He Sold 700+ Clinics: The IV Therapy Playbook They Don’t Teach You | Ben Crosbie | Ep. 85

Introduction to Ben Crosby and IV Therapy 0:00

Food is creating deficiencies across the board. So IV therapy is the quickest way to really boost one's vitamin panels, to boost their immunity, their energy, and their focus. You are one of the top CEOs in the industry, man. Growing the franchise system is Ben Crosby. Who is this guy? Well, you're just open up with those big questions. Ben Crosby, the CEO of The Drip Bar, a leader in IV hydration therapy, franchising expert and advisory board member of the American IV Association. He's helping make preventive IV vitamin therapy more accessible nationwide.

Vibe conference coming up September 26th to the 28th. In Orlando, we got some badass speakers that are going to be on that stage. So what can people expect about this ViBE conference? It's going be a great experience. Tremendous speaker lineup. We have a lot of CEOs and owners. If someone wants to really learn about Ivy Nutrition, is ViBe the conference for that? Yeah. I think that's the conference. Vibe is always going to be the bigger show for business to business. Everybody to date has gone to market too early.

They've gotten with 50 or 100 locations and it's not truly proven and durable. In franchising, it is constantly working in order to improve. What are some of the tips that you can give as advice for them to prepare themselves to try to get there? Welcome to another episode of a Healthy Point of View podcast. I'm your host, Sam Tahata. And as usual, we're bringing guests from all over the world that are experts in health, wellness, beauty, and mindset. Today, our guest comes all the way from Boston.

This is one of the top CEOs that sits on the Leadership Advisory Board with American Idea Association with me. He's one the of top CEO's in the industry. Very fast, rapidly growing company. he has a franchise system, he's an expert in franchise world.

Ben's Background in Fitness and Franchising 2:00

Today we have Ben Crosby. Welcome to a healthy point of view podcast man. I've been waiting for this moment Likewise likewise, and it's Boston Boston. Yeah, I'm trying man I hear you guys on TV as a boss So then man You are one of the top CEOs in the industry man growing the franchise system Ben is Ben Crosby Who is this guy? Well, you're just hoping up with those big questions Not quite sure you know, I just have a passion for business franchising and really the health and wellness field and Came into the drip bar about five years ago and have been growing it ever since so really excited where we are and where We're headed.

Yeah, man. You guys are definitely growing rapidly doing some wonderful beautiful things You know you and I and a few other CEOs in the industry. We've had the uh Ability to really work very closely together on some of the different projects, which today we're going to discuss a few things of what's happening in the future. Also talk about the vibe conference that's coming up. It's something that we've done through the American IV Association, But I want to talk about you though, first, because you are not the original founder of Drip Bar, right?

You kind of went in there and took over this operations. But, I wanna go even before that. You had a different franchise system that a lot of people knew this name out there. The Tap Out Gems, Right? Yep, absolutely. How you get into that? You know, it was just the continuous grind. So I went to college, graduated as an athletic trainer and a sports nutritionist. Um, after college, uh, decided to become a personal trainer because I always had a passion for health and fitness and wanted to take my education from college and, and be able to really explore and see what, what life was like.

So I became one of the top trainers in Boston, um, Boston. And after a few years, I developed a network and just a fashion to get into business for myself. So I opened up a line of health clubs. Our first one was right in downtown Boston. We opened three locations just by grinding and developing more or less on my own and exited that. Got into consulting and other things for a little time, but then was really, was consulting in working with a friend in Las Vegas. And that's when I met the original founders of Tap Out.

Tap out. If people don't know it was a big brand to the UFC as Nike is to, the NBA or a six is two running and, uh, you know, developed secured the global rights of the tap out brand created tapout fitness, brought that to market and within a four year span sold over 500 locations, 11 countries. And I exited that in January of 2019. Wow. There's a piece there that's missing. You weren't the founder of Tap Out, but you ended up having the global rights. Yeah, how? So, uh, really, I guess it turned into expertise, but also really networking.

So I knew how to run health clubs, But at that point I didn't know how really scale a business. Uh, so I learned how franchise, met a few partners and mentors to give me some inroads to franchising. We were really the first franchise to bring an iconic multi-million dollar brand from retail and from apparel into the health club world. So it was an MMA inspired brand through my network and knowing the original founders of Tap Out, they were gracious enough to give me a license specific for fitness only.

So we leveraged that. It was also part of a brand campaign to be able to expand their brand outside of MMA and get more into just fitness and overall health and wellness. Around that time, they also partnered with the WWE. So that was a really interesting exposure as well. Oh, wow. You know, I got into IVs because as you can imagine, being affiliated with Tapout and knowing the UFC and know and a lot of those fighters. I was traveling to Las Vegas quite a bit and. Every time, well, I was going once and a friend of mine said, Hey, let's go and try an IV, a drip before.

And I said what is, what's a trip?

From Tapout Fitness to IV Hydration 7:00

Sure. I've seen them in Vegas, but I didn't know that they were around here. So went down, did an Ivy, went to the UFC to, to fights, the expos to all these meetings, had a great time in Las Vegas. No, it's like, wow, you know, this Ivy thing really works. Uh, so then it became just a habit of mind. And I'm a creature of habit. I need to get everything where I can very easily replicate it. And, you know, every time I traveled, go and get an IV and then I'd never get sick. That never gets jet lag.

Be able to work longer, harder hours, which was my like secret sauce to be able too. Again, work, longer harder, hours and beat out the perceived competition. Yeah. But then when I exited, I said, now what do I do? So really enjoyed franchising, wanted to get out of the health club industry for a little while. And so I created a franchise development company where I would just go and partner with brands, create a franchised system, sell, replicate, and then inevitably exit. That started well, but then everything changed because Drip Bar really took on a life of its own.

Uh, drip bar was going well selling a lot. Uh. And I just recognized the need at that point for me to, uh, step in and really control the destiny. So I bought out all the partners, um, brought in a lot of lawyers, a lotta doctors, because to me, A brand in this emerging industry can't be tied to a single personality. It needs to go broad. So we stayed focused in our offering, but we started going broad with our subject matter experts. We created an R&D team, again, bringing in lots of doctors nurses, Pharma D consultants, and started bringing other vendors that I felt had the same passion and the Same grind.

You know, specific in the IV industry, I do see it comparable to the emerging industry that was MMA. Lot of people in there, lot of promises, very few like good, strong people that could really rise to the top. And that's what I've learned from, you know, even medical providers and some doctors and whatnot in this industry. You know there's not, there is a lot talk. There's a not a of execution. And by being, you know, part of the industry and then helping develop Ava, we've really been able to figure out who the players are and who The ones are that you can really trust and are built to develop this industry for the long term.

And, You know that's where we are today. Yeah, no, I love that man. and obviously, We've been following each other's journey for quite a while. Absolutely. Ben so so how many locations somebody drip bar locations have you guys sold I? Mean in total there's over 700 sold committed But that's a lot of area developers area representatives How many are open right now we're over a hundred in the US and We're going to deliver 10 to 15 over the next 12 months up in Canada. We are open in Bermuda. we just opened our first location in bermuda and in October, October November, we'll open our 1st one in India, India.

Absolutely. All right. Change in a conversation. How the heck did you end up? In India? You know, and are you going to go there for the grand opening? There's there's a chance it might be around vibe, so it it. Might be a little difficult, but if I can get to Hyderabad, I definitely will. So it just shows the the power of the brand, But also the excitement of IV therapy and the recognition that all humans Want to live longer, healthier lives. We were fortunate, you know, India sort of just happened because one of our existing franchisees, she opened her first location down in Georgia through her relationship.

She's opening her second location in Missouri. And then she works with another group that are developing more of a larger opportunity in India and they wanted to have a drip bar as part of the Medical installation that they're doing and so new emerging Health and wellness is coming to India and drip bars gonna be part of it. So very excited. I love it I Love it, but then you know, obviously you're keeping a close eye on the industry with all the different players What is it that you see that's happening in this health and Wellness industry currently right now?

I Yeah, so I do see the industry still as emerging, but there's become so much more recognition out there from clients that this is really helpful, right? When I started back in 2019, I noticed that there's a lot of mom and pops and some of those mom-and-pops were always talking about durable change. Like this one location at this address is going to change the world. And it's great passion for them to have. But I noticed that quickly the marketing and local turned it into, oh, that doctor's a quack, right?

Drip Bar Growth and Expansion 13:00

They are just coming up with this new thing that's so different, potentially groundbreaking, then we don't really believe it, and then they'd get inundated with whatever, just, they can't break out of that and they couldn't create any momentum. But now there are some brands like drip bar and liquid Vita that are able to have a voice that is larger and supported by a larger base where I see the industry being able go into more of a durable change where now this is no longer a fad. IV therapy works, peptides work.

hormone replacement therapy works. It's no longer just for the rich and the super elite or the people that are on the fringe that trying stuff, you know, tinkering in the labs and whatnot. This is a real business that is being recognized by the industry, but also significantly by, uh, the financial industries, your investment bankers, They now see what's happening and more and More transactions will be happening. Yeah, I mean, you've seen quite a few deals happen in our space already. There's been a Few companies, You know, restore hyper wellness had a deal that happened.

Yep. Veal med spa. I believe had. the deal, Forever Young had a deal. So what do you see with those deals that happened prior to today? And then what you do see based off those deal what's gonna happen in the near future? Because, and the reason why I bring it up and I'm not gonna throw any names out there, some of the deals haven't really scaled up since those things have happened. some organizations are only able to keep a certain amount of clinics open, right? Which sometimes you start thinking about it and there's a lot of factors in place, especially when you talk about the franchise business, where it could be an operational issue, it just could tons of different things.

From your perspective, what do you see happening with some of those bigger deals that have happened already? Yeah, so there have been some deals. It does show validation that there is interest in the markets for these type of businesses. So it's a good validator and a data point. There just haven't been enough of them, in my opinion, to really show the trajectory of the industry. Um, and that'll take probably a few more, a couple more years. Um. But I do see that the business market models have to be defined.

There are only so many super Uber high-end markets that your top of the line offerings can be, uh, offered at, you know, this, needs to. An industry and it will develop as an industry that has a commoditization along the lines of their pricing. It's going to remain as a volume for, for IV therapy and, and other treatments. And then your super high end services will be in key markets. So the industry is. almost defaulting into a hub and spoke model. And I see Dripbar being able to really define that middle market that it will inevitably become the scale.

But also by working with others, it'll become a very easy upsell, but referral network and referral chain, because there are clients out there that do want to spend Three five ten thousand dollars a month for the longevity and the super high end premium offerings that might be a little newer little more cutting edge but need that higher level doctor, but then. Uh, to service the masses, uh, To me, it'll become, you know, like drip bar. So your, your quick, a service come in almost like coffee shops.

You come, and you get your IVs, You get, Your supplements, get everything that you need, but with a strong consultant and a rough, strong educational backing behind it. And then we'll, become more of the direct to consumer because customers know what they're looking for, Like hims and hers and whatnot. where customers want stuff, but they want to do it in the privacy of their own home. Right, right. So you know, DripR started off with just IVs initially, and now you guys have implemented many other services and modalities.

What made you get into some of those, if you can just kind of talk about some other new things that you have guys implemented? Yeah, yeah, so we really, really focus on our IV's. I think that will always be at the core of the business. You guys have the precision IVs now too, right? We're developing some of those. So we've spent a lot of time, energy, research on our formulations. We basically break our core services down into two. Our lifestyle, which is for people that are healthy, that want to have higher energy, they want to boost their immune system, some on longevity, headaches.

So a specific need for somebody that's healthy or going through an acute situation like low energy hungover, headache. Then we've also developed a health support protocol. And the health support protocol is primarily for clients that have pre-existing conditions. So ways to help clients with cancer, heart disease, dementia, early onset, diabetes. It's more of a holistic plan and a parallel offering for those clients to them.

Industry Trends and Market Validation 19:00

them go into their doctor. It's just a parallel treatment to help offset some of the the items that the issues that they're feeling. We do do some personalization and precision IVs that are tuned into blood work or their genetics. And then we've been able to expand into services that to us make sense on a day-to-day basis, something where a client can come in every two to four weeks. So we've added Ozone, which has been a tremendous benefit to the business. We've had an NAD that's sort of under our health support.

Right. And we just launched Niagen. The NR. Plus the NR, right? So Niogen Plus is a great offering. that clients love. We do the IM shots and then everything has an ancillary or additional to the business. So clients can come in for red light therapy and for ed sauna, halo salt therapy, compression, all those services. We've taken our core business model, which is the drip bar at the location, and we've added other verticals. So we are launching a significant drip-bar mobile. Ben, thank you for explaining that.

Now, have you seen a cultural shift when it comes to healthcare recently, especially obviously running drip bars? A cultural shift. Yeah, I don't know. That's a difficult question to answer. I mean, it's becoming easier for clients. More clients understand what IV therapy is now than they did back in 2019. So as the industry grows, We're definitely seeing more and more clients and we don't need to do as much education to the benefits of IV therapy. But yeah, it's very well received at this point.

Yeah, I could tell you from like when we started it was like all marketing was educational marketing. Like now people know what IV trips are. So that's pretty cool. Why did you decide to go franchise and why not open up a bunch of corporate stores? uh scale yeah so so i looked at uh the business case for franchising was i Looked at the health club industry 30 years prior and 30 Years prior there was no real franchise there were some licenses corporate stores mom and pops But it was like Gold's Gym, Powerhouse Gym.

Those various ones. Right. But they never created a critical mass so that there was inevitably a a roll up of the industry. So Planet Fitness came in, created the the low cost model and basically took over the whole industry because they were able to quickly replicate through franchising. Um, so early on developing an industry that is emerging, it's, you almost got to think of it as a land grab where you need to open as many locations as you can in order to get to critical mass, but also in franchising.

A lot of people don't recognize being a franchisor is expensive and you don' make money for a long time. So you need to get over 70, 80, 100 locations before you really become royalty self-sufficient and be able to support the franchisees the way that they need too, in order to truly scale. So to me, because it was such a new emerging industry, franchising was the only way to go to really get that replication and to be able to keep being. But right now, I think we're in 37 states in the US. Oh, wow.

So only a way. To get there. I mean, you are the franchise guy, too. It's kind of like, yeah, got a franchise. Yeah, it's my superpower. What kind of wellness gaps do you feel that Tripp Bar is addressing with what's happening in today's world? Well, the food is creating deficiencies across the board. So IV therapy is the quickest way to really boost one's vitamin panels to boost their immunity, their energy, and their focus. I also try to explain it as doing an IV is a best way of creating a therapeutic effect at the cellular level.

IVs are great, but you also think of it as a bolus, and then your oral supplements are more of a maintenance dose to hold you over until you get your next IV. And Ben, so if someone is hearing our message, our conversation here, they're like, you know what? The IV space seems like a pretty good space to get involved. What would be your message to them? Own a drip bar dot com. Was that was that self promotion? A little bit, but it's fine. You know, we like that. We like. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.

No. Again, I use I used what I understand is a health club industry. So there are so many. Passionate people out there that want to help people and that's why a lot of people open their own gyms, you know, they open own studios They do personal training It's the same thing in the in The drip bar or the IV therapy world, right? What do you say? You know like what when you're talking about people own their on jams their owned studios and stuff and Like right now where the industry's at, does it make sense for someone to open up their own clinic versus actually buying into a franchise system?

Well, yeah, considering being drip bar, I'd highly recommend not to. But also, you know, dripbar provides all the systems, the tools, marketing, advertising, branding, scale, everything that's needed. So it's a very easy turnkey. Right. but I also recognize that franchising isn't for everyone.

Services, Protocols, and Wellness Offerings 26:00

And I think that was one of the core value drivers. For us to really join the American IV association to create a foundation to almost protect the industry. Right. My definite recommendation is for. is not for somebody to open this on their own. If you don't have the tools and the research, this is a medical treatment, you're doing IVs, You wanna make sure that you are doing it right. You don' want to cut corners. you wanna really make that sure you understand the medical, the nursing, as well as the pharmacy rules and regulations, both federally and at your state.

and do it the right way. Because always remember why you get into the business. If you're open up one mom and pop, You're opening it because you had a passion for helping people. If you got payroll in a week and you have to cut corners to sell that client that shouldn't get an IV or shouldn' get testosterone, you don't want to be in that situation. You know, You really want To be prepared. you Don't wanna be surprised. But again, going back to the American IV Association, Ava, we're very proactive.

So something that happens, We want to be the first ones to have a voice. We wanna make sure that there's not bad information going out or the inappropriate answers. And we wanna understand why certain things happen. so we can set policies, procedures, and rules and regulations that we could help support to create a nice, safe industry. It's two-fold. we want make that sure we are helping people. But also part of Ava is making sure that others are doing it the way that we're doing. So the industry as a whole is successful and thrives and we don't hurt somebody because a bad, bad story in in outside of drip bar or outside liquid Vita still affects us.

Is that why you decided to join the American Ivy Association? Yeah, that was one of the core. reasons. So, so how much does the American Ivy Association pay you to sit on the leadership advisory board? I pay them. I asked that for a reason because a lot of people, you know, when we first did that, it's like, ah, they're just doing it for the money, right? You know? They, the, getting paid. It's just like I actually pay that. Right. And I volunteer my time, which my. Is worth more than what I paid them?

Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah, but that's how a real legitimate industry gets built. Right. And like I said, going back to the MMA days, you can't skim the top. in order to really create a strong, durable industry. You know, there are going to be leaders in the industry and those are the ones that pick up the torch when everybody else is, you know turning their heads and you there's, people in, when the proverbial shit hits a fan that stand up and lead the way and others that duck and run. And I've never been a sheep and I never will be.

So yeah, we'll always stand and lead the way you're just gonna you know, film it the whole time So they can't run away they got to come with that's part of the deal so so yeah then With the American IV Association, we decided to do certain things for the industry. One of the things is the Vibe Conference, which we have the vibe conference coming up September, September 26th to the 28th. In Orlando, We got some badass speakers that will be on that stage. You guys asked me to MC the event, Which initially I was just like, I've never done that before.

I'm not doing it. That's your comfort zone. Yeah, exactly. But a natural row wouldn't matter when you're out of your comfort zone. So I'm doing it. I want to see it so what can people expect about this vibe conference? Well, yeah, it's going to be a great experience. so we'll be pushing a thousand attendees. We have I like to say we've selected our exhibitors and sponsors, um, to, you know, not just take the biggest check. We want to make sure that everybody is there, is working with somebody in Ava and has a good, strong reputation.

So that's very important, uh, too, To us and to me, make that the reputation of the industry and a vibe is always held and maintained in the forefront. Um, but tremendous speaker lineup, um, we have the maha panel that's going to be speaking. We have a lot of CEOs and owners, you know, the majority of business owners CEOs, uh, and such are going be the attendees, which I love. Uh, yeah. Tremendous doctors and subject matter experts. It's a B2B. Yeah. Really? We set it up as a b2b business to business.

Definitely. But yeah, are you saying that we got some of the, top doctors in the industry and some of the top companies when it comes to the longevity clinics. And that's one thing that I'm trying to tell people and let them know. I posted something the other day showing all the different faces, but this is not just your random mom and pop longevity center. The people that are showing up, the CEOs and the doctors, You're talking about the companies that have multi locations nationally and some even globally that are really leading the industry.

Yeah, 100 percent. And, you know, we've we're really focused on selecting the right speakers not to go up and sell their product. Right. But to explain the the science and efficacy behind their products and why it works. But then we hope to be able to validate it with real clinical studies and in doctors up there that are explaining their programs and and other tips and tricks that we want to share with all locations. I know, you know a couple of months back you interviewed Dr. Rollis, who I work with quite a bit, all about his high dose vitamin C and We initially started it as, Hey, this is going to be something where we focus all on drip bar.

But we're like, no, like dripbar will never be big enough. Maybe we hit 200, maybe we had a thousand locations, but maybe were global.

Franchising Strategy and Industry Safety 33:00

but still we are not going be able to everywhere for everyone. So we wanted to take that high dose vitamin C protocol. put it in his book, put out there and really create it as a core tenant of Vibe and of Ava and everything that we're doing. So it's full open source. Any location can do Dr. Rollis' high dose vitamin C, really developing that whole core curriculum in that training and education. And he'll be at ViBe, he will be talking all about it. You know, the good, strong, you know opportunities.

that can help millions of people. I personally don't want to hold it like captive. And I want a hide it. You know, you can only get it at your part. We have plenty of those. But to create a real, durable change in cancer, it has to be a full system, full opportunity. It's going to illustrated in vibe quite a bit. If someone wants to really learn about IV nutrition, is Vibe the conference for that? Yeah, I think that's the Conference. The sister conference of HEAL done by Dr. Chris Seitz of Guardian MD is a fantastic one.

That one is more focused on nurse training and nurse education where Vibe is always going to be the bigger show for business to business, but being able to really give that medical education that, as I've been saying, could create that durable change, But also create a recurring customer that every business owner covets. Yeah, and I want to put emphasis about Vibe, man. Vide is the largest vitamin infusion business expo in the entire globe. Definitely. And that's why we have all of the larger companies that offer IV therapy.

They're presenting, they're educating. When you really look at it being the large IV Therapy conference in world, we're also being backed by some of founders of the larger conferences in the functional medicine space. Everything from Dr. Bob Goldman, the founder of A4M. We have Lars with Cryocon, we have Alex Church, founder Amspa. You know, in my opinion, and then correct me if I'm wrong here, but we've made a certain movement to be able to have these people support us. Yeah, absolutely. It's one of, it's a proud moment and a pride opportunity for myself.

And I'm sure for you to be able to really create a collaborative environment where again, People are coming to share best practices for running a business, for doing IV therapy, or building just a conference. And yeah, all of them are going to be on a panel at the conference at Vibe, really just talking about collaboration and how we're all collaborating with one another so that there becomes a single voice in IV Therapy and overall functional medicine in the near future. Right. Yep. But there's something that a little bird was telling me about this health brands.

So something new is cooking. There is was this little parrot, this bird, right? Yeah, yeah. Well, there it could be 100 percent. Yeah. Health brands has become, well, an opportunity that I've been having in the back of my brain, you know, the little bird over the past couple of years, just not exactly sure how it'll all come to fruition. But, working with you, with others, The industry will inevitably see a roll up. There will be the private equity and investment bankers and all of this stuff. For the mom and pops that are listening, what is a roll-up?

So a Roll-Up is an M&A transaction merger and acquisition where you just go and start buying companies and rolling them up under a common brand or multiple brands. But what I'm trying what we're trying to do with health brands is really start to set a tone to bring the best of the together to start creating those collaborations. So we are not building units on top of one another. And we're not creating conflicts of interest and conflicts, of service offerings and such so that we can all grow together at a much faster rate and a more profitable rate for the franchisees because then they get access to more tips and tools and just overall more efficient.

But health brands, the conceptually is bringing the top businesses and the vendors together to really collaborate on an ongoing basis to be able to set the table for a simple transaction anywhere, a year from now, two years, 10 years whatever it takes. But, uh, would you say health brands is basically the start of the foundation for a potential roll up? Yes, 100%. Yeah. That, that is really, you know, the opportunity. And I think the. Opportunity was born out of. The early transactions that you were saying, everybody to date has gone to market too early.

You know? They've gone with 50 or a hundred locations and, um, It's not truly proven and durable. You know, there'll always be locations that open some that close some, that do really well, some not. Uh, and, uh, you know in franchising, it's constantly working in order to improve, Uh AUVs, AU Vs are average unit volume. So either increasing marketing spend or increasing, items that people can buy, people, what people want adding the various services. So health brands has the ability to do that in a very simple, efficient way by again, bringing together the various brands to have all of those subject matter experts in room to really share that common vision of growth and scale.

Because growth in scale, again it's the only way to create durable change in the health and wellness industry by having affiliations with hundreds or thousands

Vibe Conference and Health Brands Roll-Up 40:00

of locations. That's when you can easily drag and drop iDose vitamin C protocol into all of them and create, you know, economies of scale. and overall profitability, but also helping millions and millions of clients. Right, right. Ben, if there's someone out here listening to the podcast or watching the podcasts and they say, man, you know, I only own one or two locations, But I would love to be part of this roll-up. Sure. What are some of the tips that you can give as advice for them to kind of prepare themselves to try to get there?

You know, locations that are out there, that have one, two, three locations, um, That are interested in knowing more about, uh, health brands. I think it's good to first start with Ava, you know? Really understand the mission of AVA. Understand the foundation of the industry. Make sure that you're aligned with that. Um, You can reach out to healthbrands.co. Uh, the website that was launched, back in July, I. And also come to Vibe. So being at ViBe, health brands will be there. We're looking for a couple different opportunities.

Those that participate in health brand, there's other brands that are associated with it, so we're look for locations that want to convert into one of the brands, Strip Bar being one them. So, but it's really knowing all the brands and knowing where your cultural fit is, who do you fit best with, you know, is it Drip Bar, Is it Liquid Vita, the others. But also, it is making sure that you share the commonality of vendors, of services, and of products. Because, if you're looking to sell, that can definitely be an opportunity as well.

It's really join part of the team or become, you know, part on our purchase list of locations that may want to sell or otherwise. Yeah. But you said like vendors and products like one of things that I think is important for people that potentially might want be part this bigger roll up on the line is kind of understanding Who these companies that are part of health brands? Yeah, who were using right? What kind of right more we're using so as you start to Further develop your business. You got to make sure that if you're on the same platforms it becomes a lot easier for Health brands to potentially acquire your right definitely 100% but also Yeah, knowing who's involved in health brands also gives somewhat of a peek under the covers, you know, a little cheat sheet of who the real vendors are, who, the good vendors, are.

And there's not that many. There's a lot of good ones. But there are some that are, you know, let's call it maybe suspect that out there. And you can't really play around, There might be a few options that are cheaper, but it's not necessarily better for the longevity of your business, But also for The safety of Your clients. At the end of the day, this whole industry has to be focused on safety first and then providing a tremendous customer experience where customers keep coming back because they believe in the plan that was set for them.

I agree. And, you know, before we wrap up here, man, I want to ask you, what do you think about this whole MAHA movement? Make America healthy. I personally I think it's amazing. How could anybody be upset with, You know. Making America Healthy again, especially when it starts with the kids, starting with good, strong quality food. But that it is now going to be available to everyone. Right. Like. I know my son grew up eating very well, and now he's taller than me at 15. His feet are bigger. Like, what the heck's going on?

Those are my feet right there. So, yeah, there you go. So but it's tremendous that it is going to get into the schools. It starts with the kids very young because look, the better and the healthier and more educated children are. I won't sing the sing this song, The Children of the Future, right? But. But I do see kids eating healthier earlier, being educated, you know, going to P.E., going a gym class and actually sweating. That's what I did growing up. Right. I think I'm better off for it now.

You know childhood obesity being reduced. It'll then allow us to modify our service offerings at your bar and liquid Vita, you over the next 10, 15, 20 years. So I do see Maha being the first like large most longevity, but functional medicine modification, because everything starts, you know, foundationally and with the kids. I agree. Ben, if there's someone listening to the podcast or watching the podcasts and they resonate with today's message, it being a end consumer who actually utilizes our service or one of the many doctors that listen to podcasts, what's that one thing you can leave them with?

MAHA Movement and Closing Thoughts 46:00

Follow your passion. Uh, following your fashion and doing it the right way is, uh, is critical in this industry. And, ah, that's how I've continued to grow and scale the business. I love the health and wellness industry, I, love, a drip bar and the IV industry and how it's become a, um, like a offshoot of health wellness and it. So IV therapy is the future. Um, Yeah, so keep pushing your passion. Follow your passions and execute and come to vibe. I love it. Come to Vibe. Ben, if people want to find you, where can they find Ben at TheDripBar.com.

You know, I'm pretty available. I would love to talk to anybody that's interested in Ava, Vibe, Drip Bar, Health Brands, Liquid Vita, others, any of the vendors. Like I am an open book looking to help grow the industry and you know growing Dripp Bar will always be at the forefront and really excited about the future of business. I appreciate that, Ben, and I will say for the listeners and the viewers of the podcast, you are about the industry. It's not about just strip bar, it's just about you per se.

You have shown it, You've brought me franchise deals of people that want additional services like aesthetics and stuff, And you think about industry, so I really appreciate what you're doing, I want other people to understand that that's who Ben Crosby is. So then it was a pleasure having you here on the podcast man All the links and all that stuff so people can contact you so appreciate it brother. Thank you. So much. Amazing you guys This was all about health brands today, so you guys can kind of understand the actual state of the industry and see what is happening and how it started.

Ben has a chapter in How to Win in Modern Wellness in my book. He was one of first CEOs that agreed right away to be able to share his information. That was the start of us really kind collectively coming together to really protect this industry, and lead it in the right direction. So if you wanna learn more of what's happening with the industry and the direction that the industries going, make sure you follow Ben, follow the other organizations that are helping bring people together like the American IV Association.

And don't forget, makes sure that you show up to that vibe conference. It's gonna be the vibe. So make you share, like, subscribe, do all the fun stuff, and we'll see you for the next one.