so unscientific in terms of efficacy that it is really hard to tell at the moment. Amogst many other oprions, I am currently talking to some contacts in some of the bigger cosmetics ingredients manufacturers to understand their angle - or whether there are opportunities to collaborate directly with them.
I think that if I explore enough angles, opportunities will turn up that can be actioned quickly or kept in reserve until I have more money available. It’s not easy, but I don’t want to work within another large company. Been there already!
Keep in touch with how you progress.
Pete
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