Supplement Store Venture - Business Question

C

Claudio

New Member
I am currently looking at new career options, principally looking at the possibility of establishing a career in fitness. This could incorporate personal training as well but my main idea is to set up a store to sell supplements here in the UK. This store could also sell on-line - hopefully cheaper than others.

I am trying to obtain information on the type of profit a medium sized store can make or at least some idea of turnover etc. All I know so far is that a store will typically markupo products by around 30-40%. Can anyone help me? Maybe I can introduce HSN products to the UK :D
 
unless you have millions to spend on marketing and advertisement it wouldn't be a wise business decision. With the rapid growth of eccommerce it would be better for you to jump on the trend and have an online store. Cheaper overhead, cheaper prices, and more of a market to work with.
 
Well there would definitely be an on-line component to it but at least here in the UK most people still shop in real stores.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Claudio @ Jan. 09 2003,5:55)]I am currently looking at new career options, principally looking at the possibility of establishing a career in fitness. This could incorporate personal training as well but my main idea is to set up a store to sell supplements here in the UK. This store could also sell on-line - hopefully cheaper than others.
I am trying to obtain information on the type of profit a medium sized store can make or at least some idea of turnover etc. All I know so far is that a store will typically markupo products by around 30-40%. Can anyone help me? Maybe I can introduce HSN products to the UK :D
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I am looking at the same thing, but in Canada. There are very few options available to Canadians as compared to the U.S. (besides ordering from the U.S. online), and would like to start an online Canadian market supplement distribution store, with physical stores as a secondary component to my plan. There is currently only 1 Canadian based store which sells HSN, and that is on the far east coast. I am in Southern Ontario, in between Toronto & Buffalo N.Y., so I think this might be an ideal location for such a company, to keep shipping costs throughout Canada cheaper, being centrally located.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
StoneSour.
 
Really anyone who has an idea on potential income would be appreciated. I have the financial backing to be able to buy a large quantity of supplements but have little idea on the profits one can earn.
 
I think we are both looking for the same info.
My research has shown me that it depends more on the saturation of the market, and margins can be quite narrow or very comfortable, depending on that primarily. Like I said, I am in Southern Ontario and do not have alot of direct competition, so I am betting it is going to be beneficial. If I were anywhere in the U.S., I would not even consider this without a huge bankroll, and marketing plan, since the market is quite saturated there.

Secondarily, is supplier costs/prices. Your margins will get tighter and tighter if your suppliers are all from the U.S. and you have to incur alot of delivery costs, or if you do not have many interested suppliers, therefore it is a sellers market and they can charge to you what they deem.

Also, do you know what the demand there is for this? You can only make money if people are buying, so the question becomes, can I get enough people to buy?

I don't know what you have found on these for yourself in the UK, might not apply to you like it does me, I don't know.

A question back. You said you have the financial backing to buy a large quantity of supplements, what exactly are you calling a large quantity?

StoneSour.
 
dang! I jus wrote a long reply only for builders working at my house to cut the electricity.

I will summarise what I wrote instead.

I believe that the demand exists in the UK, and, over here the on-line market is relatively untapped. I myself have bought on-line but only from US sites.

You could well be right about high delivery charges but the upside to that is that over here you can charge more. A bottle of mag-10 here runs for 100 pounds.

re:a large quantity

Not really sure but I guess around 20+ per product line. I am awaiting info from suppliers on this fact then I will know just how much is needed to be bought. But I have some experience in retail, and generally, wholesale prices will be given for multiples of around 20. I could be wrong but will let you know. Either way I can go fairly high but. obviously if the requirement is to buy 100 of every supplement in a line then that will be tough on the finances unless a small range of products are stocked.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Claudio @ Jan. 10 2003,11:35)]You could well be right about high delivery charges but the upside to that is that over here you can charge more. A bottle of mag-10 here runs for 100 pounds.

re:a large quantity
Not really sure but I guess around 20+ per product line. I am awaiting info from suppliers on this fact then I will know just how much is needed to be bought. But I have some experience in retail, and generally, wholesale prices will be given for multiples of around 20. I could be wrong but will let you know. Either way I can go fairly high but. obviously if the requirement is to buy 100 of every supplement in a line then that will be tough on the finances unless a small range of products are stocked.
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100 pounds is about what, $200 U.S.? (probably about $350 Cdn., lol)
wow, that's expensive. bodybuilding.com (the cheapest overall I have found) sells it for $60 U.S., 4.26 fl oz./126 ml.I see your point on that for sure.

re: large quantity buying. have you established your initial investment capital buget, for online setup, inventory, business operations charges, staffing, equipment, etc.? (If this is too private I understand, don't feel you need to answer).
 
I think £100 is ...$250 canadian dollars.

To be honest the indicators you mention are not something I have looked at yet. I am in the very early stages - still looking at if it is viable more than anything.

I will speak to mates of mine who work in IT. I would think establishing a website would be relatively cheap, especially if I do the work myself, but will ask around.

Equipment - If I am doing this on-line then I have plenty of warehousing space for free. What else would you envisage?

Staffing - I am looking, at least, initially to things alone, bar from maybe paying someone to maintain a website for me. Wages are the biggest expense in most retail business once you have paid for prodcue.

Business Operations charges - This is something I would look at down the line. What is the situation for yourself?

As far as capital which can be injected into the business to cover such things as buying stock etc I can obtain £50,000, possibly more, interest free. Beyond that, I would need a loan.

It looks like you know more about this stuff than me. Throwing the question back at you what is your current perspective on these issues? If privacy is an issue, feel free to email me.
 
If you can do the work on the design and implementation and maintenance/running of a website, I think you are in great shape.

Equipment: other than storage, packaging, processing & tracking would be your biggest concern I would think.

Business charges: I would think they would be different for you than I, but I was referring to legal costs, business creation costs/documents, permits, licences, etc.

I am doing more market study right now to be sure this is the time and place, method and direction for me to pursue now. I am looking long term and not just for the next year or two, and things looks promising so far. I also plan to go to alot of the gyms I can and discuss the needs of gym owners and and their clients to see which products/itmes would be best. i.e. - not much sense in stocking alot of different testosterone products, or hardcore bodybuilder items if the majority of the buyers are looking for fat loss only, or are women.
 
As far as business costs go, a supplement store would be subject to the same tax rules as any other business. I have some knowledge in this area with my family owning businesses as well as having trained to become an accountant.

As far as research goes - if the major on-line stores like bb.com are anything to go by, then hardcore test products are anything but the biggest selling. I guess there will be regional variances but I am guessing research will show that most people want the basics like MRP's and fat loss items before the hardcore stuff.

What kind of an initial outlay do you think you will need to make?
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Claudio @ Jan. 10 2003,3:16)]most people want the basics like MRP's and fat loss items before the hardcore stuff.
What kind of an initial outlay do you think you will need to make?
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I agree, and recognized name brand as well. (hopefully HSN will become that soon as well).

I am not sure what I will need as far as my initial outlay. That is where alot of my focus is going to be shifting to. I want to start out online only, then shift to a local physical store shortly after, so I want to plan it that I don't over-extend my initial setup and have a shortfall for the second phase. I need to look into my inventory needs and supplier costs and determine how much selection and how much on-hand products of each item I need/want to start with now.
 
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