Editor’s note: This article was first published in January 2019, and its trend data comes from the Pinterest 100 report for 2019. Google AdWords, which it mentions, has since been renamed Google Ads.
The health and wellness industry is one of the most profitable and fastest-emerging industries today. It offers entrepreneurs plenty of opportunities to make money, and in most cases with very little investment.
So, drawing once again on Pinterest’s trends index, let’s look at which small businesses we can start in this industry. As you’ll see below, it opens up a whole world of possibilities for starting a business and helping people.
Business trends in health and wellness
See also: Business trends in leisure and tourism
Natural health products
Searches for natural recipes, juices, smoothies and infusions made with elderberries have shot up since their properties became known.
Bakuchiol has also emerged as a natural, gentle alternative to retinol, becoming users’ favourite option for skincare.
Smoothies with maca, matcha and other plants are attracting a great deal of interest.
In other words, when it comes to health, customers are embracing natural and homemade products. And that means there’s business in it.
How can you make money from this business?
The obvious first option would be to make these natural drinks, smoothies or creams and sell them. But depending on the entrepreneur’s country, you could run into serious trouble if you go beyond selling these products within a small circle, unless you created your own brand with natural plants. That would be profitable, but we would no longer be talking about a low investment.
The options for making money from this business would be:
1. Become a seller of these brands
Put like that it may sound complicated, but all you need to do is find a supplier of this kind of product, or suppliers who sell the raw material (the natural plants), and become a distributor of these products.
If you bring affordable brands into your country, you can sell to end users as well as to professionals connected with the wellness industry and to related shops.
2. Affiliate business
Turning to affiliate marketing would be a way to start this kind of business with no investment at all. To do so, you would need a website, portal or blog about health topics on which to promote the products in question.
Every purchase made through your link will earn you money.
If a product gives you a high profit margin, you can always promote it on social media by investing a little money in advertising, whether with Facebook Ads, Google AdWords or Instagram.
3. Make and sell these products yourself
You can make these kinds of natural, healthy drinks and smoothies and build up a potential local market. This is the business idea chosen by many small entrepreneurs who ended up creating their own brand and turning this way of earning extra money into a profitable business. However, as I said earlier, watch out for health regulations.
The quest for better rest and sleep
A growing trend is the concern with resting well and sleeping well, from the search for natural products to help you sleep better to all kinds of relaxation therapies. This opens up a wide range of business opportunities.
4. Relaxation therapies
The good thing about this kind of business is that you can start it from your own home. A growing number of entrepreneurs are turning to this kind of home-based business to teach yoga, tai chi or meditation classes.
5. Massage
Some people say there are already plenty of massage therapists and that this kind of venture isn’t profitable. But here I have to disagree. Let’s be honest: some massage therapists are massage therapists in the same way they could be lumberjacks.
As a massage addict who goes for a relaxing massage every week, I can tell you that if you create a good atmosphere, with relaxing decor, incense and the whole ritual set up for relaxation, you’ll end up making a lot of money in the world of relaxing massage. But if you put a massage table in a cold, brightly lit room, any client is very likely to think there are thousands like you. And of course, there are massage therapists who give good massages and massage therapists who simply don’t, for whatever reason.
6. Tickle therapy
Beyond massage, this other, more innovative relaxation method has emerged. In fact, while there are thousands of massage therapists, there are very few ticklers.
There are two kinds of tickle therapy:
- One is based on the kind of unbearable tickling that, it has been shown, makes you release all your stress and sends your endorphin levels (the happiness hormone) soaring, as well as being very relaxing.
- The other is gentle and leaves you completely relaxed. It usually involves a light touch of the fingers or feathers.
It’s worth saying that anyone who tries this second kind almost certainly comes back, especially people who suffer from stress. It’s also worth saying that it’s very hard to find a centre, at least in Spain, that offers this gentler tickle therapy, where they don’t massage you but tickle you. So there you have an innovative business idea with potential in the world of massage.
7. Homemade soap making
The truth is that making homemade soap isn’t complicated, and given the trend towards natural, chemical-free products, sales of homemade soaps and shower gels have also taken off.
One business idea that’s catching on is putting together small baskets with homemade soap, bath salts and a few other products. You can sell these baskets to shops or on your own website, or, as some entrepreneurs are doing, set up a street stall or rent space in shopping centres by the hour or by the day for specific dates.
Valentine’s Day is probably a good time to sell this kind of product. Make sure your basket is well presented. This could certainly be a very profitable business idea.
The other basket option for Valentine’s Day (perhaps a less healthy one) is to add sweets and chocolates.
Other business ideas related to healthy habits
The trend towards a healthier lifestyle, away from habits such as smoking and drinking and towards getting fit, is giving rise to other booming businesses.
8. Personal trainer
We’re mentioning this figure again because it’s becoming increasingly important and its services are more and more in demand. It’s no longer so much about teaching someone how to do certain exercises. It’s about being the person responsible for making sure your willpower doesn’t lose its will.
A personal trainer can offer their services to end users, and not only to gyms but also to other businesses related to health and wellness. Either way, you don’t need premises for this activity. You can even start this business from home.
9. Nutritionist
If, as well as your knowledge of nutrition, you offer the service mentioned above (personal training), you’ll kill two birds with one stone by giving your clients complete advice on getting fit or losing weight. Likewise, as a nutritionist you don’t need physical premises, just a space in your own home.
10. Life coach
Mental and emotional health are as important as physical health: stress, family problems, work problems, relationship problems. If you’re good with people and know about managing emotions, you can be a great help in giving someone enough emotional control to face adversity. Many people need a guide in their lives, not someone to give them groundbreaking speeches. In many cases you won’t tell the person anything they don’t already know, but it never hurts to have someone walking alongside you on life’s path.
11. All the business ideas above, but aimed at companies
Any of the business ideas we’ve covered would multiply their effectiveness and profitability if you go straight to companies to offer your services and products. In fact, massage therapists for company employees are becoming a goldmine for productivity. Nutritionists and personal trainers are also hired to look after a company’s workforce.
Even baskets of homemade products can become a gift that a company gives its employees.
For this, you’ll just need sales skills to show that your services can help improve employee productivity, reduce sick leave due to depression and bring countless other benefits that will ultimately make the company more money.
Sold that way, it’s clearly a sweet deal that can catch a business owner’s eye.
As you can see, there are many business opportunities in this sector, as in others, simply by reading the trends in what users are interested in.
See also: How to make money from home with these 38 ideas
Featured image: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
