So you’re finally taking the plunge and starting your own supplement business. First of all, congratulations! Entrepreneurship is a sometimes tough, frequently rewarding road. It’s a great way to be the one in control and to build a brand from the ground up. However, especially if you’re a first time entrepreneur, you may not have all of the business know-how to make your concept into a true winner. There are a handful of tips that you should keep in mind if you’re interested in breaking into the world of supplements.
Find the right provider
Not all vitamin and supplement providers work the same way. In fact, not all of them have equally sterling reputations, either. If you want to make sure that your end product resonates with your customers and actually does what it sets out to do, you need to make sure that you do a fair amount of research before shacking up with a provider. Ideally, you’re setting yourself up for a long-term relationship, so it’s important to have a partner that really works with your brand and can help steer your vision in the right direction.
So how do you find the right provider? Well, it’s sometimes as simple as asking a colleague for a referral or looking at online reviews. While you should often take online reviews with a grain of salt, a good idea is to look for any recurring themes or common threads. If, out of 30 reviews, 15 of them mention poor product quality, chances are that poor product quality is to blame. If a company says it has employees who have completed an RN-BSN program to vet their products, verify their claims. If there isn’t a wealth of user information available, you may need to go directly to the source and take a look at the provider’s website.
Providers like Makers Nutrition are incredibly transparent about their practices and even have a space on their site to showcase their numerous industry awards and certifications. While this might not seem important at the offset, these types of accolades are indicative of higher quality products and better service – two things you’ll want on your side as a business owner.
Conduct market research
It’s important that you do your due diligence during this step. After all, you might have a strong idea for a product but if it’s not one that’s going to resonate with the market at large, you could find yourself with a supplement that proves to be a hard sell. While this doesn’t mean you have to choose the most obvious market necessarily, finding one that has enough interest is going to be the key. Once you’ve found a segment that you want to target, you then need to develop a product to meet the needs of said segment.
Popular supplement targets often include weight loss, muscle gain, and memory improvements. Keep in mind that, while these markets can be incredibly lucrative, they’re also incredibly competitive so you need to take extra care when formulating your supplement to ensure that it resonates with your customers.
Alright, now that you have a viable product and have begun to suss out the competition, you can begin to think of other considerations like pricing, distribution, and customer acquisition. You should also have a general marketing plan in place. Take the time to set up and maintain social media channels. Have a functional website and consider e-commerce to broaden your sales reach. Think about advertising, be it traditional or digital, like a pay-per-click campaign.
Take your time
Few businesses are immediately, explosively successful. By starting your own supplement line, you’re taking the first step down a lengthy path. Be patient. Adjust things that aren’t working for you and encourage things that are. Pretty soon, running a business will be as easy as riding a bike.
