Bringing a product to market with Take Friday Off

The five we hear on every call

How long will it take?

Six months is the best case, and we have done it. EverLeanBody: "Six months from our first meeting, my first product was on a shelf." Bespoke packaging, extra rounds of changes and decisions that wait all add time, and we tell you upfront which of those apply to your product.

Will it be a TGA medicine or a food?

Your ingredients, doses and claims decide that, not the format. We settle it in the first workshop, before anyone designs a formula.

Can I taste it before it goes into production?

Yes. You approve the formula on paper first, with every ingredient and dose. Then you taste and approve the sample. Nothing is manufactured until you sign it off.

What's the minimum order?

3,000 finished retail packs per batch, for TGA-listed medicines and foods alike.

Who owns the formula?

If you stop at the end of the Design phase, the formulation is yours to take anywhere. If you go into production with us, we make it for your first three production orders.

Before you start

Why work with Take Friday Off rather than go straight to a manufacturer?

A manufacturer makes what it is given. It won't check whether your formula fits its pathway, whether your claims hold up or whether your label is right. That risk sits with you, and it surfaces after launch, when fixing it means relabelling or pulling stock.

We carry the whole job as one team: the brief, the formulation, the evidence behind every claim, the listing, the label, the packaging, and the manufacture and delivery to your warehouse. You deal with us; we deal with the factory.

Have you done this before?

We've run around 190 projects since 2020: capsules, tablets, chewables, powders, liquids and creams, as TGA-listed medicines, foods and cosmetics.

• BWellness: nine products, and five production batches of its tablet since 2021.
• EverLeanBody: a premium saffron capsule, 5.8 months from signed brief to dispatch.
• The Belly Solution: a TGA-listed travel gut-health powder, now in its second batch.
• Pump Haircare, Arxi, Vitable, Mother Daily, Your Skin Scan and Nivari are among the brands we've launched or relaunched.

Our Google rating is 4.8.

Who will I be working with?

Gabriel Perera leads every project. He has spent 20 years building natural health brands, including senior roles at Blackmores and BioCeuticals and in raw materials and cGMP manufacturing at TSI. With our regulatory and technical specialists, the team brings more than 40 years of combined experience. Joan coordinates your project day to day.

What do I need to bring?

The product idea, the customer it is for and the price it has to sell at. Brand assets help if you have them. We build everything else with you.

I'm new to this. Is that a problem?

No. Many of our clients are launching their first product. You make the commercial decisions; we handle the technical and regulatory ones and explain each as we go.

Process and timing

How does the process work?

Two phases.

• Design (8 to 10 weeks). We build your brief together in a workshop, then design the formulation, specify it and quote it. You approve the formula and the quote, and place your order.
• Build (20 to 24 weeks). The R&D sample, the product specification, the evidence, the listing and the label, then 12 to 14 weeks in manufacture and delivery to your warehouse.

What happens in the workshop?

We send you the project brief a week before. In the workshop we work through it together: your customer and channels, your competitors, the format, the ingredients against your target cost, the packaging, the claims and the regulatory pathway. Everything that follows is built on that brief.

What sets the pace?

Four things:

• how quickly decisions are made: approving the formula, the sample and the label
• whether a second round of changes is needed on the formula or the sample
• bespoke packaging, which adds about three months
• the January shutdown, when most Australian manufacturing closes, so an early-year launch starts the spring before.

Can you develop several products at once?

Yes, in parallel, with staggered starts.

The formula and the sample

Who decides what goes into the formula?

You set the brief: the customer, the claim you want to make, the format and the price. We design the formulation to meet it, choosing every ingredient, its form and its dose against the evidence and the rules of your pathway. You approve it before anything is made.

Can I use an ingredient I've found, or my preferred supplier?

Usually. It has to be permitted for your pathway and fit your cost target. If it does, we build it in.

I already have a formula. Can you just make it?

It goes through a full regulatory and technical review first. Existing formulas often need changes to doses, ingredient forms or claims before they can be listed and made.

When do I get to taste it?

You approve the formula on paper at the formulation presentation. The R&D sample is made once your order is placed, and nothing goes into production until you approve it. Each sample round takes about two weeks.

What if I don't like the sample?

One round of changes is included at the sample stage, and one at the formula stage before it. Building your flavour preferences into the brief, such as customer feedback, gives the best chance of getting it right first time.

Can the product be clean label, or preservative-free?

Often, depending on the format. Capsules, tablets and powders rarely need preservatives. A water-based liquid does, for safety and a 24-month shelf life, though an oil base can work for some formulas.

Can one product work for adults and children?

No. Adults and children need different doses, claims and warnings, so they are separate products.

Regulatory and claims

TGA medicine or food: what's the difference for me?

• TGA-listed medicine: therapeutic claims from the TGA's permitted indications, at therapeutic doses, backed by evidence you hold. It needs a listing and carries an annual TGA charge.
• Food: food-level claims only, and every ingredient must be permitted in food, at food levels. No listing, but strict rules on claims and labels.

A capsule isn't automatically a medicine, and a powder can be either. We settle it in the workshop.

Can I avoid the TGA?

Sometimes, by making the product a food, such as a powdered drink. You give up therapeutic claims, and some herbal ingredients may need swapping for food-permitted ones. Whether that trade is right depends on what your brand needs to say.

What claims can I make?

Claims from the TGA's permitted indications that the evidence supports at your product's exact dose. We build a few strong claims rather than many weak ones, and map them in the workshop.

How long does TGA listing take?

About two weeks, once the product, the evidence and the label are ready. Listed medicines aren't evaluated before they go on the register: the sponsor certifies that the product meets the rules.

Who is legally responsible for the product?

For a TGA-listed medicine, the sponsor, which is normally your company. Sign through your company, not as an individual. The TGA looks at your website, Instagram and TikTok as closely as your label, and your advertising must stay within your listed indications. Check every piece of copy against your evidence dossier before you publish it.

What if my ingredient isn't allowed yet?

It can't be an active in a listed medicine until the TGA adds it to the permitted list, and the supplier may hold exclusive rights for a period after that. We'll tell you what's realistic, or find the permitted alternative.

Can I sell overseas later?

Yes. If export is in your plans, we design the formula for both markets from the start.

Do you work on pet products?

Yes. Pet products follow the APVMA, not the TGA. Therapeutic claims get closer scrutiny, and retailers may ask for an evidence dossier.

Manufacturing, minimums and packaging

What is the minimum order?

3,000 finished retail packs per batch, made in one run. That is the minimum for a production run, whatever the format.

Can I split a batch across two formats?

Sometimes. We look at it for your product. Each pack format also has its own minimum from the packaging supplier, and single-serve sachets typically need around 150,000 sachets, so a tub or pouch is usually the better format to launch with.

Can I have custom packaging?

Yes. A bespoke pack adds about three months. Standard bottles, pouches and tubs are faster, and we can use your own pack if you have one.

What shelf life will I get?

24 months is standard for a listed medicine, and 36 months is possible with the right stability program. Retailers usually want at least 12 months left when stock arrives.

Are your products tested?

Every TGA-listed batch is third-party tested before release, and every partner we use holds the TGA licence or GMP clearance its step requires.

What format should I choose?

The one that fits the dose, the customer and the moment it is taken. Capsules suit most powders and extracts. Tablets hold more per unit. Powders suit large serves. Sachets suit single serves on the go. Effervescent tablets need very large batches and don't suit herbal extracts. Liquids are the hardest format to keep stable and make taste good.

Commercials

How is the work priced and paid?

Each stage is a fixed fee for a defined outcome, paid before the stage begins. Manufacturing is priced per unit on a formal quote: half with your purchase order, half before dispatch. We take you through the investment on the strategy call.

How do I know the product will make money?

We design to your price. As a rule of thumb, divide your retail price by four or five to get the target cost of goods, including packaging. At that level, direct-to-consumer brands typically keep about 80% gross margin, and brands selling through pharmacy and health food stores about 60%. The formula is built to that target, and the quote confirms it before you order.

Am I locked in?

No. You can stop at the end of the Design phase with no obligation to manufacture with us, and the formulation is yours. If you go into production with us, the agreement covers your first three production orders.

After launch

What happens after the first batch?

We manage your reorders, keep the stability program running for the shelf life on your label, and update the listing and label when the product changes. BWellness has reordered five times since 2021, and Arxi's preconception capsule has had three production orders since 2024.

Can you help with the next product?

Yes. Our longest partnerships are ranges, not single products. BWellness has nine.

Where to start

Book a 15-minute VIP Strategy Call with Gabriel: calendly.com/gabriel_perera/tfo-vip-strategy-call. Bring the idea, the customer and the price. You'll leave knowing the pathway, the realistic timeline and the next step.