The Truth No One in Your Industry Wants to Say Out Loud
I’ve spent the last eight years deep inside regulated industries: novel nicotine, cosmetics, toys, PPE, adult toys, and electronics, helping over 500 brands navigate the minefield of regulatory compliance.
In that time, I’ve sat in more boardrooms than I can count. I’ve ripped apart packaging like a customs officer with a grudge. I’ve waded through technical files, safety reports, toxicology data, marketing claims, recycling schemes, the ugly, unglamorous, but business-critical side of your operation.
And here’s the uncomfortable truth I can’t unsee:
At least 95% of regulated brands have one or more fatal flaws in their compliance.
Not “grey area” flaws. Not “the lawyers will handle it” flaws.
I’m talking about fatal flaws.
The kind that can (and do):
- Get your products yanked from shelves overnight
- Trigger six-figure fines or criminal investigations
- Blow up investor confidence and kill funding rounds
- Put you on the wrong side of a headline
And here’s the kicker: most founders have no idea they’re carrying these time bombs.
Why So Many Brands Are Playing Russian Roulette
You’d think in heavily regulated markets, brands would be bulletproof. That’s the fantasy. In reality, here’s why the overwhelming majority are wide open:
1. Compliance Is Nobody’s Job (Until It’s Everyone’s Problem)
Founders often assume compliance is “sorted” because someone somewhere has “looked at it.” Maybe a consultant gave the green light three years ago. Maybe a supplier swore the paperwork was in order. Maybe the marketing team assumed “if it’s in the shop, it must be fine.”
Until a regulator, retailer, or competitor decides to check.
By then, it’s too late, you’re firefighting under a microscope.
2. Supply Chain Blind Spots
Here’s a dirty secret: most “compliance guarantees” from suppliers aren’t worth the PDF they’re written on.
Documents get recycled between products. Lab reports get cut-and-paste jobs. Packaging approvals are rubber-stamped based on last year’s rules.
When the law changes or interpretations shift (and it/they always does/do), your paperwork doesn’t magically update itself.
3. Death by Silo
Marketing claims don’t match the technical file. Packaging doesn’t match the safety data. Retail listings contain promises the product can’t legally make.
Each department is doing its job, but no one is looking at the whole picture.
4. The Regulator’s Moving Goalposts
Compliance isn’t a static achievement. Regulations evolve or interpretations shift, sometimes overnight. A product that was 100% legal in January might be non-compliant by June.
The problem? Most brands only update when something breaks.
The Cost of Ignorance
I’ve seen brands go from market leaders to market ghosts in under 90 days because of a single compliance failure.
- A vape brand lost £2M in revenue when its flagship product was pulled after a packaging claim was ruled misleading.
- A toy manufacturer was hit with a huge fine because a supplier had falsified their CE documentation.
- A cosmetics startup had its Amazon listings nuked during peak season over missing safety assessments, all for products they’d been selling for three years without issue.
And in almost every case, the fatal flaw could have been spotted months, even years earlier.
The CNA: Finding the Flaws Before They Find You
That’s why we created the Compliance Needs Analysis (CNA), our no-nonsense, top-to-bottom inspection of your compliance health.
It’s the same process we’ve used to protect market leaders and rescue brands on the brink. And it’s deliberately designed to uncover the stuff that will hurt you, not the stuff that makes for a neat report but changes nothing.
What We Check
We run your compliance through a 360° audit across:
- Product-specific rules — Do your products actually meet the latest legal requirements?
- Packaging & labelling — Are you making claims you can’t back up? Are you missing required warnings or symbols?
- Post-market surveillance — Are you actively monitoring safety and quality issues, or just waiting for a customer complaint?
- Marketing claims — Do your listings and socials match the legal reality of your product?
- Recycling & environmental obligations — Are you meeting your extended producer responsibilities?
What You Get
- A clear, plain-English report that tells you exactly where your fatal flaws are (and how serious they are)
- Prioritised action plan, what to fix first, what can wait, what’s fine as it is
- Evidence you can use with retailers, investors, or regulators to show you’re proactive and serious about compliance
Why It Works
We’re not just box-tickers. We’re ex-industry insiders and regulatory rebels who know the tricks, loopholes, and grey areas, and we know which ones will get you burned.
We’ve worked with every kind of player in regulated markets, from scrappy startups to global giants, and the patterns are always the same.
The difference between the brands that survive and the ones that don’t?
The survivors treat compliance like a competitive advantage, not a legal chore.
The 95% Time Bomb
Here’s the part that should keep you up at night:
If you’re reading this and thinking “We’re probably fine”, you’re almost certainly in the 95%.
The time bomb is already ticking.
- Maybe it’s buried in a supplier contract you’ve never read.
- Maybe it’s hiding on the side panel of your packaging.
- Maybe it’s sitting in a technical file that hasn’t been updated since launch.
And when it blows, it won’t just be a legal headache.
It’ll be:
- Lost shelf space
- Pulled listings
- Crushed valuations
- Public trust: gone
What’s Your Move?
For £1,495, you can get a full CNA done now and know exactly where you stand, before a regulator, retailer, or competitor decides for you.
We’ll give you the unvarnished truth.
If you’re one of the rare 5% with no fatal flaws, we’ll tell you, and you can sleep easy (and you’ll get your money back).
If you’ve got problems, we’ll show you where they are, how bad they are, and exactly how to fix them.
Final Word
I’ve seen too many good brands wiped out by problems they could have solved in weeks, if only they’d known.
Don’t wait for the letter, the fine, or the “urgent meeting” invite from your biggest retailer.
95% of regulated brands are sitting on a time bomb. The smart ones defuse it early.