RedCon1 2017 Recap: A Groundbreaking First Year in Business

RedCon1 set a blazing path through the supplement industry in 2017, here’s an interview with Aaron Singerman discussing the banner year.

If you’re a supplement user, then there’s no doubt you’ve at least seen, heard of, or tried the RedCon1 supplements (unless you’ve been living under a rock!) Spearheaded by longtime industry veteran Aaron Singerman, RedCon1 has experienced as remarkable of a first year in the supplement industry as we can remember. The brand literally seems to be everywhere.

We recently sat down with the braintrust at RedCon1 for an in-depth interview discussing what it’s been like during their first year in business, and what to expect from the fast-growing brand in the next few years.

The Interview

• Congratulations on having an incredibly first year in the business! How have you felt the first year has been for RedCon1? Did you meet expectations, exceed, fall short, etc?

  ”First year of business has been tremendous for us. Roughly halfway through 2017 we already hit our financial goal we had for all of 2017, so I’d say we have far exceeded our expectations.”

• What product released were you most excited for, and what product were you most concerned with as far as its reception by the masses?

  ”Of course we are proud of the entire line and especially TOTAL WAR and how well it was received, but we are most proud of MRE. Everyone has a pre-workout, but no one was doing a true, whole foods product like MRE. We were always concerned about taste and mixability but as soon as we tasted it, we knew it was a home run.”

• How has the launch of RedCon1 felt in comparison to the other successful brands you’ve launched over the years including Prime, Blackstone, etc.?

  ”With Blackstone Labs, it was a longer build for the success, errors were made along the way, didn’t know exactly what we were doing yet, etc. With REDCON1, it was like going back to High School again but with knowing what you know as an adult. Everyone always says if they went back to High School, they would do this or that differently, well I had that chance in this industry.”

• What was the most exciting part for you during this first year in business?

  ”The most exciting part of the first year was to see the fans believe in what we are doing just as much as we do. We set out to build the best and biggest brand and it feels like the consumer is with us.”

• What was the biggest challenge you faced in starting the brand as well as the biggest obstacle to overcome during your first year in business?

  ”The biggest issue I feel we faced is simply being able to keep up with the demand. The brand is on a meteoric rise so we have nothing to forecast from so each month as we grow, we have growing pains on the supply side. We feel we are getting that ironed out as we speak but that has probably been the biggest challenge.”

• Looking ahead, what do you hope to accomplish in Year #2 that would “raise the bar” in terms of the reputation RedCon1 has built during its first year?

  ”For year 2, we want to set the bar as the fastest growing sports nutrition company in history and do it in such a fashion it will not be duplicated. Additionally, we want to keep pushing new innovation into the marketplace.”

• What does the supplement company landscape look like 5 years from now?

  ”Right now with supplements, the barrier for entry is so low everyone is trying to get into the space to make their fortunes. I think you have people see the likes of a BSN selling for $144 million dollars and people want a cut of that action. Well there are only going to be so many of those success stories in a lifetime.

  Also, regulations are changing and I think that it will start to clean up the cowboy nature of the industry in next 12-24 months. So instead of companies building their brand on an edgy ingredient, they are going to have to actually build a brand to succeed long term. Additionally, innovation will have to come from being truly innovative, not just leaning into borderline ingredients.”

• Where do you envision RedCon1 in the pantheon of supplement companies 5 years from now?

  ”Without sounding arrogant, just confident, we feel we will be one, if not the top selling sports nutrition brands.”

• Can you give us any hints what we can expect this coming year from RedCon1?

  ”In 2018, you will see us continue to launch products on a consistent basis month over month. The biggest thing you will see from REDCON1 are innovative products that change the way people use supplements.”

• Given the uncertainty of various stimulants, etc…how do you expect this to impact sales of Total War, which is one of the best-selling hardcore pre workouts right now? Any plans for a reformulation?

  ”With TOTAL WAR, it [did] contain DMHA, but the formula isn’t built around that ingredient. TOTAL WAR is a comprehensive pre-workout that happens to have DMHA as a stimulant in it. Stimulants are easy to replace, so the reformulation of TOTAL WAR you can expect an even better, stronger formula that will have no issues with compliance long term.

  At REDCON1, we try to stay ahead of the curve and we have been planning the removal of DMHA for some time now. “

• Advice to young entrepreneurs looking to start a company (supplement or otherwise) and what they can expect during the first year in?

  ”To own a supplement company and be successful, the best advice we can give is get ready to work your ass off. I think there is a misconception that the supplement business is super easy to make money. You need to remember that there are so many brands out there and many of them have nothing unique to them, just a different labels; it’s tough to stand out in a sea of sameness.

  So first you need to create a brand that really means something, is different and stands out in the crowd. Then you need to develop products that fit that branding. After that the heavy lifting really begins. You need to get exposure on your company and then convert those impressions to sales. There are no off minutes, hours, days, etc, it is a 24 hour a day business, so you better be passionate about what you are doing. Also, expect that you may not make a lot for the first few years, you will need to reinvest in growing and building the brand.”

Some awesome Aaron Singerman videos

We caught the RedCon1 wave quite early, and Mike interviewed Aaron over Skype on our YouTube channel (which features a ton of RedCon1 reviews and informational videos – nearly all of them positive!)

Even from this video, you can see how far along the brand has come!

In addition, another must-watch video is Aaron’s “Behind the Supplements” episode, where he truly lays it all on the line, proclaiming that he wants to be the biggest company on the block:

In memoriam: Dallas McCarver

Unfortunately, not all news was good news this year. As everyone knows, the great, late Dallas McCarver passed away in his home, and Dallas was of course sponsored by RedCon1.

We were lucky enough to have CJ interview Dallas, and we couldn’t have had a better impression – what a great guy, and what a terrible loss for the bodybuilding community as a whole:

RedCon1 has been able to continue moving up and forward, but there’s absolutely no doubt that Dallas was an irreplaceable personality, who even inspired Med+Kit, as explained by Aaron in this 2017 Olympia interview with Mike:

We’d like to thank RedCon1 for including us in their product launches and letting our users know ahead of time what’s coming down the pipe – the other product forecasted in the video above was none other than BOOM STICK, and it’s so loaded that it’s had a tough time staying on shelves!

Can lightning strike twice for RedCon1 — can they dominate 2018 like they did 2017?

2017 – The Year of RedCon1. 2018?

Very few companies achieve such growth during their first year in business, and even fewer come out swinging the way the Singerman-led RedCon1 has.

The team behind the brand knows what they’re doing and expect 2018 to be another banner year for this heavy-hitting brand. Until then, we’re excited to see more unique products, killer content, and amazing apparel.

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