What Health and Wellness Businesses Can You Start?

TL;DR

Health and wellness businesses can address chronic disease by improving the environments, food systems, and health services people rely on every day. The opportunities discussed include testing and upgrading homes for healthier air, water, light, and other conditions, creating a modern butcher shop, and developing a fertility-focused concept inspired by Calibrate’s model.

Transcript

the marketting me loves everything you're saying around because the two things you just said those were actually like you know $20 million ad hooks Justin I'm pump here you're here because for well for two reasons the first reason is that you have started like six or seven companies that have collectively done something like $500 million in Revenue... Read More

Key Insights

• Chronic disease is presented as the dominant modern health burden, with cancer, asthma, heart disease, and diabetes described as having grown 700% during the last 90 years. The discussion argues that the average American is now unhealthy rather than occasionally becoming sick from an acute condition.
• The healthcare system is described as outdated because it was built to restore a normally healthy person after an acute illness. It is not designed for a population in which the average person is already unhealthy and likely to develop one or more chronic conditions.
• The food system is identified as a central cause of declining health, while regulators, doctors, researchers, and healthcare institutions are described as lacking consistent incentives to keep people healthy. This misalignment creates room for companies focused on prevention and healthier daily choices.
• The home environment is a business opportunity because people may spend 80% of their time in only a few spaces, such as a bedroom, kitchen, and office. Improving those spaces could make everyday surroundings more supportive of health.
• Home health testing can evaluate water, air, electromagnetic fields, and light. Lightwork, a company started by Mares’s friend, is cited as an example that is already performing this kind of testing and, according to Mares, doing very well.
• Home services represent $40 billion in annual spending, according to the discussion. Existing categories such as HVAC, plumbing, lighting, water, and electricity could be reframed around creating healthier homes rather than addressing only comfort, maintenance, or basic functionality.
• Health entrepreneurship can combine commercial value with measurable benefits for customers. Mares contrasts this work with less socially useful opportunities, arguing that companies addressing chronic disease can help people live longer and healthier lives while building valuable businesses.
• Domain experience is not always required before entering health consumer products. Mares reportedly lacked consumer packaged goods and direct-to-consumer experience before building health brands that generated tens of millions in annual revenue and reached more than 10,000 retail stores.

Questions & Answers

Q: Why is health and wellness a major business opportunity?

Health and wellness is presented as a major opportunity because Americans are experiencing record levels of illness, obesity, and chronic disease, including problems increasingly affecting children. The discussion argues that large, worsening problems create demand for products and services that help people remain healthy or return to a healthier baseline, allowing entrepreneurs to create both commercial and social value.

Q: How could a home health services company work?

A home health services company could begin by assessing the spaces where a customer spends most of their time, especially the bedroom, kitchen, and office. It could test conditions such as water, air, electromagnetic fields, and light, then recommend or coordinate improvements involving HVAC equipment, plumbing, lighting, water systems, electricity, and other relevant household services.

Q: What health factors could be tested inside a home?

The home testing concept specifically includes water, air, electromagnetic fields, and light. These measurements would help a company evaluate whether frequently used spaces are as healthy and health-promoting as possible. Lightwork is named as an existing company in this category, and Mares says that the business, started by one of his friends, is doing very well.

Q: Why does the existing healthcare model struggle with chronic disease?

The existing healthcare model is described as having been built for a different problem. It historically treated a healthy person who developed an acute illness and attempted to restore that person to health. The discussion argues that today’s average American is already unhealthy, making a reactive system poorly suited to a population facing cancer, heart disease, diabetes, asthma, and other chronic conditions.

Q: What role does the food system play in chronic illness?

The food system is presented as a primary contributor to widespread chronic illness. Mares argues that modern surroundings, including food, water, light, air, plastics, chemicals, toxins, and ultra-processed materials, have changed the default environment from one that generally did not poison people into one that can make the default person sick over time.

Q: What business ideas are proposed for the health market?

The episode identifies three principal opportunity areas: home health services, a modern butcher shop, and a fertility-focused concept described as Calibrate for fertility. The available discussion gives the most detail about home health testing and upgrades, while the description lists the butcher shop and fertility concepts as additional ideas explored later in the full episode.

Q: What entrepreneurial experience supports Justin Mares’s ideas?

Justin Mares is described as having started six or seven companies that collectively generated about $500 million in revenue over seven years, all within health and wellness. His experience includes keto-related brands producing tens of millions in annual revenue, distribution in more than 10,000 retail stores, a non-alcoholic beverage company, and a nine-figure bone broth product.

Q: Why might entrepreneurs focus their careers on one health problem?

The episode frames health as a field containing large, persistent problems that can support focused, long-term work. Its chapter titled “Choose one problem for your career” reinforces the idea that an entrepreneur can select a specific part of the chronic disease crisis and build sustained expertise, products, services, and institutions aimed at moving people toward a healthier baseline.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Justin Mares argues that widespread chronic illness is both a major American problem and a substantial entrepreneurial opportunity. He attributes much of the problem to unhealthy food and environmental exposures, while arguing that regulators, researchers, doctors, and the healthcare system are not consistently incentivized to preserve health before chronic conditions develop.

• The home health services concept would assess the few spaces where people spend most of their time, particularly bedrooms, kitchens, and offices. A company could test water, air, electromagnetic fields, and light, then connect its findings to services involving HVAC systems, plumbing, lighting, water, electricity, and other health-related home improvements.

• Additional opportunities include a modern butcher shop and a fertility-focused business modeled conceptually around Calibrate. The discussion also emphasizes choosing one meaningful problem for a career and draws lessons from Mares’s experience building health brands, including keto-related companies, a non-alcoholic beverage brand, and a bone broth product that reached nine-figure scale.