The nutrition supplement business is a billion-dollar industry. It makes sense to have an interest in this market and there is no shortage of companies to choose from.
Starting your own nutrition supplement business is not overly difficult. In fact, you can find manufacturers that will private label their products for you. Start-up costs can range from $5,000 to $10,000 and up.
If you have the money to invest and locate a great manufacturer, the hardest part of your business will be branding.
In this post, I will cover the essentials of starting up a nutrition supplement business. I will also recommend how to make money in this industry without investing thousands of dollars.
Ready to earn income online? Learn how I went from zero to making a consistent income online through affiliate marketing. Click here to learn how I did it.
The Costs of Starting a Nutrition Supplement Business
Without a doubt, you will likely need between $5,000 and $10,000 in start-up cash, possibly more.
There are many supplement manufacturers that can private label your products. Many supplement manufacturers will work with you if you decide to create your own formulation.
In most cases, you will need to call various manufacturers that you are interested in and request a quote.
That being said, you should already have an idea of what you want your product to be, the ingredients, and how you would like your packaging.
Once you’ve gathered your quotes, you can do further research and narrow down your choice in manufacturers.
Market Research and Developing Your Product
What type of nutrition supplement do you want to create? Will it help with weight loss, building muscle, increasing focus, etc.?
Will it be in powder form that can be blended with water, juice, or milk? What about in pill form?
What does your target audience look like? What are they needing in terms of their overall health and well-being?
You can do this market research on your own or even outsource it to a virtual assistant. Many supplement manufacturers may have up to date information as well.
What to Look for in a Nutrition Supplement Manufacturer
There are several things you’ll want to consider when narrowing down your choices.
First, find out if there are any local manufacturers in your area. This is a good idea because it allows you to meet in person.
You will want to ensure that any manufacturer that you choose meets all of the required certifications set forth by the FDA.
Besides that, find out how long they’ve been in business, what types of products they can create, as well as if they can design and produce labels.
Ask if they can work with you in terms of formulations. You will likely get a lot of feedback from a good manufacturer so be ready to take notes.
You can begin your search by typing in a key term like “nutrition supplement manufacturers usa” in Google or another search engine.
Branding and Marketing Your Company
In order to stand out amongst all of the other nutritional supplement companies, you will need to focus on your brand.
Branding is a key factor in the success of your business. You can accomplish this through social media and YouTube.
A great example of a successful nutritional supplement company that was made popular through social media is Bare Performance Nutrition.
This company was founded by Nick Bare, a former Army Ranger officer. Nick is also a bodybuilder and overall health & fitness enthusiast.
He began documenting his nutrition and workouts on his YouTube channel. He also launched his company during his time in the military.
Thanks to his large following, many people were already familiar with him (he is his own brand). Social media is a powerful way to build your brand.
Keep in mind, none of this happened overnight. It was definitely years in the making.
However, if your goal is to start your own nutrition supplement business, then it is as good a time as any to begin building your brand.
How to Make Money in the Supplement Industry Without Investing Thousands of Dollars
Having the money to invest in manufacturing is one thing. Branding and marketing is a whole other project in itself.
Then there is also the matter of how you will distribute your products. Will you sell in retail outlets, online, or both?
It can take many years before your supplement business turns a profit. What if you could earn income in this billion-dollar market without starting a supplement business of your own?
This is possible through affiliate marketing.
Affiliate marketing is the promotion of another company’s products in exchange for a commission when a sale is made.
There are many nutrition supplement companies that have affiliate programs including Bare Performance Nutrition.
Joining affiliate programs is free to do. Once you’ve signed up, you will be provided with special tracking links called “affiliate links.”
You can then place these links on your social media accounts as well as your website.
When visitors click on your affiliate links and buy the product, you earn a percentage of the sale (your commission.)
The Benefits of Affiliate Marketing
There are several benefits to affiliate marketing. Below are the ones that stand out to me most and are primarily why I am an affiliate marketer myself.
- Easy and low-cost to start (get started for under $25)
- Unlimited earning potential
- Hundreds of thousands of affiliate programs
- You don’t need your own product
- Work from anywhere with an internet connection
- No customer service
- Nothing to ship
Make Sales with Your Own Niche Website
I got my start in affiliate marketing by creating a niche website. Niche websites are excellent in terms of earning affiliate commissions.
A niche website is simply a website that focuses on one topic. In this case, you could choose a niche related to health & fitness.
For example, if you have an interest in bodybuilding, you could create a niche website that focuses on bodybuilding over the age of 40, or for women bodybuilders, or any other sub-niche.
Then it is a matter of creating helpful content for your niche audience. In time, your content (blog posts) will be indexed and ranked in search engines such as Google.
Targeted visitors will begin finding your blog posts and a percentage of these visitors will click on your affiliate links.
Some of these visitors will buy the products that you recommend using your affiliate links and you will earn a commission.
Getting Your Niche Website Up and Running
I always recommend using a self-hosted WordPress website. That means registering your own domain name, getting web hosting, and installing WordPress on your account.
You can get everything you need with most commercial web hosting providers like WPX Hosting. I plan on moving all of my websites over to this hosting provider due to their stellar reviews and fast hosting.
My Closing Thoughts On Creating a Nutrition Supplement Business
If opening your own nutrition supplement business is your passion, you should definitely pursue it.
It will take a lot of hard work but it will be well worth it in pursuit of your dream.
Otherwise, if you like the idea of earning income online by promoting nutrition supplement affiliate products, and other powder supplements such as the Clickbank Ikaria juice, you can get started today.
Niche websites are the ideal method of earning affiliate commissions. There is a bit of a learning curve for beginners.
That is why I made it a point to seek out an online affiliate marketing training course. I found this one and implementing what I learned helped me progress much faster.
Now I use that same training course to help others one-on-one with their own niche websites.