Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in health and wellness but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Dan Corrigan, Founder of Smidge Small Batch Supplements®, an online retailer based in Southfield, Michigan, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

Smidge® creates nutritional supplements in small batches with meticulous care, using only the purest ingredients. We carry a full line, including probiotics, natural minerals, real food vitamins, and digestive enzymes. Our natural supplements provide critical nutrients which can support a healthy digestive system and maximize the absorption of nutrient-dense foods. Here are our criteria for creating Smidge® supplements:

  • Non-GMO or organic/natural.
  • Made in small batches.
  • Fresh, with very few ingredients.
  • Backed by research and tested ingredients.
  • Derived from sustainable, compassionate principles. * Avoids additives, common allergens, and fillers whenever possible.
    The drive to overcome chronic health conditions and reach optimal health brings most people to Smidge®.

We started with Sensitive Probiotic powder to serve a specific set of customers—parents of children on the spectrum and with various medical conditions and, therefore, very sensitive digestive systems. Those customers understood and valued our products. People outside our niche also understand and value our pure, high-quality products. Our customers include people with sensitive systems, practitioners, biohackers, elite athletes, health-conscious people, and parents of children with health conditions.

Many of our products follow the principles of dietary protocols like GAPS, Body Ecology, Paleo Autoimmune Protocol, or Ketogenic. Smidge Small Batch Supplements® are also great for incorporating into Bulletproof and Paleo diets.
Customers choose us because we’re a small company that’s dedicated to creating the cleanest, most premium supplements to support optimal health—as opposed to mass production to increase profit. Our goal is to change a million lives and support our customers on their unique health and wellness journeys—meeting them where they are—because we deeply care about their well-being.

Tell us about yourself

I launched Smidge® to help others on their healing journeys, having survived a life-threatening intestinal condition. My decade-long search for answers led me to discover the importance of gut health based on a real food diet with fat-soluble vitamins and clean supplements. I have two partners who also own the business: Karen Myers and Archie Welch. Here are more highlights from our beginnings:

  • We created our supplement line after healing our own serious health conditions with the sustenance on our plates.
  • We create products for our niche. These are not low-cost, high-volume products—they’re more expensive to produce.
  • We distilled down information and carried key supplements. We wanted to take a lot of information that’s overwhelming to most people and distill it down to the key nutritional supplements that would have the most impact.

Having decades of scientific research and a deep understanding of traditional cultures and diets from pioneering the real food movement, we made it a priority to know our customers’ needs and sensitivities just as well.

So, we gathered feedback from parents of children on the autism spectrum, people with chronic disease, and those on very special diets, listening to their desperate calls for help when no one else would. The result is a collection even the most sensitive can consume: Highly researched, clean, sans fillers, and effective.

The stories we hear about our customers’ healing journeys drive me to put my two feet on the ground each morning and motivate us to do what we do each day.

My partners and I live to serve them and are humbled to receive their trust in our products as they go on their unique paths to wellness.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Building a great team enables us to achieve our goal of changing our customers’ lives by helping transform their health. Our team is comprised of people who are smarter, more skilled, and more experienced in different areas, so one day, we can achieve our goal of changing a million lives!
We’ve also implemented EOS, which enables Smidge to run smoothly, effectively, and successfully. The Entrepreneurial Operating System, or EOS®, is a collection of concepts and tools that comprise a comprehensive business management system that enables entrepreneurs to achieve their business objectives while also improving the lives of everyone affected by the business.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

The most challenging things that come with being a business owner are making personal sacrifices to get the business going, such as a lot of my time, time away from the family, and financial sacrifices I had to make while the business was growing.

Also, the ongoing challenges I have to solve as a business owner can be difficult. There are always unforeseen hurdles and challenges that you have to figure out and solve. The most fun part is the hardest part. And ensuring the employees are taken care of is my other family. And I want to do my best to ensure they’re taken care of and happy.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Have optimism and a plan B. That way, there’s a balance between envisioning and working toward your goals. And protecting yourself in case, things don’t go as planned so you can be resilient and go in another direction.
  2. We know better, do better. Any "failure" can be seen as an opportunity. Be prepared to readjust rather than be stubborn if something is not working.
  3. Don’t reinvent the wheel. Use a business system like EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) to focus on growing the business rather than learning how to run it.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.getsmidge.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GetSmidge
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/getsmidge/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/getsmidge
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielcorrigan/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

Turn your craft into recurring revenue with Subkit. Start your subscription offering in minutes and supercharge it with growth levers. Get early access here.