Galway entrepreneur Daithi O’Connor started Revive Active in 2011. Eight years later 20,000 people a day use his super vitamin supplements. The business has grown steadily year on year with over 1,000 retailers on the island of Ireland now stocking the product.

Turning points in the business

Daithi can point to specific events that have made a big difference to the business.

In 2013, Goretti Brady the MD of Lloyds Pharmacy was visiting the Roxboro store in Limerick and noticed their Vitamin, Mineral & Dietary supplement sales had gone up by 900%, she asked the reason and the local Manager handed her a box of Revive Active.  As a result, she then decided to stock Revive Active throughout their network of 100 pharmacies across Ireland.

With a strong foothold in the Irish market, Daithi realised that they needed to export to realise the firm’s growth potential.

“Word of mouth has been huge for us. People recommend our product to friends and family because of the science behind it and the multiple benefits experienced, however we had no footprint in Northern Ireland. It’s a market of almost two million people on our doorstep, it was too big to ignore”

50% Funding for the salary of a salesperson in NI

Revive Active contacted InterTradeIreland, and under the company’s sales and marketing programme, Acumen, secured 50% funding of the salary of a sales person in NI. “Actually part of a big help to us too, was that InterTradeIreland assisted us with the recruitment process. Plus, we were really impressed with the quality of the candidates” adds Daithi.

Now with a full time representative in Northern Ireland, the market has doubled for Revive Active within twelve months and all the signs are for further growth.

 

Growing and Exporting

“Our plan was to crack Northern Ireland first, it’s been a great test-bed for us in terms of exporting and our next target market is the USA. Initially we are going to target Florida, that state alone has population of 20 million people however the total US market has a value of $28B.”

The thought of Brexit hasn’t deterred Daithi “ In business you deal with different issues everyday so our team have planned for Brexit be it hard or soft. If you’re serious about growing your business you need to explore all areas of growth open to your company and assess risk and return. We will expand even further on the basis of our experience in Northern Ireland.”

 

If you would be interested in taking part in Acumen to grow your business and gain new customers, you can find out more at www.intertradeireland.com/acumen

You could be eligible for up to £15,000 in funding towards the salary of a sales person in Northern Ireland.

 

 

 

 

 
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