SUPPLEMENT KING ON THE RISE
Some might say Roger King is a born entrepreneur.
When he got to Saint Mary’s University, he started working out seriously and became more aware of nutrition.
But the cost of taking supplements for a university student was quite costly, he says.
So he started pooling his orders with others, such as university athletes, who were also serious about their health regimen.
“From there I saw a little bit of promise, so I decided to begin ‘flyering’ parking lots around the city, going out beyond the confines of the campuses. All of a sudden, I had a full-fledged delivery business,” King said in a recent interview.
The income he made from selling supplements allowed him to pay his rent and build his company, all while attending university. But not for long.
King says with chagrin that he never completed his degree, but some may argue he has earned his PhD in entrepreneurship.
“After a full year in the delivery business, my phone was constantly going off, so I decided I would open a kiosk in Scotia Square mall … next to a GoodLife (gym),” he said.
The name of the business was easy. Supplement King seemed like a natural fit.
Sticking to a formula of locating the stores near an established gym, King has been quickly expanding his business.
In the nine years since Supplement King was established, it has become one of the fastestgrowing companies in Canada, according to an annual survey conducted by Profit magazine.
The company is tops in Atlantic Canada for growth and 86th on Profit’s Top 500 fastest-growing companies in Canada list. The company reportedly grew 856 per cent from 2011 to 2016.
The privately held business had total revenue last year, according to the magazine, of between $5 million and $10 million.
King started by developing stores himself, but the company has evolved and grown via the franchise route. Now, he has 38 franchise stores across the country, with plenty of room to grow.
King is about to launch a Supplement King website which will allow him to sell supplements over the Internet, but in a unique way so that franchisees are not harmed, he says.
Consumers will still be able to get their supplements from the store even if they buy them online, King says.
Adding a price incentive for online buyers to pick up their supplements at the nearest store supports the franchisee.
The Supplement King franchise fee is $30,000, but the total franchise investment is between $280,000 and $320,000, he said.