5 Steps: How To Start Your Own Supplement Company

1. Research The Market

“Market research is the process of gathering information about target product’s market, customer’s demands and product’s viability.”

Before taking any startup or launching a new product, it is always wise to conduct market research because it helps you to:

• Define your research purpose.
• Target customers.
• Study your target market and close competitors
• Choose the right type and method for your needs.
• Understand customers’ demands.
• Create an actionable report from your findings.

However, there are a few requirements which you would need to research the market in a better way:

1. Obtain a degree/diploma in dietary supplements science
2. Choose base attributes for your brand
3. Make research about the gap in the market
4. Study products and choose ingredients
5. Learn about the Food and Drug Administration’s regulations

Obtain A Degree/Diploma In Dietary Supplements Science

Although not compulsory, obtaining a degree/ or hiring someone with a degree will increase your knowledge about supplements and teach you a lot about their types and applications. This will be very helpful in starting your supplement line, but you can skip further higher studies if you want.

Choose Base Attributes For Your Brand

The next step is to choose attributes for your product that will make your company distinct from other brands. For example, if you want your brand to focus on vitamins, minerals, or botanical compounds ( caffeine, curcumin, etc.), then you will search the market by considering all these things. Whether you want to create your own brand or not, Handian can provide you with our own formulas to help your products enter the market quickly.

Make Research About The Gap In The Market

Researching existing products and their applications in the market may not yield significant results due to the saturation of competitors offering similar items. Instead, identifying gaps in the market for new applications could be more beneficial. You have to talk to people, Pharmacists, and dieticians, to understand customers’ demands and ask for improvements in the available products.

•  For example, people may want a combination of different supplements.
• Or they may wish for high-quality and well-purified nutraceuticals that make them stable for a long time.

Study Products and Choose Ingredients

You have to pick different supplements from the market and study their ingredients. So you can figure out the king nutrient with their pros and cons; after all this process, you will be able to:

• Choose the best formula for your product.
• Replace toxic nutrients ( when used in excessive amounts)with their better alternatives.
• Also, exclude or replace allergic compounds.

Learn About The Food And Drug Administration’s Regulations

Visit the FDA’s website and click on dietary supplements to view all regulations. Learning about FDA regulations will help you ensure your supplementary product. You can exclude all FDA-banned compounds ( supplements containing ephedrine alkaloids, etc).

You know regulations change over time. So you should visit the website quite often to stay up-to-date. Moreover, the FDA’s approval will help you export your products worldwide, thus widening your business.

Find Reliable Labs & Manufacturers

Following is a series of steps that you need to follow to find trustable labs and manufacturing companies so that you may process your product well:

1. Search For Dietary Supplement Labs Online

You must first collaborate with a supplement lab to establish a supplement line. To find one, you can just go to Google and search “Dietary Supplements Labs Near Me,” and you will get a list of all the labs. Then you can visit their website and look for what they offer. You can also view their rating and public comments. In this way, you can find a trusted supplement lab and place an order to prepare a new formula for your products.

2. Find a Reliable Supplement Manufacturer

Research and check their reputation and certifications to find a reliable manufacturer for your supplement company. These include GMP and FDA compliance. Assess their production capacity. Ask for product samples to check quality. Also, negotiate terms, like price and order size. Visiting their facilities can help ensure they meet your standards.

Choosing the right manufacturer is crucial. For example, Handian is a good choice. We maintain product quality and support your business growth. Handian, a leading supplement manufacturer in China, sets high standards and is reliable. If you need any dietary supplement manufacturing, please contact us. Our experts can help you design the formula and put it into production. Or, we can help you quickly bring it to market with our brand.

Establish Your First Product

Establishing your first products is no doubt a difficult task, but we will make it easy for you by breaking it into simple and quick steps;

Step 1: Start With Simpler Products

You must start with simple products with good quality rather than starting a range of products for which you can’t provide quality. Moreover, you have to choose simpler formulas, like basic nutrients, etc. Then, gradually, you can start a wide range of products such as gummy supplements, tablets, powders, etc.

Step 2: Test your products

Your products should have passed many safety tests, or you can seek help through a supplement testing organization. If you give us your formula for production, we will ensure it passes all required safety tests. Contact us now.

Step 3: Choose packaging that fits your company

Packaging is always the first interaction between your brand and the customer, so keep it nice and attractive. You can go for custom packaging with appealing visuals and your brand logo for promotion to get the following advantages;

• Attraction for customers
• Product’s safety
• Brand Promotion
• Premium User Experience
• Increased Shelf Life

Build A Base For Your Brand

Having a base for business is very important, especially when you are taking an initiative, so here are a few points for you to set up a strong base for your business:

• Get help from professionals
• Get your company registered
• Start saving for your first product batch
• Seek out loans and investors
• Create a unique logo for your brand

Get Help From Professionals

You are starting a business for the first time, and obviously, you don’t know everything about it. Therefore, getting help from professionals in your field is better than starting it alone.

You can also lose all your investment by saving a few pennies to hire professional assistants. So, hire field experts in which you need to improve; doing so will balance your outcome in the supplement and every field you enter.

Get Your Company Registered

The next step is to choose a unique name for your supplier line and set up either an LLC ( Limited Liability Company ) or a sole proprietorship (www.acra.gov.sole-proprietorships).

For registration, you must complete some paperwork and pay a fee, usually around $200. However, as this is your first time, it is recommended that you seek help from a business lawyer.  

Start Saving For Your First Product Batch

It costs money from your pocket to buy the first product batch. So you need to start saving money and managing your expenses earlier because it will need at least a few thousand dollars.

To get charged minimum, you have to select a manufacturer with the minimum production order, or you can go for a distributor who can take the whole batch from the manufacturer and slit it for different brands.

Seek Out Loans And Investors

If you think that you can’t save the required money alone to start up a business, then you have two further options:

• Apply for a Loan: It is quite easy to apply for a business loan from a bank. The second option is to borrow money from your family or friends and sign an official contract with a repayment schedule.
• Attract or Look For Investors: You must declare an excellent marketing strategy that automatically attracts other investors to invest in your business. You can also look for investors or partner with some of your friends or relatives.

Create A Unique Logo For Your Brand

“A logo serves as the face of your brand, which makes it recognizable, so it should be able to grab viewers’ attention instantly.”

The final step is to create an awesome logo for your brand. If you have a creative mind, you can make it yourself, saving you money. Otherwise, you can hire a graphics expert, which is recommended. It will burden you a little financially, but your brand will get a unique and beautiful impression.

Make Your Products Accessible

The next step is to get your products out in the world and make them accessible to the customers, so to help you out in this process, we are going to provide you with a series of helpful steps:

• Make a marketing plan
• Create a website to sell your products online
• Print your business card with the logo
• Use social media to attract customers
• Give out free samples
• Set up booths at local events

Make A Marketing Plan

Plan and stick to a marketing strategy. This strategy must include all your expenses on product manufacturing, your products’ prices, and how you will get the product to the customers.

Moreover, you should hire a marketing expert or manager if you are not good at figuring out a marketing strategy. In addition, you must keep an eye on your competitors, their products, and prices, and set a goal you must achieve in a fixed period.

Create A Website To Sell Your Products Online

A website is one of the best ways to sell your products and increase your brand’s exposure online. Therefore, build a professional website designed by an expert. This will allow you to use different marketing tools and run advertisements on the Internet.

Additionally, you can upload your product’s videos with their formulae and an attractive product description.

Print Your Business Card With The Logo

An important part of promoting a company is your business card, so design it yourself or seek the help of a graphic designer or a printing company. A professional business card should mention the following:

• Company’s name
• Company logo
• Your professional e-mail address
• The link to the website which you have created

Use Social Media To Attract Customers

Social media is the best way to attract a customer fan base. If you already have followers on social media, that’s great, but if you don’t, start building one right now.

Having a social media account allows you to upload posts about your products to increase viewer engagement. Furthermore, you must add fun and attractive content, such as 3D animated supplement videos, to maintain the customer base. Moreover, you can also run ads over social media platforms, which will enhance your marketing.

Give Out Free Samples

Everyone loves to get free products, and once they are satisfied with the results, they will surely return to repurchase them. You can contact social media influencers and ask them to review your products and distribute free samples, boosting your marketing.

Set Up Booths At Local Events

To build a local customer base, you need to attract local clients. For this purpose, you can set up retail booths at local events such as promotion camps, medicinal programmes, etc., because these are the best locations to meet new people and offer your products.

Furthermore, you can run advertisements at these stalls and make exciting offers, such as buy one, get one free, to attract people.

Invest In Marketing

Investment in marketing never goes to waste; it pays you back in many ways, such as enhancing and promoting your business and making you a successful and well-known businessman, so let’s discuss some overwhelming benefits of investing in marketing:

Heighten Your Brand:

Through proper marketing, you can:

• Hit your target audience.
• Expand your audience.
• Gain exposure.
• Establish your market presence.

Enhanced Engagement With Customers:

You can engage with your customers by interacting with them, responding to their queries, providing helpful information, telling them about your upcoming formulas, etc. This will develop an emotional connection between you and your audience, ultimately building a company’s loyalty.

Gain Advantage Over Competitors:

Many of your competitors will already be present in the market, so effective marketing allows you to gain an advantage over them. For example, when you hit the missing part of the market, you can capitalize on it and add it to your marketing strategy.

Beneficial Insights:

Through supplement marketing, you can collect data about your customers and utilize it to improve your business by meeting their demands, areas for improvement, market trends, etc.; therefore, it will allow you to stay up to date with your consumers’ changing needs and demands.