People have a desire to be healthy now more than ever and the supplements industry has been able to capitalize on that trend. The supplements market saw explosive growth in 2020, and there’s no reason to think this is going to slow down anytime soon. This is a prime opportunity for savvy investors.
The supplements industry is not the easiest to enter, however, and you will have to deal with the rules and regulations governing it. Selling them online can also be a challenge if you’re not familiar with eCommerce. Let’s take a look at how to start an online supplements business in 2021.
Choose Your Niche
You can always choose to be a generalist, but that only means that you’ll be competing with tons of other generalists just like you who may be more established and able to offer better prices. This also means that you’ll be competing against major brands.
Instead, you could decide to target a specific audience. You could target men over the age of 40 and sell things like testosterone supplements, for instance. Or, you may want to target bodybuilders and athletes. This is what will allow you to separate yourself.
Choose Your Model
Do you want to sell other people’s products or develop your own? Developing your own product from scratch can be difficult and you’ll have many more regulations to comply with. Selling other people’s supplements means that you have to deal with tons of different suppliers. This also means that they’ll probably dropship the supplements and if they have issues, they become yours. The best option here would be to go with private label products. Private labeling allows you to put your name on someone else’s formula. The product will be yours and will have your name on it, but they will have gone through all the testing needed to get to market. You also won’t have to conduct a thorough lab analysis on the product for proper labeling. There will be no need to invest in expensive manufacturing equipment either.
Form Your Company
Here, you will need to go for an LLC or a corporation. An LLC is a great option at first, as well as if you don’t intend to welcome partners. It’s also very easy to set up and manage. A corporation is a bit more complex, but it makes it much easier to sell equity.
Start Selling
We suggest that you start looking for a platform for your website. eCommerce platforms are perfect for this. We also suggest that you get a CRM system so you can keep tabs on your interactions with clients. This is because you may end up getting major clients and want to make sure that you come off as professional when dealing with them. You also want to structure deals and offers for them.
Marketing can be done on platforms like Google AdWords or Facebook. However, YouTube seems to be one of the most powerful tools for doing so. Placing ads strategically with content that closely relates to supplements is a great strategy. Also, consider working with top influencers and have them try and review your products.
This is all that it takes to start a supplements business online in 2021. Make sure that you look at what the competition is doing, and see if you can improve and learn from it.
