When Starting a Holistic Health Business it doesn’t necessarily take the expertise of business analysts such as ourselves to spot the larger, over-arching trends in the market – such as the recent rise of Ecommerce outlets and the logistics companies in place to support them – our business interactions afford us a very specific and useful set of insights. From looking at the types of businesses that come to the market, to the businesses that are the quickest to sell, we are able to ascertain even smaller sub-trends in larger sectors, whether they be retail, engineering and so on. One such trend is the blossoming of the holistic health business sector. Where these businesses were once classified as niche, alternative or specialist interest, they now occupy a much larger place in the market. According to wellnesscreatives.com, the health and wellness industry growth rate between 2015-2017 was 6.4% and is estimated to have continued growing at a similar pace. In April 2022 alone, we have sold notable businesses of this type, such as Ginger Natural Health and Green & Co.
No doubt, the popularity of CBD-related products in recent years has helped to buoy up the holistic health business sector. However, it’s through an ever-evolving take on these businesses, driven by innovative entrepreneurs who sit behind them, that we have seen the industry continue to grow.
As such, here at Hilton Smythe, we have decided to put together a short guide to support prospective buyers or entrepreneurs who are looking to start a holistic health business.
Understanding Your USP when Starting a Holistic Health Business
As the name would suggest, holistic health describes treatments that affect the whole body. That’s because traditional holistic remedies aim to treat the body, mind, and spirit, unconcerned with a singular disease, instead focused on promoting general feeling of ‘wellness.’
That may sound all well and good, but it does lead to a certain vagueness that’s unhelpful to developing a strong, unique brand. While holistic health products are designed and marketed to promote ‘general’ health, a savvy entrepreneur does not try to open a ‘general store.’
With that said, we advise entrepreneurs to embrace individuality in terms of their holistic health business ideas. That’s not to say it’s necessary to reinvent the wheel, but business owners should have a clear understanding of what they want to do and how they want to do it. Maybe this starts with some simple questions: do you want to focus on product sales (such as a particular health food, supplement, CBD-related product etc)? Or do you want your business to focus on the delivery of a service (nutritionist, corporate wellness, personal trainer etc).
Understanding Your Target Customer
In aid of this, it’s perhaps useful to think of your target customer before developing your product ideas further. It’s better to cater to a specific user persona than to everyone. If you are able to work out the type of people your business is targeting, you can identify the best products and services to appeal to them. Examples could include:
- People with chronic pain and stiffness of the joints.
- People who suffer from low mood and mental health struggles.
- People who are hoping to lose excess weight.
Understanding Holistic Health Products and Services
Other factors that may affect the choice of product you provide (and ultimately the business you choose to buy or develop) may include whether you want to work from home, online or have a shopfront, as well as whether you want to work in a larger team or independently. However, it will take a lot of research to best identify the wholesalers, logistics solutions, and host of industry contacts that will make your online or physical shopfront possible. The benefit of buying a business often lies in the fact that you’ll be buying into these existing contracts and relationships.
Products
Typically, a holistic health business will focus on the below product ranges:
- Weight Loss Products – always in demand and a driving factor as to why people become interested in a holistic lifestyle.
- Health Food – teas, seed breakfast bars, and organic fruits are all strong staples for these businesses.
- All-Natural Products – people are also interested in sustainable and ethical alternatives for household products, such as disinfectants, laundry detergent, wipes, nappies, etc.
Services
A holistic health business could focus on providing the below services:
- Health and Wellness Advisor – Despite the woolly sounding name, this can be lucrative work, particularly if you manage to break into the corporate wellness sector. You’ll be able to maintain your own schedule and offer online, in-person or group consultations, workshops, coaching, and more.
- Host Wellness Retreats – you can invite groups to retreats, which may include workshops, treatments, group activities etc.
Growing New Custom
When taking over the reins of a new business, the main priority is to acquire new customers, with the hope that they’ll turn into repeat customers. Of course, when buying an existing business, you’ll also be buying their intangible assets, which includes reputation and customer base. Either way, it pays to encourage as much new custom as possible. This may mean offering new customers trials of your products or services, or promotions to signal new management. Discounts, deals and giveaways can also be effective ways of hitting the ground running.
Starting a holistic health business can be a complicated venture, but it doesn’t have to be too stressful, once you know what you’re doing. One great way to keep yourself on track is to find yourself a business mentor. Ideally, this is someone in the same business who is more experienced and willing to show you the ropes. As business advisors, we would do our best to support new business owners, while also using our network of connections to identify the right people to support your new business, whether they be financial investors, or as mentor figures as described above. To discuss how Hilton Smythe can assist in the purchase of a holistic health business, get in touch with a member of our team here.
