Nutritional supplements are extremely popular in the United States and around the world, so it’s hardly a surprise that many would-be entrepreneurs see great potential in starting a supplement company. Roughly 77% of Americans take supplements, and that number increases each year. Dietary supplements face minimum regulation from the FDA, and they require no prescription for use—two major factors that no doubt lead to their popularity, Of course, there’s also the fact that, for many people, supplements simply work. The supplement industry provides supplement lines that help balance your diet, help increase fitness gains, and much more. The only thing they’re not allowed to do is claim to cure any conditions.
What you’ll need to start a supplement company is fairly similar to starting any business, aside from the manufacturing process. You’ll need to do market research to determine what you can offer that’s better than your competitors and come up with a catchy brand identity and packaging options. Since so many dietary supplements are sold online, you’ll need a reliable shipping solution and online content marketing to reach your target audience as well. If you already have all the basic down and are looking for a way to elevate your supplement business to the next level, here are some things you can do.
Partner with an experienced manufacturer.
While some supplement companies choose to get the appropriate licenses and manufacture their products themselves, it’s generally much easier to partner with a reputable manufacturer and supplier known for following FDA guidelines. A great way to do this is to seek out a protein expression and purification service. Macronutrients, such as protein carbs, and lipids, are often used to create new products in the supplement business. Protein expression is an excellent way to produce the proteins you want and regulate them to produce the desired product features.
Basically, recombinant protein expression is the process of introducing a gene that produces your desired protein in a live organism. This is often done with single-cell organisms, such as E. Coli, but recombinant proteins may be expressed in a plant cell, insect cell, or even a mammalian cell. The cells then multiply and produce the desired protein at a much greater yield than usually possible. Purification is then the process of isolating the desired proteins from the rest of the cells. An experienced manufacturer can handle this product development process for you and even provide you with private label supplements, so you can build your brand image even more.
Perform a conjoint analysis.
A conjoint analysis is a technique used to determine what your customers value the most. This is useful when deciding on new features for your dietary supplements, shipping, or any other products and services you offer. You’ll largely be analyzing attributes or the primary features of the product. For your own products, you’ll be looking at the form of the supplement (pill, tablet, gummy, powder, or any other), size, flavor, and any other attributes that may affect how customers enjoy your product.
You’ll need a pool of respondents who can tell you their preferred attributes for each product. This will help you determine the factors that are most likely to influence customer behavior. You’ll generally perform a conjoint analysis in the form of a customer survey, so you may want to put together an email list of your customers. While you’re at it, you can make special offers to them through email marketing as well.
Get listed in professional directories.
Directories are online databases that collect businesses and information about them, such as review scores and business listings. Popular review sites like Yelp and social media platforms like Facebook are great examples of this. Creating a Google My Business listing is one of the best ways to get started since you can attach all of your business information to it, including any Google reviews you have. This helps to boost your online presence, increasing the odds that your target audience will find your supplement company, and it helps you rank higher in local searches on mobile devices.
These are just a few ways you can improve your nutrition business. As you gain more attention, you’ll likely discover new ways to connect to your audience and improve your sales.
