How do I start a supplements business?
If you were looking to start a supplements business from scratch and on your own (formulating your own products, getting them manufactured, handling your own stock storage, inventory and fulfilment etc), you would be looking at a complex, lengthy and costly set up process.
This is because you would need the experience and expertise to formulate the products and ensure legal compliance; you would need the financial resources to fund minimum manufacture runs for each product; you would need warehouse space to store the products, and possibly staff to assist you with all the different aspects of stock management and order fulfilment.
For most, these factors represent a very real obstacle to starting their own supplements business. So is there a short-cut? A way to avoid all this time-consuming work and expense and start a supplements business without prior experience and with minimal risk and financial outlay?
The answer is yes.
Specialist Supplements Ltd is one of the longest established wholesale supplements suppliers in the UK, supplying trade for over a quarter of a century. We offer our trade customers a unique business opportunity, making it quick, easy and affordable to set up a supplements business that can be up and ready to trade in as little as a few days.
How do we do this?
1. Ready-made supplements:
We provide you with a comprehensive range of quality-assured, UK made encapsulated and powder food supplements to choose from - off-the-shelf and ready to get selling immediately. Our products are cutting-edge and reflect consumer trends / demand, supporting a variety of health goals and lifestyles. They can therefore accommodate virtually any target market you may have in mind. You can pick and choose which / how many products to re-sell and add to your offering over time, at a rate that suits you. You have none of the hassles, complexities or costs, associated with product formulation, manufacture (such as minimum runs and legal compliance issues) and bringing a product to market. We have taken care of all that for you.
2. Your own branding - "own label" supplements:
We have a dedicated in-house team who can help you to re-brand our wholesale supplements as your own products, for a small one-off fee - the "private label" option. This involves creating personalised labels for all of the products you have chosen to re-sell, essentially providing you with your own ready-to-sell range, featuring your company logo, colour scheme, unique product names, contact details (or even a completely bespoke design). The private label option has a number of benefits, including:
- your own branded range
- customer loyalty / repeat orders (customers come back to you)
- marketing flexibility
- bigger profit margins
- prestige for your business.
Find out more about our Own Label service, and its benefits, here.
3. Dropship supplements service - free order fulfilment:
We are unique wholesale supplement suppliers in that we offer to handle all aspects of our re-sellers' order fulfilment, at no extra charge. However, unlike fulfilment companies, we do not charge an admin fee for stock storage, picking, labelling, packing and posting. We also take all the risk on shelf-life. This is a truly on-demand service, so that you only "call off" products from us as and when you make your own sales. Great for cash flow! Again, we have a dedicated in-house team who will dispatch product orders directly to your customers (known as "dropshipping"), and they will think they have come straight from you. The products can have your own personalised labels, or our Specialist Supplements branded labels - it is up to you. There is no extra charge for dropshipping own label products. There is never any Specialist Supplements literature or paperwork included in the orders and you can even include personalised delivery notes and order messages, should you wish, for a small fee. Otherwise, all you pay is the cost of the postage, as if you were posting the items yourself - except without any of the hassle! We don't even charge for label print.There is no cheaper or easier way to manage the order fulfilment process. Find out more about how our Supplements Dropship Service works here, or see the overview below.
In summary, our supplements dropship service works like this:
STEP 1: Your customer places an order with you and pays you the retail price you set (e.g on your eCommerce website).
STEP 2: You place the corresponding order with us, through your trade account. You give us the customer's address and other details at checkout.
STEP 3: We send the order out to your customer.
It's as simple as that.
4. eCommerce website
Need a means of selling your products? We've got you covered. How about a ready-to-go eCommerce website, personalised with your branding and pre-loaded with product images and descriptions - packed with features and perfect for beginners and experts alike? Who better to set you up with an online supplements store than the product suppliers? We have a dedicated team of experts on hand to design and build your website on an attractive, modern WordPress theme that is SEO optimised. Building and populating a website is a time-consuming process, which requires expertise. Let us take this work off your hands, so that you can concentrate on selling. We offer website builds at a highly discounted rate, to help our customers get selling as quickly and easily as possible. Click here to find out more about our website build service.
5. No sign-up fees, commissions, contracts, commitments and no minimum orders
Unlike many other wholesale supplement suppliers in the UK and abroad, we DO NOT charge a sign-up fee, charge commission on sales, or tie you into contracts or other unwanted commitments. We don't even have any minimum order quantities. Our business model makes it as easy as possible to start and grow a supplements business at a rate that suits you. Our products have good profit margins on re-sale and we offer a number of ways to increase those margins (including a scaled discount structure for bulk orders, as well as standing discounts off every product order for trade customers who choose to upgrade their account). Find out more about our Trade Member PLUS optional membership upgrade and what it includes here.
Off-the-shelf vs custom formulations
Most re-sellers choose to sell products from our comprehensive, market-ready, off-the-shelf range, for the reasons already outlined above, i.e. it is the quickest, easiest and most affordable way to start your own supplements business.
However, if you have a specific supplement formula in mind, we can advise on the formulation, manufacture the finished product and help you bring it to market. This does involve greater expense and upfront financial outlay (i.e. on quoting costs and minimum manufacture runs etc), but it is a good option for those with some industry knowledge and/or for those who are looking for bespoke packaging options. Click here to find out more about our custom supplement formula service.
Ready-to-trade business package
If all of the above sounds like it is just what you have been looking for, why not snap up our convenient "Start a Business Pack"? It includes everything you need to start your own supplements business (product branding, website, marketing materials, SEO tools, discounts and more) in one quick and easy money-saving bundle. Simply purchase and leave the rest to us. We will guide you through each stage of the business setup process, step by step.
Do I need a licence to sell supplements in the UK?
This is a question we get asked regularly by entrepreneurs new to the industry and looking to start their own supplements business. The answer is "no". There is no requirement to register food supplements in the UK. As long as they comply with the law (the law specific to food supplements and all other applicable food law - which we have already taken care of), they are permitted for sale. You do not need to hold a licence as a reseller. However, it is good practice to register your business with your Local Authority. For more information, click here.
What next?
All that's left to do if you are ready to start your own supplements business is create a trade account with us. A quick and easy registration process, once approved you will have full access to the private members-only areas of our website (including full product and service information, a host of trade resources, detailed FAQs and much more). We look forward to working with you and making your supplements business dream a reality.
