Brand Architects: Tim Sharif of 310 Nutrition

Tim Sharif didn't set out to start a nutrition company. He was living in Vegas, making good money as an affiliate marketer. Then in 2009, his main revenue source went belly-up.

Join Bora Celik as he chats with Tim Sharif, founder of 310 Nutrition.

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"I always wanted to live in LA," Tim recalls. "I had a boat in San Diego and I would stay on it. When I lost my income in 2009, I thought 'I guess I can move to California now.'"

Tim studied every city from Malibu to San Diego before settling on Manhattan Beach. Little did he know, that choice would shape the future of his business.

A few years later, Tim became an affiliate for a company selling meal replacement shakes. He quickly spotted a gap in the market for clean products without artificial sweeteners or soy.

"There was another brand, Shakeology, that was clean. But it was $100 a bag, where ours was like $60," Tim explains. "We were getting crushed because of the ingredients."

That's when the lightbulb went off. Tim decided to create his own clean shake product. He named it 310 Nutrition after the area code in West LA.

"I started with one bag of vanilla shake," Tim says. "310 is our area code in LA. So I started with the LA, you know, Hollywood shake."

From those humble beginnings, 310 Nutrition has grown into a powerhouse brand. Tim reveals, "We've done 300 million in revenue in the last years." But the journey to building a $300 million business wasn't always smooth sailing.

Tim recalls one of his early stumbles: "The first person I made my product with, all the product was fake. I had no idea. I found out when I went to get my pricing down and they said, 'Hey, this is a fake product.'"

Another painful lesson came at tax time. "The first year I made $800,000 profit. I go to my CPA and I wasn't used to warehousing product," Tim says. "The CPA says, 'You made $800,000.' I said, 'How did I make $800,000? I didn't take a penny out.' They said, 'Well, you have all this inventory, don't you?'"

Tim ended up owing $350,000 in taxes he didn't have. "I just didn't pay my taxes that year," he admits. "So I paid my little fines to the IRS. I filed. You don't get in trouble for being late on your taxes. You get in trouble for lying and not filing."

Despite the early hiccups, Tim's background in affiliate marketing gave him an edge when it came to growing the business online. He was an early adopter of Google and Facebook advertising, as well as influencer marketing.

"The first influencer I ever hired was Gretchen Rossi from Housewives of Orange County," Tim says. "It was $6,000 for three posts. Well, the first post on Instagram sold $30,000."

As 310 Nutrition grew into a brand that generated $300 million in revenue, Tim had to continually adapt his strategies. "You always are gonna have to pivot," he says. Whether it was shifting from interest-based to machine learning advertising on Facebook, or changing his approach to influencer marketing as costs rose, Tim stayed nimble.

One thing he's learned? You can't just hire your way out of problems.

"As much money as you make in the end, you always want to hire your way through it. You always want people to think and bring you the ideas. It's never worked for me," Tim admits. "I've tried hiring that half a million dollar a year president, the multiple six figure people. And in the end, no one will do it like the owner."

His advice to other entrepreneurs? "Don't let yourself go up into the skybox. Keep your feet on the ground. Keep in tune with what's going on."

Today, 310 Nutrition continues to expand, recently launching products in Sprouts stores. But Tim isn't resting on his laurels. He's focused on operational efficiencies and exploring new opportunities in retail.

"I will never take my foot off the pedal until I actually truly do exit my companies," Tim says. "When I do, if I do, and until then I will keep my feet on the ground and I will be the one coming up with all the ideas and all the direction."

For aspiring entrepreneurs, Tim's journey shows that success often comes from spotting opportunities, staying adaptable, and never losing that hands-on founder's mentality.

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