Everyone loves the “little guy”. The business world is rife with stories of smaller companies that punch above their weight class in multi-billion-dollar markets. These are tiny titans that are so good at what they do that they manage to survive and thrive, even against fiercely overwhelming competition.
If you’re looking for an inspirational tale of entrepreneurial daring to start your day, here are a few examples of small businesses that have managed to stand out in multi-billion-dollar markets.
Rewind Greens Is “So Awesome.”
The supplement industry is massive. Informed consumers have become obsessed with perfecting their health. This has created a global market that Grand View Research estimated to be worth over $250 billion in 2021. It’s a very difficult place for any contender — especially a smaller brand — to stand out. And yet, that’s exactly what Rewind Greens has managed to do.
Rewind Greens is a health food brand that claims to have created a great tasting drink that can be enjoyed by anyone. Rewind products function on a simple dual promise: to deliver clean nutrients with great tasting flavors ranging from cherry to pumpkin spice. The brand’s supplements are packed with vitamins, to the point where it sells them as a green drink that doubles as a multivitamin.
On the health side of things, Rewind Greens covers all the bases. Its products are free from sugar alcohols, artificial sweeteners and flavors, dairy, nuts, eggs, gluten, eggs, GMOs, you name it. The brand also avoids both preservatives and chemicals and manufactures everything right in the US in its GMP-rated, FDA-approved facility. In other words, it has its finger on the pulse of 21st-century health-conscious consumer expectations.
Where Rewind Greens really stands out, though, is with its marketing. Colorful, positive, and inviting for the whole family, Rewind Greens has embraced the “small fish in a big pond” mentality. Its wholesome branding has combined with its bold claims to nutritional excellence. This helps it jockey for position in an overcrowded industry.
Nom Nom Keeps It Fresh
The need to feed domesticated four-legged critters has been an ongoing concern for humans from ancient Egypt to the present. In the modern economy, this has led to the growth of massive corporations that dominate the pet-food space. Purina alone raked in over $10 billion in revenue in the first nine months of 2019 — a figure that isn’t just massive. It also indicated growth.
Much of the profitability of the pet food industry in recent years has stemmed from the sale of premium foods as pet owners seek out the best nutritional options for their pets. However, the major players are profitable because they operate with small margins and large-scale production.
Nom Nom is a small brand that has found its voice in the pet food industry through a distinctly indirect form of competition with the big players. It specializes in personalized fresh dog food.
The pet food brand helps pet owners create their own pet profiles. These detail basic characteristics and valuable additional information. This information the company uses to create personalized recipes and diets for each animal. The brand then prepares fresh food at low temperatures (to avoid losing nutritional value). Then it ships to the owner’s door. The company even has a team of scientists and specialists that are exploring future breakthroughs in dog nutrition.
Nom Nom is the definition of excellence in a space oft-criticized for its calloused and bulk treatment of its end users. It has capitalized on the growing push for humane treatment of animals in the collective conscience and has turned that mindset into a pet food company that stands out against the gargantuan competition.
Dance2Fit Hip Hopped Its Way to the Top
If you thought the supplement industry was oversized, it’s dwarfed by the larger health and wellness industry as a whole. Global Wellness Insitute estimated that massive market to be worth $4.4 trillion in 2020 — and that was after a dramatic drop due to the pandemic.
GWI also estimates “physical activity” to represent a staggering $738 billion of the industry’s value — which means any new contenders in that space have to possess an incredible USP (unique selling point) if they’re going to attract an ounce of attention in the multi-billion-dollar market.
Enter Dance2Fit. Jessica Bass James founded the fitness brand because the 24-year-old Tenessee mother of three disliked the traditional workout routines used in her hectic, homefront-bound parenting schedule.
In response, the entrepreneurially-minded James became a certified fitness instructor. Then she created her own take on fitness fun in the form of Dance2Fit. The program fuses full-body workouts with hip-hop music in an inspiring, body-positive atmosphere. That “atmosphere” comes via either live-streamed online sessions led by James or local chapters. These are led by company-certified instructors.
The concept struck a chord with like-minded individuals, and James initially amassed a 700,000-person following. Throughout the pandemic and the following years, that number has continued to grow. This has turned Dance2Fit into a legitimate contender in an aggressively competitive industry.
Final Thoughts
From supplements to fitness to dog food, many companies are fighting their way through the white noise in crowded industries. Each of these brands brings its own unique value to the table, which it uses to gain attention and find new customers.
It’s a recipe for success that any ambitious entrepreneur can follow as long as they can find that essential element that sets them apart. Once that’s in place, the possibilities become endless, no matter what challenges or competition they might face along the way, even against multi-billion-dollar markets.
