Great question @EmilyCowan! I'll bet @cruberti, @witdesign, @Jennie and @trashamps have some insights to share on this topic ... QB Community members, what does it take to create something from scratch? 

Hi @EmilyCowan and @WillowOlder! I guess you could say I invented my product, but the line is a little blurry. I created my hair air-dry cream from scratch, through lots of fun and frustrating trial-and-error at home. I did invent it, but I definitely am not the first person to make an air-dry cream. The upshot is that I don’t have to do a lot of testing to figure out my target market as L’oreal and Bumble and Bumble have already paved the road for me while proving that the market exists in the first place. The downside is that I’m small and I have big name competition.

That's awesome, @cruberti! Creating your own formulation of a niche product with a proven market totally counts. You've also got some great client outreach and personalized customer service going for you in a way that giant companies like L'Oreal and Bumble and Bumble simply can't match at scale. So, in a way, that's kind of an upside :smileyhappy:

What's next for your air-dry cream? We've spoken about sustainable packaging before. What's still on your to-do list before you bring your product to market (besides sending us a sample - haha!). 

So true, @EmilyCowan! Love your positivity!

Right now I'm finishing the formula. It's pretty much done, I just had to incorporate the scent for the product which changes things a little bit. Next up is finding a contract manufacturer and deciding on packaging. I may have to use plastic containers to start, but I have a line on some containers that are made from cane sugar and are fully recyclable, so I will see if that is a possibility. The biggest question mark right now is my trademark, which is still totally up in the air. In short: everything is moving forward, and still lots up in the air!

Wow, @cruberti, sounds like you're making some exciting progress! Packaging is a huge deal - you really want what's outside the box to look and function as well as what's inside.

Regarding trademarks/logos, QB Community member and branding expert @CoherentCreativ has some really helpful tips and things to consider as you go about the design process :smileyhappy:

In any case I'd love to see the finished product and packaging when it's ready to ship - I hope you'll post some pics!

Yes, ours is! We use all family recipes and have completely converted them to dairy, egg, soy, nut, and sesame free. Everything we make is from scratch! :)

Love that, @jessbru99568! Did your family go through a similar experience to @cruberti's "lots of fun and frustrating trial-and-error"? Were there specific resources you relied on as your converted your recipes or was it a whole lot of throwing the (gluten-free) spaghetti?

Yes, alot of trial and error the first little while. No, its something we wanted to do, (and we got alot of requests for it)  so we "invented" it. :)

@EmilyCowan thanks for the great recs!! Will definitely keep you updated as I progress!