#1 Dynamic Blending

THIS IS A DYNAMIC TALE — FROM BEGINNING TO END. Dynamic Blending is a contract manufacturing business that helps companies create personal care products — shampoos, serums, lotions, potions — from conception to execution. Founder Jordan Erskine created it because a huge segment of the manufacturing clientele was being ignored. “With such high costs, small businesses were shut out of the game,” he says. “They didn’t have a chance.” Dynamic Blending set out to become that chance and — plot twist! — earned $12.6 million in 2019, has 400+ leads a month, and is growing right alongside those small businesses they helped launch. Best ending of all? They’re just getting started. 

I worked for a contract manufacturer, Wasatch Development, straight out of high school. It was my first real job. I was 18, and I worked in all different areas: R&D, formulations, production, you name it. The process of creating a product from start to finish fascinated me.

I left Wasatch to work at Ultradent and had similar responsibilities. I was there for almost 10 years. The job was cushy, and I had about 70 people reporting to me. 

I got an MBA in international business, and I soon realized Ultradent wasn’t going to pay off my $140k in student loans. So I started consulting on the side. I was moonlighting with Dynamic Blending while I phased out of Ultradent. 

We started hearing complaints that contract manufacturers had quantity requirements that were too high. It shut startups out of the game. Come to find out, those leads never went anywhere. They just died. 

A light bulb went off. We could create the first turnkey contract manufacturing company that focused on small companies. We’d help them get a foot in the door. 

There are so many barriers to entry in this industry. Between branding, marketing and manufacturing costs, you can’t just throw your life savings at it and hope it sticks. You need big investors. We knew we could change that.

Shampoos. Lotions. Eyelash serums. Creams. We can do generic and cheap or high-end and splashy — and everything in between. This industry has been stagnant and stale for a long time. We are innovating it from every angle. Marketing, branding, video services, B-roll, customer experience, SEO — you name it, we offer it. 

We work hard to be a true partner to our clients. We guide them all along the way and are extremely transparent. Our process inspires trust. We take pride in that. 

As a result, we grow with our clients. They might start out producing a thousand units of a product. But as the story often goes, the company excels — and those thousand units turn into hundreds of thousands of units. 

When you grow fast, your culture can go sideways. We’ve done everything to prevent that. We attract high-talent individuals. We pay them well. And we don’t micromanage. We work in a stressful business, but no one raises voices. There is a mutual level of respect. 

We’ve really only been around for three years — and already we’ve had 7 or 8 companies want to buy us. My business partner Gavin and I have no interest in that. We’re the ones steering this ship. And we’re reinvesting all of the profits back into the business. We’re here to grow and to grow right. 

I had read all the books and listened to all the podcasts. But nothing can prepare you for the real thing. I remember when we had $20k in our bank account and $100k in monthly expenses. It was scary. And you start seriously contemplating if it’s time to go back to the real world. But we made it through the sleepless nights. My wife was a supportive rock star. We showed up every single day. 

There is no one like us. Nothing new ever comes out on our competitors’ websites. They just don’t care. We care. 

We’re not immune from competition. Someone could pop up tomorrow and take a page out of our playbook. But we’re already here. And we’ll be ready.