Starting your own company can be a dream come true. It can free you up to spend more time with your family, give you unlimited income potential, and fulfill certain passions in your life. However, none of it comes without some hard work and dedication.
If you’ve decided to start a supplement company, you’re already off to a good start. In the US alone, the health and wellness industry raked in a whopping $170 billion last year and the numbers just keep climbing. But that’s just one piece of the puzzle. There are many other things you need to deal with in order to get any business off the ground, including sourcing, marketing, and legal matters. Here are just a few key points to get you started.
Pay attention to the law
If you ever plan on selling a consumable product to the public, then you first need to check with the FDA. One of their codes — Code of Federal Regulations Part 111 (C.F.R 111) — deals expressly with dietary supplements, including the manufacturing, packaging, labeling, and holding practices for dietary supplements. You may think you’re off the hook since you didn’t actually manufacture the product, but certain responsibilities will still fall on you.
Identify your target market
First, you should identify your target market and what their needs are. Who are your customers? Are you familiar enough with their preferences and lifestyle, i.e., what they might want? Start out by using some common sense. For example, if you’re interested enough in selling supplements, your own profile probably fits into your target demographic. Aside from that, there are a few other strategies you can try. For one, check out your competition. Find out who interacts with them on social media and who buys their products. Or you can hire a firm to do the research for you. This is usually not necessary for popular industries such as health and wellness, but it’s an option if you need it.
Find a supplier
Finding a reliable supplement manufacturer is the most vital part of your success. This supplier should be easy to contact and willing to answer any questions you have. They should provide quality products that are NSF certified and legally packaged. And furthermore, they should offer items that are affordable enough for you to make a profit. Most companies offer deep discounts for bulk purchases, but it’s important not to overstock until you’ve had time to test your market.
Choose your platform
Once you have your supply strategy in place, you’ll need a place to sell your products. One popular way to do this is through a niche website. It’s important to find a niche you’re knowledgeable about or don’t mind continuing to learn. Within this industry, that could be bodybuilding, weight loss, women’s health, low carb dieting, or a variety of others. Then you can blog about the topic regularly — content marketing — and post about it on social media to make people aware of your brand.
Another popular platform for supplement sales is Amazon. This is an especially practical place to start because the marketing is done for you. They have a ready-made customer base looking for exactly what you sell. And if you use their FBA (fulfillment by Amazon) program, they’ll even take care of your packaging and shipping.
In addition to these two options, you can also open your own ecommerce store through a site like Shopify. Or you can simply add their plugin to your own website to capture sales. Keep in mind that you’re not limited to online sales, though. You can also open a brick-and-mortar store or sell your supplements on consignment through local establishments.