How to Start a Supplement Business

How To Start Your Supplement Business
1. Decide which nutritional supplements you want to sell. Consider starting a franchise if you have a large amount of capital.
2. Call several small or mid-size gyms, karate and other martial arts studios in your neighborhood. Find out which wholesalers they use for their nutritional products. Write down the names of these suppliers. Ask the gym and martial arts studio owners if they would consider switching to a new supplier if they could get products at a reasonable cost.

3. Search the Internet for wholesale nutritional supplements companies. Check out their services and prices. Go to the websites of the suppliers who service your local gyms and martial arts studios. Find out if any wholesalers will dropship or send your products out to your customers for you. Select the wholesaler that offers the products you want to sell at the lowest unit cost.
4. Think of a catchy name for your supplements business. Call the local county administrator's office and request an application form for registering your business name or DBA (doing business as). Fill out the application and mail it back to the county administration office along with your vendor's license fee.
5. Find someone to create a website for your supplement business. Take pictures of all your products and write a summary for each one. Send the pictures and summaries to the website developer. Check the website to make sure it works properly before paying for it. Go through your local bank or find a payment processor at paypal.com or fastpay.com for processing credit card payments.
6. Develop a marketing plan for both local and online advertising. Place business cards or fliers with your phone number and website on bulletin boards at grocery stores. Contact local gyms, high school coaches, college athletic directors and karate studios. Show them your catalog. Try to get acquire a few of them as customers. Leave your business card with them.
7. Go on the Internet and place some ads through AdSense on Google.com. Add your web site to various search engines such as Yahoo.com, Google.com and Lycos.com.