VitaMix Labs

Let’s face it. Times are tough. Businesses are closing. Banks are foreclosing. And people’s assets are disappearing faster than Balloon Boy’s chances of a reality TV series. So is it still possible to retire at that magical age of 65, or is that doomed to be just one more fairy tale told by our parents?

Well, if you are an average American stuck working a normal nine-to-five, your chances are pretty bleak. However, if you’re one of the thousands of Americans who have become a nutraceutical sales person, business is booming.

What is nutraceutical sales you ask? Is it, like, some sort of voodoo pharmaceutical sales? Nope. “Nutraceuticals” is just a fancy way of saying vitamin and mineral supplements. It used to be that you could only get vitamins in pill form, but nowadays you can get nutraceutical supplements in energy drinks, special shakes, candy bars, teas, and just about every edible and drinkable delivery method you can think of.

According to a recent article in “Nutraceuticals World,” vitamin drink sales alone grew by 18% over the last year, with total sales topping a whopping $1.8 billion.

So what is driving this growth? Anna Ibbotson, an industry manager of chemicals and materials at the global consultancy Kline & Company says that as many people lose their jobs, or finding themselves without health insurance, they are turning to vitamins and supplements to keep them healthy and out of the hospital. So instead of an apple a day, the new fashion trend has become multivitamins and protein drinks.

But here’s the big question: How can you cash in on this market?

            
It’s actually a lot easier than you think. A simple search through Google will bring up literally hundreds of companies offering bulk packages of vitamins and nutraceutical supplements. Of course, many of the vitamins are only cheap enough to sell if you buy twenty or thirty cases, but let’s face it, who wants to store that many boxes in their garage? The best thing to do is to find one or two other people that are willing to go in on the project with you so that you can get a case or two, and not worry about relocating your spouse’s car (or marriage) to make room for your new economic venture.

Next you have to advertise. When you start out, you won’t have a lot of money to advertise with, so beginning vitamin sellers usually use word of mouth. It sounds silly trying to sell vitamins to your friends or neighbors, but vitamins are pretty expensive at a store and if you have 300 vitamins for five dollars and the store down the street has them for $20 guess who is getting the business?

Eventually, as you get better at networking and selling, you’ll find your business growing, and before you know it you’ll earn more and more extra cash to pay off credit cards, car bills, and more.

And nowadays with many blogging websites offering free services, you can set up your own website to sell your product off of right on the internet, without ever leaving your home!

Some vitamin companies will also offer wholesale buyers the option of purchasing what amounts to a virtual franchise on the Internet with a space on their website. Tapping into this option can be useful in networking nationally (and sometimes even internationally!).

However, the biggest, and best advantage to selling vitamins is that the business is on your own time. This is a big relief for single parents, individuals with little time for a second job, or people that just want a flexible schedule.

It’s strange but who knew that those good ol’ edible Fred and Barney Flintstone Chewables could be the key to financial independence, or that Vitamin-C could cure your credit card ills?

So what are you waiting for? Start your own nutraceutical sales business and experience a whole new degree of financial freedom!