A vitamin store business provides an entry into the growing vitamin and supplement industry, which has shown steady expansion over the five-year period ending in 2010. In fact, United States vitamin industry revenues increased over nine percent in 2010 and are expected to remain robust for another five years. Market research firm IBIS World attributes this industry expansion to consumers' increased health focus, as well as a growing elder population with widely varied health concerns. Careful attention to your vitamin store planning and execution offers the best chance of success in this potentially profitable business.
Step 1
Document an appropriate business structure with advice from a certified public accountant familiar with retail businesses. Examples of business structures include sole proprietorships, partnerships, limited liability companies, S corporations and more. Ask your accountant to list the legal and financial pros and cons of each.
Step 2
Complete your licensing, insurance and tax registration procedures. Visit your county or city clerk's office to obtain a business license and inquire about permits needed to operate in that jurisdiction. Contact a commercial insurance agent knowledgeable about retail businesses and health product risks. Ask the agent for recommendations on business and professional liability policies. Call your state department of revenue to obtain a sales tax license.
Step 3
Lease a visible and accessible store site. Select a storefront near other beauty-related or fitness-focused businesses. Consider a visible location near medical offices. Ensure your building has easy access and plenty of customer parking. Obtain written zoning department permission before signing a lease. Work with a sign maker to create a tasteful sign for your store.
Step 4
Document your vitamin store competitors. List direct competitors such as stand-alone vitamin and supplement stores. Add health food stores that often carry conventional and organic vitamins, along with herbal remedies and homeopathic products. List pharmacies and big box stores with extensive vitamin and supplement inventories. Visit each store to examine vitamin products and prices. Investigate online vitamin suppliers as well.
Step 5
Order and stock your vitamin products. List the vitamins, supplements and related nutritional products you will stock. Add desirable products your competitors do not carry. Look for reputable manufacturers' brands, and purchase your products on a discount or wholesale basis (see Resources). Consider marketing "private label" vitamins, created when a supplier labels its stock vitamin products with your own store brand (see Resources). Ensure all your vitamins and supplements display expiration dates because these products often lose potency over time. Monitor the United States Food and Drug Administration, FDA, database to flag vitamins or supplements under FDA scrutiny. Post visible signs recommending that customers store products away from children's reach.
Step 6
Hire friendly and knowledgeable staff. Network with health-conscious colleagues to find personable employees with a health and nutrition focus. Place carefully-worded help wanted ads in your city's newspaper. Outfit your staff in professional attire. Plan ongoing staff training sessions to provide employees with product knowledge. Emphasize that staff cannot guarantee that any product will provide specific user benefits.
Step 7
Contract with a registered dietitian well versed in vitamins and supplements to provide regular in-store seminars and customer consulting services. Ask the dietitian to develop customer educational materials where appropriate.
Step 8
Advertise your grand opening at fitness centers, spas, holistic wellness centers and chiropractic offices. Work with a graphic designer to create ads for local health and wellness magazines as well as the health pages of your local newspaper.
Step 9
Open for business with a Health and Nutrition Open House. Ask your dietitian consultant to conduct hourly talks that showcase various types of vitamins and request that she remain available for free in-store customer consultations. Provide free samples of tasty nutritional drinks, such as fruit smoothies that include added vitamins and nutrients. Offer introductory prices on varied products.
Things You'll Need
- Written merchandise order
- Written child safety shelf warnings
- Ad rates and copy for help wanted ads
- Staff attire
- List of in-store dietitian seminar dates
- Smoothie ingredients
- Open House price lists
- Open House fliers
- Ad rates and copy for Open House magazine ads
- Ad rates and copy for Open House newspaper ads
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