Whether you’re passionate about health and fitness or see the massive opportunity that supplements present, starting your own supplement company can be the natural progression of your hobbies and interests. Making money working doing what you love is the dream and starting your own supplement company can be very lucrative. After all according to Grandview Research. the supplement industry is projected to be worth $194.63 billion by 2025.
Before you dive in headfirst though, it’s important to know that building your own supplement company is not a get rich quick business. If you think you have the work ethic to make it happen we’re here to help make it as simple as possible!
Pick the Supplements You Want to Sell
The very first thing to think about when starting a supplement company is which supplements you should sell. This is probably the most important step in the whole process! If you pick the wrong supplement you could end up wasting a lot of time and money trying to make it work only to see very minimal returns.
This can be frustrating and discouraging when you’re just starting out, which is why picking the right supplement is important. At the same time, don’t get too hung up on choosing a supplement. You don’t want to let obsessing over finding the perfect supplement stop you from getting started.
3 Tips for Picking Supplements to Sell
1. Find a Problem
Find a problem that you can solve with a supplement. That could be appetite control, anxiety, joint pain, etc. The way you can win using this method is finding a new way or new group to market these to. Former athletes often suffer from joint issues but many companies only market their joint supplements to the elderly.
2. Find an “Up-and-Coming” Supplement
The most over-saturated supplements are usually the most popular. Finding the sweet spot is key. You need a supplement that has a lot of interest but not many suppliers. When demand outpaces supply you’ve found a winner. This will take a lot of research but if you can find the diamond in the rough it will be well worth it.
(Psst! At On Demand Fulfillment we stock the hottest supplements so that you can keep up with the newest trends!)
3. Find a New Trend
Instead of capitalizing on a new supplement trend find a new trend that you can capitalize on with a supplement. For example, the keto diet is exploding with popularity right now but because it’s still relatively new, the supplement market hasn’t completely caught up yet. This is just one example, if you really want to succeed in the supplement industry it’s up to you to find a trend that you can piggy back off of.
Drop Ship vs Private Label Supplements
After you’ve decided which supplements you’re interested in selling it’s time to decide which business model you want to use to get started. Custom supplements are great but they’re pretty risky and very expensive. This makes them a bad option for new entrepreneurs just starting out in the supplement industry especially if you don’t have a lot of startup money. The two best options to choose between for a startup are drop shipping or private label.
Drop Shipping Pros and Cons
Drop shipping supplements is a low risk way to start your brand very quickly. You don’t have to worry about inventory and it is the most affordable way to get started. In addition with drop shipping you don’t have to worry about picking, packing and shipping orders. That’s all taken care of for you so all you have to do is focus on your marketing and sales.
One of the major drawbacks with drop shipping supplements though is that you’re not really building your own supplement brand. Drop shipping typically involves you selling another brands products that you have no control over.
Private Label Pros and Cons
Private label supplements on the other hand allow you to build your own brand of supplements. You pick which supplement formulas you want to sell and then slap your own branding on the bottle .This is a great way to get started because you can really start to build a supplement empire that you have control over and can grow yourself. You can even choose to take your brand to the next level with custom supplements eventually.
The downside is that it requires more upfront investment and risk than drop shipping. Private label supplements typically have a minimum order quantity (MOQ) of at least 50. This can mean spending hundreds of dollars on supplements you’re not sure will sell.
So which do you choose, drop shipping or private label? Well what if I told you that with On Demand Fulfillment you can get the best of both worlds?
Selling Supplements with On Demand Fulfillment
At On Demand Fulfillment we combine private labeling and drop shipping to provide you with the absolute simplest way to start your own supplement company.
With On Demand Fulfillment there are no minimum order quantities and no need to hold inventory. You only pay for inventory when your customer buys, we then label the supplement with your label and ship it for you. You can easily integrate our system with whichever e-commerce platform you choose.
And because we know that the quality of the supplement matters for your success, we’ve partnered with one of the top supplement manufacturers in the country, Vox Nutrition. Vox Nutrition is a FDA registered, cGMP compliant manufacturer that makes their supplements right here in the USA. They even complete third-party testing for all of their supplements to ensure that your customers are getting what they pay for.
Not every supplier is created equal but when you’re looking for the simplest way to start your own supplement business there’s no beating On Demand Fulfillment.
Benefits of On Demand Fulfillment
- Ecommerce platform integration
- Private label over 100 supplements
- Partnered with top supplement manufacturer
- Drop ship supplements directly to customers
- No need to pay for inventory up front
- No MOQ or inventory to hold
Set Up Shop
So you’ve picked your supplement and your supplier now it’s time to set up shop. It’s as simple as picking a platform and setting it up. There are many great platforms for selling supplements like Amazon and eBay but a great place to start is by setting up your own website and e-commerce store.
You might think Amazon should be your first go-to but Amazon has many restrictions and requirements for selling supplements on their website. It can take months to go through the process of becoming an approved seller. It makes sense since Amazon is more like a retailer than a marketplace. They’re very particular about which products can “sit on their shelves” so to speak.
Setting up your own website and e-commerce store allows you to start building your own audience and start selling product immediately without having to pay a commission to a marketplace.
To learn more about different e-commerce platforms, go here and to read more about different marketplaces, go here.
Start Marketing Your Private Label Supplements
Now the only thing left for you to do is start selling! While it might seem like the work is done, it’s really just beginning. The hardest and most complicated part of starting your own supplement company isn’t getting set up, it’s making sales.
You can start by building out your organic marketing. This means creating blog posts or videos and sharing them across social media platforms. You want to make sure the social media platforms you choose are relevant to your demographic (go where your customers are).
One blog post or video can be used to create multiple social posts that you can then share on all of your different social media accounts. You can share pictures and quotes from the blog or quotes and clips from your video in order to create content. You can learn more about how to do that here.
The next step after you’ve began to build up your organic (unpaid) marketing is to start running social media ads. Almost everyone in the marketing industry is talking about how under-priced and affordable Facebook and Instagram ads are right now. Take advantage of that before it’s too late! You can learn more about social media ad campaigns here.
Have fun with your marketing, try new things and see what works best for you and your company. It’s important that you don’t forget who your customer is and always remember to speak to them in your marketing!
The Takeaway
Starting your own supplement company doesn’t have to be complicated but it does take hard work. At On Demand Fulfillment we offer you the simplest way to get started with our one of a kind model that combines drop shipping and private label supplements.
We love helping business get started and grow, let us help you too!