Robert Schlien Creates a Custard that Can Help in the Treatment of Cancer and other Chronic Diseases in Pets

Welcome to another episode of Action & Ambition with your host, Andrew Medal. Today’s guest is Robert Schlien.  Robert Schlien is the Founder and CEO of Buddy Custard Inc. Robert is a cancer survivor of 13 years and had the good fortune of being introduced to the Budwig Protocol seven years ago.  At that time, he had already decided to forego the conventional treatment of chemotherapy prescribed to him.  Instead, he employed this simple, sensible technology.  It is his personal experience that inspired him and co-founder Katherine Schlein to use that protocol to develop Buddy Custard, a frozen treat additive to foods for dogs.  You’re going to love this episode. Let’s get to it! Who is Robert, and how did he get to where he is now? (0:01) Robert founded a company called Buddy Custard. It is a unique company in that it produced an initially established product in the human care industry about 60-70 years ago.  Robert, being a cancer survivor, stumbled on a treatment protocol that was developed by Dr. Joanna Budwig in Germany.  Dr. Budwig had a fantastic reputation for taking a holistic and all-natural approach to curing chronic diseases. Robert used the Budwig Protocol to treat his cancer, and it worked wonders about 11-12 years ago.  Robert did not believe the treatment would work, but it ended up working better than he thought.  Robert’s company produces this Budwig Protocol in pet-friendly edible products, particularly for dogs, to cure various things like cancer, arthritis, diabetes, and heart disease.  Buddy Custard has had marvelous success in helping treat cancer and arthritis in pets.  The nutraceutical is in a human-grade frozen custard form, and animals love the taste. How did Robert raise funds for the project initially? (10:41) The initial inception for Robert was putting money into R&D and doing testing and packaging, dry shipping, and container shipping for the product.  Robert and his wife initially used some of their own money and used donations from friends and family to start the company with a couple of hundred dollars.  It was at that point that they started doing a lot of marketing and advertising, but Robert says everything they were able to achieve came quite organically.  When COVID-19 happened, Robert put a hiatus on all the marking and advertising until the dust settles.  Now that things are calmer, they have conversations with massive retailers, and they are starting to adopt an aggressive marketing strategy. They are also aiming to fundraise $400,000 that will be their second round of funding, and they are gearing up to go as high as a million dollars, possibly.  They have started branching out and are making probiotics, hemp and CBD infused Buddy Custard as well.  What is some advice or tips that Robert can share on going through the process during COVID-19? (13:56) In the approach, be very careful and very conservative because surprises are out there whether stimulus packages are coming or not.  Robert is waiting on some small loads from EIBL, and right now, they are projecting to do well over a million dollars over the next 12 months.  Many businesses fail because they become so enamored with their concept that they become blindsided to what else is out there. When things were looking bad, Robert took time to reflect on what went wrong, and he would suggest any entrepreneur do that, think about what they did wrong in R&D, and fix it.  Think about it again before launching. A lot of companies get in trouble because they end up wasting a lot of money. Robert keeps his business on a very tight budget, and his business model outsourced almost everything they do.  Robert would instead get the experts to handle the product as they have a history of success, so three vetted FDA and USDA develop buddy Custard approved manufacturing facilities.  Buddy Custard Buddy Custard is an all-natural remedy frozen treat to help dogs feel their best and boost their health, regardless of how healthy or ill the dog is. It is based on 70 years of research and experience. Thousands use it with positive results.  Resources Buddy Custard: Website Connect with Andrew: LinkedIn