Hello readers and listeners! We’re back with the second conversation in our business podcast series where we chat to clever humans who’ve been there, done that, built the business????
Episode 2 of our podcast, Work.It, stars Director and Founder of Bio-Synergy, Daniel Herman. Since founding his company in 1997, aged 22, Daniel has bared witness to the rise of the health and lifestyle industry, the meteoric growth of e-commerce sales and the birth of social media and the influencer.
In this episode, Angelica and Daniel discuss the chain of events that led the child who bunked off games and avoided exercise at school to establish an award-winning sports and nutrition brand.
It all went awry when Daniel fell into a friendship group of rugby lads at university. Daniel started joining them at the gym and before long was making his own protein shakes with raw eggs and horlicks. After ramping up his training in pursuit of (unrealised) TV stardom as a contender on Gladiator and finding the powder supplements on the market to be pretty ineffective, Daniel took it upon himself to make his own in capsule form: “Rather than seeing a financial opportunity…I started the business out of pure need for me”.
BUILDING A LEADING PRODUCT
The company boasts a 400-strong community of ambassadors. Daniel has found that the nature of influencer marketing can lead to disingenuous content and misinformation, and Bio-Synergy work hard to build a positive culture of community amongst their ambassadors where they celebrate wins and skill share: “There’s WhatsApp and Facebook groups, Christmas parties, photoshoots and we feature members in our company magazine, Total Energy”. Daniel believes this genuine, organic engagement stems from making a product that works, that its customers believe in: “Our products literally do what it says on the tin”.
MAKE IT HAPPEN
The company didn’t meet with a branding consultant for 8 years and, when they did, found that authenticity was, again, key. He explains the company work to stay true to their customers’ experience, which is that there simply is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to fitness: “Our slogan became Make It Happen […] Whether you’re young, old, fit or unfit; making it happen might mean making it down the stairs or it might mean winning a gold medal”.
With 8% of profits from Bio-Synergy’s new vegan and non-vegan Rebel bar range going to UK Sports Aid and homeless charity, Centrepoint, Daniel and his team have found meaning in giving something back. Although Daniel mentions a few things he’d have done differently, he credits the brand’s cause- helping people to find happiness in living better- for its longevity: “In a small way, we’ve improved someone’s wellbeing and changed their life for the better…we can live on that fulfilment.”
Listen here to the whole conversation and hear more about Bio-Synergy’s amazing story from the car-boot to the Commonwealth Games, and learn how Daniel and his team maintain relevance in a highly competitive industry.
