TL; DR
Cody Bramlett is a supplement millionaire who teaches others how to make their money in the supplement sector. He has been there, worn the t-shirt, and received the scars, so he’s perfectly positioned to help entrepreneurs make it big in this competitive industry.
Some of his secrets for supplement success include:
- Hire Others: You can’t do everything yourself. If you want your business to grow, start treating it like a business and stop getting so personal. Bring others in to help you and remember that your business is a separate entity and you are an employee just like everyone else.
- Be a Good Boss: Don’t be the boss that everyone hates and talks smack about. Don’t be the boss that caused you to hate/quit your first job. Your employees should like you and respect you, as that’ll ensure they work hard and don’t leave as soon as another offer comes along.
- Don’t Try to Reinvent the Wheel: CRM software, white label companies, and logistic firms exist for a reason—use them! Don’t try to build everything from the ground up and remember to keep things simple.
- Improve and Grow: You will make mistakes and it may seem like all hope is lost, but all entrepreneurs mess up every now and then. We all have scars. What matters is that you treat them as a learning experience and continue to grow. It doesn’t matter what you know and how good you think you are, there’s always something more to learn.
If you watch my interview with Cody Bramlett to the end, you’ll also learn about his best advice, an insight that could generate 6-figures in profit for your business.
How To Start Your Own Supplement Brand With Cody Bramlett
The global health and wellness sector is worth billions of dollars and has created countless millionaires. It’s an industry that has seen a huge surge in recent years as we all seek to get healthier in the midst of a pandemic (and following a succession of lockdowns in which we all got a little lazier and fatter), and it’s showing no signs of slowing down.
The great thing about this sector is that there is room for everyone.
Usually, I advise entrepreneurs not to do what everyone else is doing. More often than not, by the time you learn about and act on a trend, it’s already too late and everyone has made their money. But the continued growth that this industry is experiencing, combined with the potential for innovation and the unique perspectives that some entrepreneurs can bring, means everyone can get their share.
In the past, I have spoken with influencers like Nick Aldis, who made his name as a wrestler and then branched into supplements, and Joe Yoon, who could follow a similar journey as a sports therapist.
This time, I sat down with Cody Bramlett, an entrepreneur who entered the supplement sector without a major platform. He had experience with the industry and he also had the ambition and motivation to make it work, but he was a businessman and not an influencer, so his experience will likely resonate with a greater number of readers.
In the following guide, I’ll go over some of the things that I discussed with Cody.
These tips relate to all e-commerce business start-ups and are not limited to the supplement industry, but if you’re thinking about starting your own supplement company, the following insights will be even more useful.
You’re An Employee And You Need Help
Regardless of what you’re selling and how big you are, you must remember that you are not your business.
Your company is a separate entity and needs to be treated as such.
You’re the employee, just like everyone else. Sure, you have greater responsibilities and stand to lose and gain much more than the people you employ, but you’re still working for a salary.
It can be hard for entrepreneurs to acknowledge this, especially if they are coming from a freelancing background—in which they are the business—but it’s an important mindset to adopt.
Firstly, it’ll make life easier when your business grows and you need to hire some employees.
You can’t do everything yourself and as you’re an employee and not the whole of the business, you shouldn’t be expected to do everything yourself.
They will also work for the benefit of the business and will be aiming for the same goals as you are.
Secondly, it means there is less chance of you using the business like an ATM, which is something that I see in a shocking number of entrepreneurs.
In recent years, for instance, there has been a trend for young entrepreneurs to invest huge sums of money into personal branding and then try to write it off as a business expense.
Not too long ago, a business owner told me he was broke, even though his business was generating a comfortable 6-figures in profit. When I discussed things further with him, I learned that he was spending all his money on expensive vacations, car rentals, and designer clothing so that he could post it all on social media.
He insisted that it was helping him to get eyes on his posts, which was indirectly helping his business to grow, but that was just a lie he told himself to excuse wasting his cash.
Your business is not an ATM that will give you money when you need it. Withdrawing money for frivolous expenses will just drive your business into the ground.
Limit those expenses to something that you are confident will drive a profit and something you can prove is valuable.
Buying a Rolex, renting a sports car, and throwing a 6-figure beach party doesn’t fall under that description, no matter how much you try to convince yourself (or your accounting team) that it’s all in the name of marketing.
Look to companies like Amazon for inspiration. For many years it was the biggest website and retailer on the planet. It was the biggest online bookseller and also dominated the gaming and home entertainment sector.
But it wasn’t profitable, and it wasn‘t profitable because everything was invested back into the company.
Jeff Bezos wasn’t out there buying a Ferrari and driving it into a swimming pool in the name of “Personal Branding”, he was making sure that Amazon continued to grow and dominate.
It’s why Amazon was able to grow from being a leading online bookseller into a major marketplace, grocery service, clothing retailer, web service provider, and a valuable source for authors, developers, and webmasters in the space of 2 decades.
By all means, spend the money that your business makes, but make sure it goes back into the business.
Hire Others To Do The Work
Hiring employees is often a huge problem for young and inexperienced entrepreneurs. They can’t bring themselves to pay money for a job they can do themselves, even if they have 100 jobs to complete already.
They are perfectionists and they think they can do the job better than anyone. Maybe that’s true. But a business is never about completing a single job day after day. Many skillsets are needed, and there’s no way you can do all of them better than anyone.
It reminds me of a story that a friend once told me.
She was a freelancer earning about $200 an hour and working from home. Her husband worked in retail and earned about $30 an hour.
He worked fewer hours than she did, so he also did most of the housework. Even though she worked from home, she just didn’t have the time, so he would cook and clean when he returned in the evenings and when he was free on the weekend.
During the Thanksgiving holidays, he had to go and spend a few weeks with his family while she stayed and worked. Before he left, they argued about the housework.
He insisted that she should take a few hours off work every day to keep the house clean. She couldn’t see the point and wanted to hire a cleaner.
His logic was along the lines of, “It’s your house. You have to do the work”. Her logic was, “I get $200 an hour and it takes me 3 hours to clean the house. A cleaner will charge me $30 an hour and do it in half the time”.
In the end, he couldn’t see her logic so my friend just told him that she would clean and then hired a cleaner anyway.
This is similar to the situation that entrepreneurs find themselves in. They insist on doing all of the work themselves because it’s their business. They know how it works. They know what they want things to look like, and they aren’t always comfortable with someone else coming in and touching their stuff.
But if you’re an expert accountant, writer, or developer, why would you spend all of your time packing products or answering phones?
Not only is there someone out there who can do a better job, but they’ll charge much less than your time is worth and that will free you up to do what you’re good at.
Think of it in the context of a band.
You might know how to play all the instruments and sing, but you’ll end up with cymbals between your knees, 3 instruments in your arms, and music that sounds more like cats fighting in a dumpster.
You’d be much better off choosing your best instrument, focusing 100% on it, and then hiring band members to assume the other roles.
Some entrepreneurs are also worried about the cost of hiring someone. They fear that the business won’t be able to sustain them or even that they won’t find enough work for their employee to complete.
But that’s what freelancers are for. If you don’t need someone to work full-time and be on your premises, hire a freelancer to work remotely. You can pay by the hour or the job and call on them when you need them.
Of course, that doesn’t mean you should instantly look to hire someone as soon as you start the business. You can do all or most of the work to begin with. You probably have the free time and the skills needed to get over those early obstacles.
But as soon as you feel like things are getting too much and your business is suffering, hire someone. Let them do what you can’t, let them help your business to grow, and when you grow more and need additional help, hire someone else.
You’re Not Acquiring A Big Team Straight Away. You’re Going Slowly And Taking It One Step At A Time, All While Ensuring That Those Employees Are Needed And Are Affordable.
Don’t Become An Idiot Boss
Don’t be the boss that caused you to leave your job. Don’t be the boss that you despised when you had your first job. And if you have never worked for anyone—just be nice!
You don’t want to have employees talking smack about you behind your back. If they don’t like you, they won’t respect you, and they won’t care about your business.
What’s more, it means they are more likely to leave.
You want employees that will stick around, employees that you can train and teach. If they hate you and everything you stand for, they’ll take all of that training and use it to help another business.
I have known business owners who are assholes on purpose. They believe that it commands respect and that people will be more inclined to work hard if they fear their boss.
But this is not the 1950s. We’re not all wearing suits and working in offices while angry, alcoholic bosses shout and scream. People don’t tolerate asshole bosses these days, nor should they.
You don’t want to be a pushover. You’re not trying to get an invite to their birthday party and you’re definitely not trying to be the “cool” boss. You just want to be liked, respected and not have employees bad-mouthing you behind your back.
You need people who will be loyal and will give their all, and that won’t happen if they hate you and your business.
Constantly Try To Improve
Growing your business is a personal and professional journey. You will make a lot of mistakes and that’s okay, as it’s all part of the experience. Those wounds will heal and you’ll carry the resulting scars throughout your life.
There are times when you’ll buy too much stock and can’t sell it all, just as there are times when you won’t have enough and will spend the next few days apologizing to customers. That’s exactly what happened to Cody and it’s something I have seen with countless other entrepreneurs, as well.
The life of an entrepreneur is never simple or easy. What matters is that you don’t let these mistakes beat you down and use them to grow.
You can also learn from other entrepreneurs who have been in your shoes and have made the mistakes you are about to make.
Check out this guide on dealing with growing pains featuring Kristina Bucaram. Kristina faced many adversities during the course of her life and career, and many of the issues that she thought would destroy her actually led her in new and exciting directions.
You should also check out Cody’s website, Supplementmillionaire.com. It contains helpful webinars devoted to entrepreneurship in the supplement sector.
Don’t Try To Reinvent The Wheel
Most entrepreneurs fall into the trap of trying to do too much. They reject WooCommerce and Shopify and create their own CRM. They reject third-party companies and agencies and try to piece everything together themselves.
But if you’re building a table, you don’t start by chopping down trees and making your own lumber. You go to the hardware store and see what’s available.
Such is the case when you’re building a brand.
There are programs and services out there that will make your life easier, and there is no shame in using them. This is not 1995. You don’t need to build everything from the ground up.
By the same token, starting your own business doesn’t mean that you automatically need to have premises in the city center and a team of full-time employees behind you.
That’s why freelancers and remote working exists. And if you decide that you absolutely need a team and a physical location, look for cheaper locations, consider co-working spaces, and only hire employees you will actually use.
Spend your money on the things that matter. Otherwise, that money will run out very quickly.
The $100,000 Question
At the end of my discussion with Cody Bramlett, I asked him the question I ask all of my guests: What is your single most valuable piece of advice?
He said that the main focus of any business owner should be to learn what the customer wants.
In the supplement industry, that might mean providing supplements with transparent sourcing and manufacturing. If you are targeting bodybuilders, it probably means increasing the protein content and focusing on muscle growth, while also delivering the high quality and honesty that expert lifters seek.
Never assume that you know what they want because unless you have the extensive industry experience to draw upon, there’s a good chance you don’t know.
Once you figure out what they want, discover what process they undertake to get there. How much are they willing to spend? Where will they see your ads? What kind of branding appeals to them?
You can learn all of these things using market research and focus groups, such as the ones discussed in my guide with Bryan Mattimore.
About Cody Bramlett
Cody is a “recovering personal trainer” turned eight-figure nutritional supplement brand owner. After scraping by as a personal trainer and gym owner, Cody’s supplement empire all started with solving one simple problem: His father was suffering from chronic inflammation.Bramlett’s dad was in extreme pain because of his diet, stress, and being generally overweight. The doctors seemingly couldn’t provide any relief, but Cody was determined to find a way to help him…and he did! His custom formulated products such as Turmeric with BioPerine stopped his Dad’s chronic inflammation in its tracks, and he also went on to research the science behind other pure, natural ingredients.This empowered Bramlett to start growing his company, Science Natural Supplements, to help other people get pain-free, lose weight, and overall, just feel great about themselves! As a result of starting and scaling Science Naturals, Cody now also teaches other driven entrepreneurs how to profitably start, scale, and sell their own nutritional supplement brands through his coaching and mastermind called, Supplement Millionaire.