Top 3 Reasons Supplement Brands Fail
There are certain mistakes that take supplement brands out.
If you commit these “sins,” your brand is going to have a very hard time ever getting going.
I’ve worked with several hundred supplement companies ranging from “mom and pop” shops to international brands with more than $40M in Revenue and have seen all kinds of strategies, business models, and products.
The supplement industry is not unlike most businesses in that most companies will not survive the first 2 years.
Here at PURE Private Label, we want you to have the best chance possible to succeed, we know that we win and lose together.
If you work with us we have aligned goals of reaching as many customers as possible with high quality products.
That’s why I’ve taken the time to put together the top 3 reasons supplement companies fail.
There are many things that can take a business out, but here are the most common ones to watch out for.
Reason #1: Nobody Cares About Your Brand
That may seem a little harsh to phrase that way, but I think it’s important to highlight this one in the most aggressive way possible.
I’ve stated this one in an aggressive way because this is a problem you need to solve aggressively.
Nobody cares…
YET.
You can put together a great product with a killer website and gorgeous branding, but if nobody ever visits the website, you will sell exactly zero units.
It’s not that people know about you and have decided not to care about you. It’s that no one has heard about you or been given a reason to visit your website.
You must have a concrete and aggressive strategy for driving traffic to your website.
Obscurity is your biggest challenge, and you must be seen. There are many options, but you need to dive in aggressively.
There are more than just these, but some options include:
- Organic/Social Media Traffic
- Paid Search (ads)
- Affiliates
- Influencers
Set up a strategy and give people a reason to care!
Reason #2: They Don’t Understand Who Their Customer Is
A lot of brand owners naturally assume that their market or target customers are similar to themselves.
This can be a deadly assumption for your brand.
Brand owners operating under this bad assumption make all of their decisions for the brand based on personal preferences, which could cause your brand to completely “miss” with your target customers.
For example, if you’re a top 1% bodybuilder releasing a sports nutrition product, it will be important for you to remember that most of your customers are not top 1% bodybuilders.
If the decisions you make about your brand are only appealing to top 1% bodybuilders, you will fail to connect with your audience and drive substantial sales.
If you understand who your audience is on a deep level, you have a much greater chance for success.
Build a profile of your ideal customer: How old are they, what do they do, what sites do they visit, what are their family dynamics, what do they eat for dinner, what kinds of pets do they have (it may seem silly, but the more detailed, the better!).
Give that person a name (yes, really) like “Supplement Steve.”
When questions come up for your brand, make the decision based on Supplement Steve’s point of view – not your own.
This practice will also help you figure out “where” your customer is (geographically or on the internet), which will help you solve for Reason #1 above.
If we know WHO and WHERE they are, we can start to get them to our website.
Reason #3: They Don’t Know What’s Important
It’s a very natural human behavior to be drawn to doing activities that we’re good at or comfortable doing.
The reason this presents a challenge with starting your own supplement business is that you are going to have to learn and do things that you don’t already know or have experience with.
If you spend all of your time focusing on only the parts you’re comfortable with, your brand will struggle.
For example, I have worked with brand founders that are very confident in formulating and creating products. That’s the part that comes naturally to them, and therefore, that naturally becomes the area of their company that they spend most of their time on.
I have seen MANY brands fail because they spend so much time on creating products that they never spend any time selling their products.
In the example above, that founder should take a break from formulating and work on marketing.
They might not be as comfortable marketing, but if they don’t market their product, their brand dies.
This doesn’t just apply to this one example though.
You will have to hold yourself accountable and force yourself to do the “hard” things.
Doing new things can be scary and risky, but that is the path that you’re on as an entrepreneur.
The thing that you’re putting off is probably the thing that you most need to do today.
Wrapping It Up
As I stated before, there are many potential pitfalls for new brand owners, but these are definitely the 3 you need to pay most attention to starting out.
- Make sure you understand your customer (who they are and where they are).
- Attract them to your store (make them care).
- Do the hard things (build the whole business, not just the part of it you like).
If you can do these three things, you will be head and shoulders ahead of your competition and well on your way to building a thriving business that serves high quality products.
We are here to help you every step of the way. Ask your Account Manager for their opinion on these three areas as they relate to your business or start working with one today.
To YOUR Success
Rush Ricketson
CEO, PURE Private Label
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