Weight Loss Business Opportunities

by Nancy Laichas

Twelve up-and-coming direct selling companies were recently named to Inc. magazine’s annual Inc. 500/5000 ranking of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies.  MonaVie, Heritage Makers, Send Out Cards, Ignite and 5LINX Enterprises were all included on the Inc. 500, and Isagenix, Barefoot Books, Market America, Tastefully Simple, Keller Williams, LifeWave and Orenda made the Inc. 5000.

MonaVie, maker of premier acai-based nutritional and energy drink products, ranked No. 1 in the Inc. 500 Food & Beverage category, No. 3 in Revenue and No. 18 on the overall Inc. 500 list.  Launched in 2005, MonaVie was created by a team of partners with extensive backgrounds in the direct selling industry and with health products. Cumulative sales topped $1 billion in 2008, and MonaVie now operates in 10 countries, with international expansion continuing.

“When Henry Marsh, Randy Larsen and I sat down at a kitchen table back in 2004 and literally dreamed up MonaVie from our hearts and minds, we knew we wanted to create a global business with a spirit of abundance and giving back,” says MonaVie Founder, Chairman and CEO Dallin A. Larsen. “Being named to this list—and ranking No. 1 in the Food and Beverage category—is a testament to dreaming big and working hard.“

Heritage Makers, a direct seller that shows consumers how they can preserve the past with its custom-created storybooks, ranked No. 132 on the Inc. 500 list. The Provo, Utah-based company, founded in 2005 by President Doug Cloward and Co-Founder and Board Member Sharon Murdoch, saw its revenue soar more than 1300 percent from $587,636 in 2005 to $8.5 million in 2008.

Salt Lake City-based Send Out Cards ranked No. 158 on the Inc. 500 list. Founded in 2003 by Kody Bateman, the company’s revenue grew 1,173 percent from $2.6 million in 2005 to $32.9 million in 2008. Send Out Cards helps people stay in touch by allowing them to create and customize traditional print greeting cards online, and have them printed, stuffed, stamped and delivered to the recipient.

Stream Energy and Ignite ranked No. 198 in its first year of eligibility, noting revenue growth of 1,014.3 percent since the company’s first year of operations in 2005. “This accolade is evidence of the strength of the company’s business model, supported by the dedication of our independent associates,” said Stream Energy Senior Managing Director Chris Domhoff, who is the founder of Ignite, the company’s wholly owned marketing arm.

A provider of gas and electric power to markets in Texas and Georgia, Stream Energy’s annual revenue grew from $70 million in 2005 to $825 million in 2008. The company estimates 2009 revenue will reach $925 million.

For the fourth straight year, telecommunications provider 5LINX Enterprises made the Inc. 500 list, ranking No. 274.  The Rochester, N.Y.- based company posted growth of 831.8 percent from $4.9 million in 2005 to $45.7 million. 5LINX, founded in 2001 by President & CEO Craig Jerabeck, Executive Vice President of Sales Jason Guck, and Executive Vice President of Marketing Jeb Tyler, distributes its products and services in the United States and 20 international markets through a network of dedicated independent marketing representatives.

Seven direct selling companies earned spots on the Inc. 5000 list.

1. Chandler, Ariz.-based Isagenix, provider of nutritional supplements, dietary cleansing products, and skin care products, ranked No. 1099 with 284.1 percent growth from $63.8 million in 2005 to $245 million in 2008.
2. Cambridge, Mass.-based Barefoot Books, a children’s book publisher, ranked No. 4155 with 44.4 percent growth from $4.8 in 2005 to $6.9 in 2008.
3. Greensboro, N.C.-based Market America, a product brokerage and Internet marketing company ranked No. 4422 with 34.3 percent growth from $210.5 million in to 2005 to $282.8 million in 2008.
4. Alexandria, Minn.-based Tastefully Simple, direct seller of easy-to-prepare gourmet foods, ranked No. 4471 with 32.5 percent growth from $93.9 million in 2005 to $124.4 million in 2008.
5. Austin, Texas-based Keller Williams Realty, franchiser of residential real estate brokerages, ranked No. 4719 with 19.2 percent growth from $89.9 million in 2005 to $107.2 million in 2008.
6. La Jolla, Calif.-based LifeWave, marketer of adhesive patches that stimulate acupuncture points to improve health, ranked No. 4825 with 11.0 percent growth from $15.1 million in 2005 to $16.7 million in 2008.
7. Tempe, Ariz.-based Orenda International, distributor of anti-aging, immune science and weight-loss products made from the aronia berry, ranked No. 4875 with 5.7 percent growth from $5.1 million in 2005 to $5.4 million in 2008.

The 2009 Inc. 500 measures revenue growth from 2005 through 2008. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by the first week of 2005, and therefore able to show four full calendar years of sales. Additionally, they had to be U.S.-based, privately held, for profit, and independent—not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies—as of December 31, 2008. (Since then, a number of companies on the list have gone public or been acquired.) The minimum revenue required for 2005 is $200,000; the minimum for 2008 is $2 million.

Tags: direct selling weight loss opportunities, top direct selling weight loss companies

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