How Dan Corrigan narrowed Smidge’s focus to supplements
Dan Corrigan is Co-Founder & Visionary at Smidge, which makes foundational supplements including whole food vitamins and digestive support. In this conversation, Corrigan explains how practitioner searches brought early customers, why the business moved away from selling food, and how ingredient sourcing shapes its work.
A business can serve customers better by narrowing its focus: Smidge stopped selling food and concentrated on supplements after the broader model proved difficult to sustain. Corrigan also stresses doing the work to find ingredients and manufacturing partners that meet your standards.
What’s the short story of how your business started, and what makes it genuinely different from the other options your customers have?
The DNA of Smidge® is our cornerstone Sensitive Probiotic, custom-made to fulfill our customers’ unique needs. Parents of children on the spectrum asked us to create a specific formula for delicate systems because the products on the market had irritating strains that caused myriad side effects.* This compelled us to put tremendous energy into creating a product that maximizes effectiveness while eliminating concerns. As pioneers of the real food movement, we healed our own serious health conditions with a real food diet and the powerful addition of minerals and fat-soluble vitamins that our ancestors consumed. We used this personal ethos for healing with our deep understanding of traditional diets to create our unparalleled supplement line.
How did you win your first customers, and where does most of your new business come from today?
Our first customers came from the Gut and Psychology Syndrome (GAPS) community, particularly practitioners who were working with people who had significant sensitivities. These practitioners were searching Google for a probiotic that met their very specific criteria. Interestingly, we weren’t marketing to them directly. They found us because they understood the technical nuances of probiotic formulations, including the importance of carefully selected and balanced strains, and recognized that we were creating something their patients needed. Parents and other consumers weren’t necessarily familiar with those technical details, but the practitioners knew exactly what they were looking for. Today, most of our new business comes from people who prioritize clean, real food and want that same level of quality and purity in their supplements. They understand that what they put into their bodies matters, whether it’s food or supplements.
What’s one decision that changed the direction of your business, and one mistake that taught you the most?
The decision that changed the direction of our business and the mistake that taught me the most were actually one and the same. We originally operated a brand called Corganic, where we sold real food alongside our supplements because we believed so strongly in the importance of nutrition. But managing frozen, refrigerated, and shelf-stable foods alongside supplements was incredibly challenging, and ultimately, the business model wasn’t sustainable. We realized we needed to narrow our focus and do what we did best. So we eliminated the food offerings, rebranded to Smidge, and focused entirely on creating high-quality supplements, while encouraging customers to source their real food elsewhere. That decision allowed us to simplify our operations and grow the business.
What has changed in your industry or in what your customers expect over the last couple of years, and how have you adapted?
When we started in 2009, we were serving a very niche market. Today, clean supplements have become much more mainstream, with more companies offering products marketed around purity and quality. While that’s a positive shift, it also makes it harder for consumers to distinguish between good, better, and best. We’ve adapted by putting even more emphasis on education, helping people understand the importance of ingredient sourcing, processing, and the quality of the final product so they can ask the right questions and make informed decisions. That’s also what inspired my recently published book, Eat Well, Supplement Well, Digest Well: A Nonconformist Approach to Optimal Health. My goal is to empower people with the knowledge to make better choices for themselves and their families.
If you were advising someone starting out in your industry today, what would you tell them to do first, and what would you tell them to ignore?
My advice would be to take your time and do your homework, especially when it comes to sourcing ingredients and choosing manufacturers. I’ve had people come to me excited about launching their own supplements, only to discover their formulations contain ingredients and additives they’d rather avoid. It’s relatively easy to find a manufacturer who can produce a conventional supplement, but finding quality ingredients and a manufacturer willing to work without unnecessary fillers, additives, or excipients is much more challenging. As for what to ignore, I’d say ignore the people who tell you something can’t be done. When we started, we were told you couldn’t make a probiotic without fillers. We refused to accept that and found a way. If you believe you can create something better or truly unique, don’t let the naysayers discourage you. Do the work, find the right partners, and figure out how to make it happen without compromising your standards.
Thank you to Dan Corrigan and the team at Smidge for sharing what actually worked with Leaders Perception readers.
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