Selling your own supplements without becoming a supplements company

Your members are already buying protein, creatine and electrolytes. They are buying them from a brand that has never met them, on the advice of an algorithm, and they often ask you which one to get.

That question is the whole opportunity. You are the trusted party in a category where trust is the scarce thing, and the purchase is repeating monthly whether or not it goes through you.

Why studios are unusually well suited to this

Most brands spend their entire budget on the two things a studio already has.

Distribution. You see your customers in person, several times a week, in the exact context where the product makes sense. No ad spend buys that.

Retention. Supplements are a subscription business pretending to be a retail business. Someone who trains three times a week and likes your protein will buy it again in six weeks without being sold to. A studio's membership base is already a recurring relationship; the product just rides along on it.

Credibility. A recommendation from the coach who wrote your programme is worth more than any amount of packaging copy. It is also the thing you spend if you sell something bad, which is the real argument for caring about what is in the tub.

The part that stops most studios

Manufacturing minimums. A supplement manufacturer's first run is usually measured in the thousands of units, and the money leaves your account before any of it is sold. For a business whose cash is already committed to rent, staff and equipment, that is not a small ask — it is the reason the idea gets shelved.

Then there is everything downstream of it: label compliance, storage, a place to sell it that is not a WhatsApp message, and someone to pack boxes when a member orders online rather than picking it up at the desk.

What we do instead

You pick from products that already exist and are already made — the formulation, the manufacturing licence, the testing and the documentation are in place before you arrive. We put your brand on it, build the storefront, and ship orders as they come.

For a studio, that changes the shape of the commitment. There is a one-time development fee to build the brand and the store. After that you are paying per unit, on units that have been ordered. You are not buying a pallet of protein on the theory that your members will want it.

It also means you can sell two ways at once:

• In person. Members who want it at the desk still get it at the desk — that is a stock order you place deliberately, at a volume you choose, rather than a minimum you were forced into.
• Online. The Shopify store handles everyone else, including former members, people who follow the studio online and members ordering on a Sunday night. Those ship direct.

Choosing what to put your name on

A short opinion, since this is where studios go wrong.

Start with the product your members already buy the most of. That is almost always protein, and occasionally creatine. It is not the interesting choice, but it is the one with proven demand inside your own four walls, and demand you can already see is worth more than demand you have to create.

Avoid the temptation to launch a range. Six products means six decisions, six sets of packaging and six things to explain at the front desk. One product that sells out is a much better position than five that sit there.

And be honest about the claim you are making. A studio brand's advantage is that it comes from someone who actually trains people. That advantage does not survive putting your name on something you would not recommend to a member paying full price.

What it looks like once it runs

The steady state is undramatic, which is the point. A member orders online, we coordinate with the manufacturer, label it and ship it. The payment lands in your account. You restock the front desk when it runs low.

Nothing about the studio's day changes. The revenue is on top of memberships, from purchases your members were making anyway, and the brand on the tub is yours.

Where to start

Browse the catalogue if you already know you want protein or creatine and want to see the options.

If you want the numbers first — landed cost per unit, margin at the price you would actually charge a member, break-even volume — take the quiz and we will send them for the products that fit your studio.