The IV Bar (Pty) Ltd
What does your company do?
We administer medically approved intravenous vitamin and mineral drips in a tranquil lounge environment, so that our clients look, feel and perform better. All drips are administered by Registered Nurses. We fall into the health, wellness and beauty category. We offer drips that assist with energy, reduce fatigue, boost the immune system, detox the body, improve the appearance of skin tone and anti-aging, assist with weight loss and gut health, help manage pain and inflammation, improve mood and reduce anxiety and depression, boost libido, improve hair and nail growth, boost sports endurance and muscle recovery, assist with long Covid recovery, and more.Why drip as opposed to oral vitamins? IV drips guarantee 100% absorption of vitamins directly into the veins. A higher dose than oral administration is tolerated, and this is longer lasting in our bodies. Those with gut and inflammation conditions do not absorb vitamins, minerals and amino acids well from food or oral vitamins. Furthermore, our food has hormones and additives and less dense nutrients. With IV vitamin therapy with bypass the digestive system and administer these drips directly into the bloodstream, putting back our vitamin levels to what they should be. Vitamin drips can replace oral vitamins, but we still encourage our clients to keep a healthy lifestyle which means eating healthy and exercising regularly. IV vitamin therapy has become a way of life for many people across the globe. The IV Bar is a national franchise business with 23 branches across the country, with more IV Bars opening soon. We plan to have 35 IV Bars by the end of the year. We are the largest and safest IV vitamin drip company in South Africa, with the most experienced nurses.Our IV Bars resemble a "Starbucks/Slow Lounge" environment where our clients are offered complimentary Wifi and refreshments while they drip on comfortable recliners. There are also private cubicles where our clients can relax and watch Netflix or catch up with their work while they drip.
What is your biggest success?
Seeing an opportunity in the market and growing this business from scratch. When everyone told me it was complicated or difficult to get people to buy in to the concept, I persevered. I designed the logo with a graphic designer, I wrote the content for the website and all the marketing collateral. We started with one small IV Bar, and we now have 23 branches and counting. Building a team of incredible people, growing this beautiful business to a national aspirational brand, creating jobs for +45 nurses and more soon, and making thousands of people feel better every month, is what success is all about. We also opened 6 IV Bars in the middle of the pandemic. Where many businesses closed their doors during Covid, our business thrived due to the relevant and timeous nature of what we do. Covid really helped put IV vitamin therapy on the map.
What has been your biggest hurdle?
Franchising is difficult. Initially when we started franchising we would grant the franchise license to anyone that wanted to buy into our brand, without doing the proper checks. This means we landed up with people in our group who didn’t have business experience, or the money to see them through tough times, or the financial experience to manage their cash flows. It means we had people who weren’t passionate about the brand or the concept and often they would not comply with the franchise regulations. We had legal battles with franchises who opened competing businesses despite the franchise agreement and NDA. We have spent a lot of money on legal fees and had to buy back a franchise when the franchisee wasn’t paying suppliers and put our brand in disrepute. So we have now refined this process and are lot stricter with the franchisees we bring on board.
