How to start your own supplement brand

• In order for your supplement brand to succeed it needs to have a foundational idea. This idea should be in a neiche within the industry. Either a neiche within the products. (You make the best preworkout & only make pre. You only make protein...health products...etc.) or you target a neiche within the consumers.

EXAMPLES:

Ghost - They target the "Lifestyle" community. (They do this by focusing on the younger crowd and use more loud and colorful labels. "You can still go out and have fun, while still getting results.")

Axe & Sledge - They target the "Blue Collar" community. (They do this by using more vulgar language and develop a very good community feel within their brand. They do more challenges & giveaways while really surrounding their brand with a back woods hometown feel within their branding.)

• Without having a strong idea on the consumer you are trying to target there is no need to go to further.

FINDING A MANUFACTURER: This will be one of the most important parts of the journey. Most likely you will have to go through a few and have some mistakes before finding one that works the best with you and your brand.

SOME STARTER MANUFACTURERS

(MOQs FROM 288 - 500 UNITS)

• RIVAL LABS
• NUTRACAP LABS
• VERITACOR

(MOQs 500+ UNITS)

• SIMPSON LABS

To contact these manufacturers the easiest way will be to fill out their intake form or call them directly from their website. Once contact is made this will be the time to ask questions on their capabilities from a manufacturing point. (Can they do powders? capsules? Tablets? Anything you want to know about them this is where you ask.)

FORMULATING A PRODUCT: This can be done by your team or with the help of the sales rep from the manufacturer. They (most likely) will have immense knowledge not only on formulating the ingredients, but on how they will work within the product. EX: Will a certain ingredient make it taste off? Will the encapsulator have trouble with this ingredient since it is too sticky? Is this ingredient dosed too high?)

Use the SUPPLEMENT INGREDIENTS tab within the app to look up the correct dosing and effects of the ingredients you are looking to put with your product.

One thing I would suggest is to have just ONE reason your product stands out. It doesnt need to be the best in all areas (this will bring your margin way down and you wont be able to sustain for long.)

EXAMPLES:

THERMOGENIC PREWORKOUT - Focused on the highest quality thermogenic/ fat burning ingredients.

LOW STIM PREWORKOUT - Different from other pres by having a low amount of caffeine but still high amounts of pump & focus.

ORGANIC PREWORKOUT - A preworkout that only uses natural sweeteners & ingredients sourced from the U.S.

MAIN TIP: Just do one thing extremely well.

This could be before step 2 & 3 if you are starting with alot of capital behind the brand. But if you arent then you arent liable for much and it makes sense to get the product & manufacturer in line first. BUT IT IS STILL IMPORTANT!

The easiest way from my experience to get an LLC for your business is to go through Zen Business . This will allow you to make sure your business name is available while also having all the correct documents in PDF form to send when needed. This will cost around $200-$1000 depending on the ammount of options you use within the site.

Labeling for supplements is a lot more technical than many people think. That’s why a good graphic designer is needed.

Make sure the designer you choose is specifically geared towards supplements. (Also before you approach anyone to design the label, make sure you have the official supplement facts.)

A TOP DESIGNERS IN THE SPACE ARE:

• GRAPHICS FRIEND
• NUTRAMEDIA

(OTHER OPTIONS INCLUDE:)

• YOUR MANUFACTURER
• DESIGN CROWD
• FIVER

If you need a logo or any graphics/ 3D models of the products, these two options below are very easy and cheap ways to get some done quick:

• DESIGN CROWD
• FIVER

The #1 shopping website platform I recommend is SHOPIFY.

They offer a free trial so it is risk free to get started.

First before you design your website you will need your 3D mockups or pictures of your product, your brands color pallet.

Next is the website theme. The top ones I recommend is IMPACT & ELECTRO. But you can scroll through the theme store and choose the one that is most aesthetic to you. (I would recommend getting one that is compatible with Shopify 2.0, that way you can access all the new features to add onto the site.)

DOMAIN:

In order to be on the internet you need a domain for your website. I recommend finding one for your brand here:

GOOGLE DOMAINS

This is very inexpensive at only $12.99 a year, but this is where your brand name comes into play. You may want to search for a domain first that is easy and open and then building the name around that.

SHOPIFY APPS I RECCOMEND TO GET STARTED:

EMAIL:

SEGUNO

MAIL CHIMP

TEXT:

POST SCRIPTS

AFFILIATE MARKETING:

GOAFFPRO

PRINT ON DEMAND: (CLOTHING/ ACCESSORIES)

PRINTIFY (Low quality, fast shipping)

PODpartner (High quality, long shipping)

SHIPPING:

PIRATE SHIP

UPSELLS:

ONE CLICK UPSELL

The main form of marketing I reccomend is SOCIAL MEDIA. This is the most inexpensive way to drive traffic to your store & start making sales.

Get immedietly on TIKTOK & INSTAGRAM. Both of these apps will drive the most traffic.

A STRATEGY I USED WHEN I FIRST STARTED TO GAIN 200,000 FOLLOWERS ON TIKTOK IN 3 MONTHS & 100,000 FOLLOWERS ON INSTAGRAM IN 5 MONTHS:

• Post 2-3 Reels/Tiktoks a day all at differnt times. (Morning. Midday, Night)
• Make each one of those videos around the same topic (The business) but in differnt ways. One may be a trendy video of a new trend that is flipped to be about your business. One may be a educational video about the ingredients in your product & when to take. One may be about the industry itself and the drama going on currently.
• Using this strategy for about a month you will have posted around 80 videos. Between these 80 around 10 will probably do decent numbers in the few thousands of views... if done right.
• Now from those 10 videos that did well, more than likely a majority of those were of one of the 3 styles and 3 points throughout the day. (EX; Educational style videos posted in the morning.)
• Use that new information and make 3 different style educational videos and now post 1-2 in the morning (Times where videos were most viewed.) & 1 at night. (Educational video style examples: 1.) Talking about specific ingredients in YOUR product. 2.) Reviewing specific products in your industry. 3.) Talking about what to look for or what to lookout for when shopping for your particular product.) Do this strategy for a week & complie results again.
• The whole idea behind doing all of these forms of content is to figure out what resonates with your viewers/ community the most. It is also finding the holes within your industy in social media. The videos that usually get the most revies are the original ones that people havent seen before, thus making all type of content in the begining will help you narrow in on what is lacking.

In order to keep the customers you get you will need to continue to keep the standard you start with. Communication is the number one thing that trends down as the business gets bigger but is the most important thing that needs to stay on track.

Communicate with your audience on socials, through emails for support, & even through face to face interaction. This will have people coming back for just that reason alone. People want to feel a connection to a brand, like they are a part of something bigger than themselves. So give them something that embodies what it means to be a (insert brand name) customer.