Most founders arrive with a product in mind and no clear sense of how much of it already exists. That single question — how much of this product is already made? — decides the route, the fee, the timeline and how much of the development risk sits with you.

OUI runs three routes. They are not quality tiers. A private-label product is not a lesser product; it is a product that starts from a formula we have already proven. What changes between routes is the amount of development work, not the standard of manufacture.

Private label: the formula already exists

Private label starts from a base formula in our tested range. You choose the base, adjust the parts that can be adjusted without reopening the formulation — fragrance, colour, and the packaging and label brief — and the product becomes yours.

This is the right route when speed matters more than differentiation at the formula level, when you are validating a market before committing to development, or when your brand's distinctiveness lives in positioning and packaging rather than in the chemistry. Development and sampling start at ₦50,000 per product.

The trade-off is honest: you are not the only brand who can access that base. If your commercial argument depends on a formula nobody else can buy, private label is the wrong starting point.

Semi-custom: the formula exists but not in your shape

Semi-custom begins from a tested base and modifies it against a more specific brief — different actives, different concentrations, a different sensory finish, or a functional claim you intend to make on the label.

This is the route most brands choose, because it buys meaningful differentiation without paying for ground-up development. You inherit a base whose stability behaviour we already understand, and we spend the development budget on the part you actually care about. Development and sampling start at ₦100,000 per product.

A useful test: can you describe the difference you want in one sentence, referencing something that already exists? "Like the base cleanser, but for oilier skin and without the fragrance" is a semi-custom brief. It is specific, bounded, and buildable.

Custom formulation: the formula does not exist yet

Custom formulation develops a new formula against your brief, with deeper research, more sampling and a longer development window. Stability and compatibility testing are included in this route because a new formula has no track record to lean on.

Choose it when your product has a performance target that existing bases cannot reach, when you are building a range that needs a proprietary character across several SKUs, or when an export market will ask you to document things a modified base cannot support. Development and sampling start at ₦150,000 per product.

One clarification worth reading twice: selecting a custom route does not automatically transfer every underlying formulation or intellectual-property right. Ownership, licensing and exclusivity are governed by the written project agreement, and they are worth discussing before development begins rather than after.

What the route fee is, and is not

In all three routes, the stated fee covers development and sampling — brief review, formulation work, sample production and up to two structured revision rounds. It is not the price of your production run.

Production, packaging inventory, third-party testing and regulatory fees are quoted separately unless a written quotation explicitly includes them. Founders who miss this are usually the ones who budget for a launch and discover late that they budgeted for a sample.

A practical way to decide

  • If you cannot yet describe the formula difference you need, start at private label and learn from the market.
  • If you can describe it in one bounded sentence, semi-custom will usually get you there for less.
  • If the difference is the whole business, or an export market will ask you to prove it, budget for custom.
  • If your first concern is timeline, remember that packaging confirmation — not formulation — is the step that most often moves a launch date.

Whichever route you choose, production lead time runs 4–6 weeks from confirmed inputs, and the documentation package is scoped to the route you selected. If you are unsure, send the brief anyway. Part of our job is telling you which route your product actually needs, including when that is the cheaper one.