Ep. 5 - The Equity Crowdfunding Report - 12-20-2019
On this episode Nick interviews, Matthew Mills, President and COO of our parent company, Med-X, Inc. In the interview, Matthew reviews all the success the company saw over the past twelve months and then talks about with he has planned for 2020.
Highlights include data on market closes, including Reg-A and Reg-CF raises, as well as an update from Andrew Dix, from Crowdfund Insider.
See Company Profile - Med-X, Inc.
Investment Page - Medxinvestor.com
Roll Up Strategy - Breakdown
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Interview Transcription:
[00:00:00] So let's bring on Matthew Mills, president and COO of our parent company, Med-X, Inc. Matthew. Thanks for being on the show. Hey, thanks for having me, Nick.
[00:00:11] All right. Just a quick review. Med-X Inc. Is a green consumer products and services company with solid traction in the professional pest control and pharmacy sectors. You've raised over 7 million dollars from over 3000 investors. The company currently has a live Reg-A plus on its own platform medxinvestor.com. And your top brand Nature-Cide is a disruptor in the environmental sciences and chemical pesticide sectors.
[00:00:41] Matthew, let's take it back for a minute. For those who don't know. Briefly, tell us how Med-X was started. Who's involved and how you got to this point?
[00:00:51] Well, you know, hey, Med-X, it came, you know, to be because of the group of people that have surrounded myself as friends, commonality such as investment brothers and sisters that, you know, we we work with that have invested in our company to do something different, to make a difference. We saw the cannabis sector coming loud and clear, and we're we're positioning for that as well. But we really recognize that there are major issues with pesticide usage and opiate usage.
[00:01:31] And we developed a couple of products a few years back that are now starting to get traction. And I mean great traction. I mean, we're really starting to get the word out there from professional pest control in places like sanitation, hospitality, cultivation, lawn care products being used in places like hospitals, parks and recreation, you know, even zoos and classrooms. It's a pretty wide venue of different services that our products are being used for, to ward off, you know, various insects as well as rodents and birds and even reptiles. That's that's actually how nature side actually started with a snake abatement program with L.A. FDA, County FDA personnel that we're looking for a solution. And we came up with the solution and it worked. And then all these other products kind of morphed out. Now we've got pest control operators from coast to coast and now around the world soliciting us for product and, you know, talking to Mexico today and South America yesterday. And it's just it's crazy how many different countries are looking for a clean, you know, a clean, all natural pest control solution. There's not many out there. We've got very few competitors. One out there has kind of carved a path for us. And, you know, we develop that product to be, you know, just a little bit better, you know, than what they were producing.
[00:03:09] You know, I'm sure it'll go back and forth. They'll develop something. Maybe that'll be a little better and then we'll be back to the drawing board. But considering there's only three real players in the sector in a multi, multi-billion dollar sector, I think we've got, you know, a stake in the game that I think Nature-Cide is going to be around for a lot longer than you and I. Nick, that's for sure. With regards to Thermal-Aid you know, hey, this product is near and dear to my heart. It is a hot and cold application and that's been proven over and over again. And as you probably know, we are really starting to strive in the area of pharmacy as well as online sales. Online sales are growing dramatically. And it's an exciting time for the company with those two divisions. And then obviously, you know, we have several other divisions, our service division. We are attempting now an acquisition and things are moving forward. And hopefully we'll get this thing done by the end of the year and move forward without almost eight million dollars in capital raised on our Reg-A + focus.
[00:04:18] So the company has a diverse portfolio of brands and already one company acquisition and it sounds like another one. You know, on and on the way. Talk about how this type of business model works well for the way they are where you want to take the company.
[00:04:34] Well, you know, it's one thing to have our own products. We're going to take a long time to grow to make the company profitable. So what we've done is we've got a wall up strategy in play which allows us to gather companies, keep the personnel in place that are running these companies, having owner be onboard as a wholly owned subsidiary and grow our revenue streams. And we plan on doing this in the service sector so that we can take those like minded service companies and plug them in into our service division Nature Sites, Services Inc. As a nature site, services and company. And then pepper our products within those those divisions. And in the one we're working on right now, it's Pacific Northwest. It's four states or Oregon, Washington, Utah, Nevada. So we're really focused on on that particular acquisition once we get that finalized. We've got targets that we're going to go after that are even more revenue. And I think once we do this three, four, maybe five times, that's when, you know, we could have 10, 15 million dollars in revenue from service and be one of the top 100 pest control companies in the nation. While we're continuing to deliver our products thermally, nature side and the upcoming brand is Malibu Brands, as you know. So we feel pretty confident that if we follow this strategy, we'll position ourself in profitability quicker. We'll be able to make a bigger impact with our natural pest control products while we continue to grow pharmacy sales within distribution on national and international basis, which as you probably know, takes a long time and a lot of money spent to get it done. We've got films and all kinds of marketing going on and we're growing our base of pharmacies about 20 percent each year.
[00:06:47] Let's talk about the industries you are in. You're up against some of the oldest and most well-established companies in the world. How has an emerging brand like Nature-Cide gotten so much traction and so much attention?
[00:07:01] Well, you know, that's a great question.
[00:07:03] You know, you would think that the first thing we would do is go to the distributor, which we have, and and get them on board and get their reps that service nationally to all of the different customers that they service to get, you know, all of their people on board to help sell our product. We found that that was a big mistake getting out in front of the consumer or getting out in front of that pest control operator in the magazines that they read regularly on gets a two fold effect. One, they recognize that there is a need for the green scene and pest control.
[00:07:38] They recognize their customers would like to see, you know, that being used in their homes to have less than an effect on their children, their pets. And and, you know, everybody's talking about synthetic synthetic synthetics, cancer, cancer, cancer. So that's in consumer's mind. So the pest control operator recognizes that. And, you know, there's been some surveys out there that have shown that if a consumer had a choice, they would choose a green pest control product rather than, you know, a synthetic. So it's done two things. One, it's made the pest control operator aware of the consumer, and it's also made a the consumer more focused on next level of pest control. But what it really has done for us that we recognize that we didn't know would happen is the pest control operator themselves are now recognizing that they're exposed, they're exposed.
[00:08:41] Every time they mix a chemical, every time they spray a chemical, they're exposed with Nature-Cide. A lot of these guys are switching up to Nature-Cide for their outdoor services. They're not even telling their customer and they're not telling the customer because they want less exposure. A lot of people in the industry now are young, you know, early 30s, you know, late 20s, early 30s. And they're, you know, they recognize I'm being exposed. This could this could cut my hair. You know, my years, you know, in life by 20 years. So, you know, being in the industry really put us in a position to be recognize, to fold and then, you know, out there, you know, marketing with social media is also put us in a place where, you know, consumers are starting to recognize that there is its new brand out there for pest control. And I'm not sure why the other guys in in this sector that are also bringing players again, there's two more other out there on why they haven't taken this approach.
[00:09:43] I'm not sure. But, you know, hey, good for us for being in that in that run on with regards to, you know, pharmaceutical players. Boy, that's a big one. But as you probably already know, consumers are savvy, consumers are smart, and they're looking for an alternative. And that's a very, very exciting thing for us with things like our thermal aid headache relief system. Are, you know, our athletic rehab packs that we have that, you know, are are just shown and proven to relieve pain. You know, hot and cold is always been a thing, but we've developed a hot and cold that's unlike anything else in the marketplace and is insurable. So, you know, a doctor can hand this off to a patient and the insurance company covers the costs. So it's free to the patient, which is a big plus. You know, you pay your little co-pay at the doctor's office and you get something in return and the doctor makes money on the product. So there's a couple of ways that this is working. Obviously, an OTC pharmacy, you know, our products are being seen. And I think because, you know, the zoo animals are really cute. We're seeing a good sell through. And I think because of the packaging, we're starting to see a really good sell through on these larger packs for, you know, all types of relief from, you know, ankle, knee, back, headache, you know, very, very broad range of of help that thermal aid brings to the consumer.
[00:11:15] So you and your team, you're always talking about the way to make change is by making a difference one community at a time. What what do you mean by this?
[00:11:28] We do something a little different. And, you know, one of the things we do, especially in the pest control industry, is we send out free samples to any pest control company that that learns about us, finds out about us. We put our money where our mouth is. And we've learned that this is this is doing something. This is different than anybody else's position. And we've recognized that we send these samples out. The next thing you know, you know, we're we're getting an order because they've tried out the sample in and we are literally coast-to-coast.
[00:12:04] We are making a difference in communities all over the United States. And it is one community a time.
[00:12:10] One guy learns about us, uses the product, another guy learns about us. I'm very confident that the way Nature-Cide is growing right now, that nature side will be the go to green product in the next 10 years. I'm telling you right now, Nature-Cide is going to be here a lot longer than than me and you and and pretty much anybody in this building. Just the way it's being received.
[00:12:40] It is something that is hugely needed. And when you have something that's usually needed, both of these brands, you do change communities. One neighborhood at a time, quite frankly. And that's what we're seeing. And we're seeing it by the calls. We're seeing it by the social media presence on the responses, the comments, the reach outs that the phone calls, the emails every day that we're seeing. I mean, they're coming in every day.
[00:13:07] I mean, hourly, it's it's pretty great to see that.
[00:13:11] And then obviously, you know, verbally we're seeing just email after email, after email, after email of products being sold and shipped, sold and shipped, sold and shipped. And this is a daily thing. And it's not just because it's the holidays that's been going on for a while now. So, you know, we've we finally got a sweet spot on our products. And now it's just a matter of continuing to market the right way. Stay out of the manufacturers way. Spend enough money to to be with them, but spend the bulk of the marketing dollars out in the consumer. Out to the people that are actually touching and using the products.
[00:13:45] Ok.
[00:13:45] So 2019 was a big year for the company. Let's talk about what you were able to achieve in 2019. What was 2019? And then what are the plans for 2020? What are the focus is going to be and strategies are going to be in 2020.
[00:14:04] Well obviously we're going to practice our roll up strategy. Roll up strategy is is really how we get to the end game faster. And when I say to the end game faster, this is how we get the public marketplace and go after funds there for super acquisitions. I mean, once where once we do get the chance to be a publicly traded company, we feel that the role up strategy will get us there. And we also feel that larger money will come in for these acquisitions. So we can just keep acquiring green like minded companies that we can easily help manage and keep these people on board that have grown it to the place where they really can't grow anymore. And they need a super supercharged friend to come in next to it. And superpower, you know, their business for long term growth. And while we're doing that, you know, obviously continue to grow our revenue streams for both Thermal-Aid and Nature-Cide while we begin to see sales happen for Malibu Brands. You know, we've got two pain creams there. One is, you know, the original pain cream, the Pacific pain relief cream. And then there's the second dairy that has the CBD infused with it. Not quite selling that yet, but we're we're planning to and you know, all of this obviously year over year from 2018, 2019, saw about a 20 percent, just under 20 percent growth in our revenue.
[00:15:32] So we're we're definitely happy about the way things are going. We've got herself positioned well. And I think 2020 is going to be a stellar year for us. And just because of this rollout strategy, how we've got ourselves positioned and where we're headed. In the name we built for ourself, being Nature-Cide really got a good name for itself. So does Thermal-Aid. And this leads credence to, you know, all our staff members, our shareholders, everybody who's participated in this. This is really we're making a difference together, guys. And, you know, this is this is something we're very grateful for. And you can depend that myself and our team, you know, we're going to. Keep our heads down. We're going to stay focused and we're going to get this job done. You know, this is not just to, you know, make some money. This is something that we feel we can make a huge impact. Huge difference, not just here in the United States, but we think we can take this these products around the world and and and make a difference while we make money for shareholders with these high margin products.
[00:16:39] And lastly, talk about the company's CBD and Cannabis positions. The Nature-Cide products are widely used by cultivators, but you seem to be poised to make a play in the CBD cannabis space down the road. What's the vision here?
[00:16:53] Well, you know, as as you as you know and a lot of people around us know that, you know, all of us as the Nature-Cide team were integrated pest management strategists and actually service techs. So we've we've got our hands wet in that sector and we've all studied and had hands on with large scale cannabis cultivation and hemp cultivation, along with supercritical CO2 extraction and volatile substance extraction. We've got a lot of contacts in the industry and we're positioning ourselves. So when the Fed does, you know, we're waiting for one more step by the Fed. The Fed takes one more step towards where where it needs to be, where we can actually be able to list our company as we grow. Oddness with all this, you know, acquisition revenue we want to list in a place like the Nasdaq and we want to be able to qualify to get there. And as you know, there are no cannabis companies on the Nasdaq right now. But I think it's going to change and that's what we're waiting for. So in the meantime, you know, get ourselves really positioned with these acquisitions, get ourselves really positioned, you know, in OTC pharmacies. I mean, hey, you know, we get ourselves really positioned in OTC pharmacies and the that unleashes guess what we get to do? We get the plant, our products and these big distributors hands that we've already got relationships with and we've already got sell through with. So we're really kind of positioning without anybody even really knowing in the long term. It's going to be hot when we take a position in the in the, you know, the CBD, you know, health care side of of cultivation, of cannabis and hemp.
[00:18:45] All right. So if people want to join the movement and become an investor, where should they go? What should they do?
[00:18:51] Well, you can go to medxinvestor.com. We've got our own platform. And we've also got some other things that we've got planned that'll be released here in the future. There's going to be a couple of press releases coming out soon that will reveal some stuff that nobody knows is happening in the background. But for now, this is where you can get involved in our investment. You can see we've raised, you know, over seven hundred thousand dollars on the new offering. And we're excited about what the new year is going to bring to us.
[00:19:23] Great. Matthew, this is all very compelling. We're going to be closely following the success of the company over the next few months and watching you as you embark on this very important mission. Thank you for joining us today. Thanks for having me.
[00:19:40] All right. That's our show. We hope you enjoyed the program. Make sure you join us again next Friday.
[00:19:47] I'm your host, Nick Phillips, reminding you to always do your own due diligence. Have a great weekend.