	Min Startup Costs	Max Startup Costs
Equipment & Supply Expenses	$66	$1,200
Retail Business Expenses	$1,250	$11,650
Inventory Expenses	$350	$14,750
Advertising & Marketing Costs	$75	$9,636
Software Expenses	$0	$425
Website Costs	$13	$215
Total Startup Costs	$1,754	$37,876

Business	URL	Rank
Lucky Vitamin	luckyvitamin.com	#33,755
Holland & Barrett	hollandandbarrett.com	#34,408
Daily Harvest	daily-harvest.com/	#46,688
Truvani	truvani.com	#235,422
Sanuku APM Limited	sanus-q.com	#320,179
Protein Package	proteinpackage.co.uk	#351,179
The Better Health Store	thebetterhealthstore.com	#386,508
Online Health Food Store	healthysupplies.co.uk	#488,549
Low Carb Inspirations	lowcarbinspirations.com	#513,181
Buy Quality Vitamins at Discount Prices from VitaNet LLC	vitanetonline.com	#1,260,206
Georgetown Market	georgetownmarket.com	#1,410,254

Pros	Description
Rewarding work	Starting a health food store can be really rewarding work. After all, you are solving an immediate issue for your customer and you're working on something you truly care about.
Meaningful business connections	You never know who you will meet as a health food store. This could be the start of an incredible business opportunity!
Daily physical activity	Health Food Store's typically involve a much greater degree of movement than other lines of work. Most days, you will spend your day walking, running errands for your business, and performing a multitude of tasks. This can have a positive impact on energy levels and your overall health.
Amazing perks and discounts	Working in the health food store comes with its perks! As a seller for these products/services, you typically also get to enjoy industry perks and discounts.
You are your own boss!	With starting a health food store, you are the one to make decisions for almost all of the operations. Calling the shots can be empowering and liberating!
Local Community	One of the best parts of starting a health food store is that you can develop a local following by selling your products at craft shows, farmers' markets, or even local storefront businesses! This gives you access to additional revenue streams and loyal customers.

Cons	Description
Crowded Space	Competition is high when it comes to your health food store, so it's important that you spend a good amount of time analyzing the market and understanding where the demand lies.
Finding The Right Supplier	Most businesses in this space go the supplier/manufacturer route, which isn't a bad thing! However, finding the right supplier can take a lot of time, energy and trial/error. If done properly, this process can save you months (if not years) of time and energy. More on this below in the "finding a supplier" section.
Motivation of employees	If you plan to have a sales/content team on board, finding creative ways to motivate them can be a challenge. It's important that you're able to offer great incentives and a good work environment for your employees.
Low margins	The gross margins for your health food store are typically around 43%, which can make it more challenging to incur new expenses and maintain profitability.
High employee turnover	In the health food store, employee turnover is often high, which can be quite costly and time consuming for your business. It's important to try and avoid this as much as possible by offering competitive pay, benefits, and a positive work environment.
Taxes	As a health food store, you typically pay self-employment taxes which can be quite high. It's important to understand what you will be paying in taxes each year so you can determine if the work you're taking on is worth it.

Pat Walls, Founder of Starter Story

Want to find more ideas that make money?

Hey! 👋 I'm Pat Walls, the founder of Starter Story.

Get our 5-minute email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.