Wellness Revolution
Wellness Revolution
Wellness Revolution
THE WELLNESS
REVOLUTION
One of the most lucrative nancial
opportunities is yours for the taking. Discover
why wellness is a $500 billion industry.
26 | YOUR BUSINESS by Paul Zane Pilzer
VOLUME 3 ISSUE 3
Wellness is becoming
an investment more and
more of our population is
turning toward.
The Sickness vs. Wellness Industry
Weve spent years calling doctors, hospitals, pharmacies and
pharmaceutical companies the health industry, when in reality
these businesses are truly the sickness industry. supplements, juices, pesticide- and hormone-free
The $2 trillion we spend on medical care, which foods, anti-aging therapies and alternative medi-
represents one-sixth of the U.S. economy, is cal care, to name just a few. I was stunned to learn
concerned almost exclusively with treating the that an industry that had barely existed a decade
symptoms of illness. It has very little to do with before was already a $200 billion businessand
preventing illnesses or with making people feel it was just getting started.
stronger or healthier.
On the other hand, the wellness industry includes Who Is Interested in Wellness?
products and services that promote wellness rather Those most interested in wellness are a new
than respond to illnessthis includes nutritional and growing economic sector. They are primarily
supplements, super foods and juices, personal train- people who, as their financial situation improves,
ers and alternative care, such as chiropractic. start looking for ways they can be healthierand
theyre doing it outside the medical establishment.
The New Wellness Revolution They are going to fitness clubs, watching what
PAUL ZANE PILZER IS A WORLD-
In the 1990s, I stumbled onto the wellness RENOWNED ECONOMIST, MULTIMILLIONAIRE
they eat, taking the proper amounts of vitamins
industry quite by accident. For 10 years (against ENTREPRENEUR, COLLEGE PROFESSOR and minerals, and investigating supplements and
medical advice) I had put off getting expensive AND AUTHOR OF EIGHT BEST-SELLING other products that support their wellness.
BOOKS. WIDELY REGARDED AS A LEADING
knee surgery. Experiencing chronic pain, I began PREDICTOR OF ECONOMIC CATALYSTS
Who are these people? Mostly baby boomers:
to take a supplementglucosamineand within AND TRENDS, PILZER HAS SERVED AS prosperous people from the ages of 40 to 60. Baby
a year, the cartilage was repaired. My surgeon was AN ECONOMIC ADVISOR TO TWO U.S. boomers are the first generation in history that
PRESIDENTS. HE HAS STARTED SEVERAL
positively amazed when he examined my X-rays; ENTREPRENEURIAL BUSINESSES EARNING
refuses to blindly accept the aging process. They
I no longer needed surgery. HIS FIRST MILLION BEFORE AGE 26 AND HIS are also a powerful economic force; they represent
I began to take a look at the health and well- FIRST $10 MILLION BEFORE AGE 30. only 28 percent of our population, yet this group
ness products availablepure water, nutritional represents 50 percent of our economy.
Is the wellness market serving a large enough segment of the The big-box stores provide an affordable way to purchase things
population to be lucrative? we already know about and want. But in todays self-checkout, cash-
and-carry world, you will rarely find store employees well informed
Gen Y Gen X Baby Boomers about the products, or even able to recommend anything that hasnt
Age 20-30 Age 30-45 Age 46-65
been heavily advertised in the media.
Increased Increased Restore Youthful Vitality While the Internet is a source of useful information, it can only
Performance Performance Alleviate Aches and Pains give you information on products you ask about. It cannot tell you
New Aches and Pains Increase Memory Capacity about something you dont know to ask about.
The Gen-Xers and Gen-Yers are definitely looking to improve their
performance, and they represent a significant piece of this market.
But the baby boomers are a huge part of it. This generation is no lon-
The wellness industry is
ger focused on remembering what it was like to be youngtheyre products and services that
buying things that actually make them feel younger by achieving a
healthier body, more acute senses and a sharper mind! promote wellness rather than
An Economic Revolution respond to illness.
The wellness industry has only just begun. As more learn about So how do consumers learn about new products? Today, more than
wellness, this sector of our economy will continue to explode. By ever, consumers learn about the latest products by word-of-mouth.
2010 it will have become the next trillion-dollar industry.
Todays wellness opportunities lie not only in the distribution of The Home-Based Business Boom
products, but even more so in the distribution of information In the wellness industry, it usually works this way:
called intellectual distribution. Sam has been feeling achy, and therefore cranky, lately. He bumps