If you’re planning to do a private label launch—whether it’s your first or your hundredth—a set of tried-and-true rules to follow will make the process not only far easier, but significantly more likely to be a success… instead of yet another dud.

In today’s post, we’ll be going over the 10 rules that we wish we had known about when we started out. Each rule has been hard-won through trial and error, hours upon hours of research, and thousands of dollars spent. This done-for-you collection is the kind of thing most people wouldn’t even consider publishing!

As you read, keep in mind that this post is a highly condensed version of the information found within our absolutely free ebook of the same title. If you want the full story, you’ll need to get a copy (it costs you nothing).

Download your 100% free copy of The 10 Rules of a Successful Private Label Launch to instantly get 5x the amount of content in this post, including:

• A much deeper look at the details behind each rule.
• Step-by-step guidance for the actions you need to take to follow each rule.
• Detailed information and discounts for the additional resources we personally use, including our favorite Amazon tools, keyword research platforms, Facebook messenger bots, email marketing tools, and more.
• Over 5 times as much content than found in this post in a printable, read-anywhere PDF.

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With that in mind, let’s go ahead and take a look at the general beats of each rule and why they lead to a successful private label launch.

We’ll begin with the most deceptively simple rule…

#1 – Choose A Product Type Intelligently

“What should I sell?” is perhaps the most common first question would-be private label sellers ask themselves—and, believe it or not, it’s the worst possible question to ask first.

The first question to ask yourself should actually be “What shouldn’t I sell?”

By narrowing things down that way, you can avoid a lot of headaches in the future. Certain product types just don’t tend to work out very well for private label retailers like us. What do you think those might be?

For example, large items or appliances (think refrigerators or dish washing machines) are too expensive and difficult to ship. Luxury items and jewelry are often way more trouble than they’re worth, since big name-brands have locked down the space.

Instead, pick an item intelligently. Something durable that doesn’t have a ton of moving parts to break during shipping, something small for easier and cheaper shipping, and something that has a balanced price point.

#2 – Find A Perfectly Balanced Price Point

Selling an item that’s too cheap means your margins will be way too thin. Expensive items have their own unique set of headaches you don’t want to deal with—plus it’s important to note that just because an item is expensive, you won’t necessarily make more money with it.

Instead, find a “perfectly balanced” price point for your private label item. For most sellers, that’s going to be somewhere between $20–$60. In the free ebook we discuss the reasons behind this in more detail, including a closer look at buyer psychology.

#3 – Minimize Returns, Fees, And Other Business-destroying Problems By Planning Ahead

Planning ahead will save you a tremendous amount of time and money in the future. If you can’t easily map out the process of how your product goes from a supplier to the end consumer, you aren’t ready yet.

Get to know your suppliers, and understand their methods. Where is your product made? How is it shipped?

Better yet, get to know your target audience. Why do they want your product? Why would they buy yours instead of the competition’s version?

A successful private label launch isn’t something you can put together in a few afternoons of work—the big money is in well-thought-out plans executed with confidence.

#4 – Check If The Product Is Patented (Very Important To Avoid Lawsuits!)

You don’t want to get sued, right?

Check your product ideas against the US Patent and Trademark Office every single time.

Every. Single. Time.

#5 – Research Your Competition Thoroughly

Competition research is a vital component to any successful private label launch. You could probably even make a compelling argument that it’s a vital component to the launch of anything.

Researching your competition gives you tons of valuable data, perhaps the most important of which is the ability to see what’s already selling—if you can’t find any competition for a product, maybe there’s a reason. When you know what everyone else is doing, you know exactly what you need to do better to get noticed. You can also often see what other people are doing wrong and capitalize on it.

Competition research is a huge topic and beyond the scope of this post. We go into a lot more detail in the free ebook.

#6 – Find & Communicate With A Great Supplier

To complete this step properly, you’ll need to muster up some patience. It can take a while to find the right supplier, but it’s well worth it in the end. Start by making a list of your most important questions and ask them to as many suppliers as you can. A spreadsheet can help to compare the different answers so you can make a better choice.

Some basic questions to ask are:

• What is the total price for the product?
• What is the average delivery time?*
• What is the minimum order quantity?

* Note that you specifically want the average delivery time—not the best. You’re trying to figure out how long shipping will actually take in day-to-day operations.

#7 – Review, Assess, And Commit (Take Action)

This rule is in place for a good reason. After you get to this stage, it’s a good idea to stop. Just stop everything for a day or two. Allow yourself the time to review and assess your actions up to this point. While you’re looking everything over, you’ll be surprised how many little details you may have overlooked. This is your chance to correct them.

#8 – Begin Pre-launch & Launch Phases

Your pre-launch phase should be seen as an opportunity to prepare and build your marketing channels, e.g., social media profiles, a website, an email marketing list, ad creation, and so on. In a nutshell, notify everyone in your target audience of your upcoming product. Build hype.

The launch phase is where you officially start selling your product. Not much differs here from the pre-launch phase, except now reviews are going to come into play.

#9 – Cultivate Positive Reviews

Reviews are a fantastically huge (and extremely important) topic. We can’t fit it all into a numbered list like this. Grab the free ebook for more information or watch this space—we’ll definitely be discussing reviews and how to get them on the Physical Product Pros blog in the future.

#10 – Make Customer Service A Priority

There’s a lot to do once you actually start selling your product, but nothing should overshadow your dedication to customer service. It is the single most important task you have: good customer service means more sales, better and more numerous reviews, and good old word of mouth advertising.

A quick note on automated customer service tools: they’re great, but they can’t do 100% of the work for you. Always monitor your customer’s needs and, when appropriate, never hesitate to “manually” intervene. A personal reply via email or Facebook can go a long way to letting your customers know you genuinely care.

When “Taking Action” Isn’t Enough…

Gurus everywhere always tell you to “take action.”

In fact, they say it so often that you probably have that statement burned into your mind and you know exactly what it means: that it’s time to get off your butt and do something to better yourself and your business.

However, we think that the gurus have missed a vital component to that common piece of advice. The real secret is that in order to be successful you need to take informed action. There isn’t a single successful person alive today that was able to build an empire without first having access to the right information.

If you’d like to take informed action for your next private label launch, utilizing the best available information available anywhere, we highly recommend that you join us here at Physical Product Pros.

You’ll gain instant access to real-time support from real-live entrepreneurs—people who have generated millions in private label revenue—as well as over $12,000 worth of bonus resources like our private, custom-built tools and apps. You’ll also get access to our exclusive mastermind events, which are probably worth more than everything else combined several times over.

So, what’s it going to be? Are you ready to take informed action?

Hope to see you on the other side.