Have you experienced waking up one day, putting on your false eyelashes, and wonder, “what if I start my own eyelash business?” If yes, then this article is for you.
Suppose you wish to jumpstart into your successful eyelash business. In that case, these are some of the important few things that you need to consider:
- Know your market and demographics
- Identify your brand
- Prepare your business plan and your funds
- Design the structure of your business
- Know your competitors
- Find the perfect place to sell
- Register your business
- Build the official sites and hotlines for customer queries and paying method
Starting your own eyelash business is not a walk in the park. It needs careful and crucial planning, just like any other business. We don’t want to open a company without the hopes of it being big one day. So, make sure that you think through each step thoroughly.
Below, we will be delving a little deeper into these factors, and learn how important each one of them is for starting an eyelash business.
Market and Demographics
Whatever reason you may have, whether personal, by influence, or inspiration, to start up your eyelash business, it is crucial to know to whom you are selling this business and products.
Before jumping into making your plans a reality, do thorough research first. Who are your target buyers? What audience are you planning to serve? Will you make this available for the local market only, or are you planning to make this internationally accessible? What age range is this product’s best market?
According toTachavio, 2019, young and affluent women and millennials are mostly the targets of the false eyelashes business. They are concerned about their appearance and how they present their looks.
You can get your answers to this by searching online for statistics or surveying your local area (Market research and competitive analysis). You may also read through surveys online of what this age range would like their lashes to know what type of strategical market would be best attractive to them.
Naming Your Brand
In business, one of the best ways to be remembered is through the uniqueness of your brand name.
Opt for a brand that your customers can remember easily but still pretty much distinct from the others. A brand can set you apart from your competitors and might be why you stand out among others. Just like LV for Louis Vuitton or D&G for Dolce and Gabbana, you can make your print too.
Except that, you also have to make sure that your brand isn’t legally taken or owned by another company. Otherwise, you might be busy with copyright and plagiarism lawsuits in the future, and we wouldn’t want that.
As much as we want our brand and eyelash business to be known, we also want to ensure that it runs smoothly and efficiently. Avoiding legal pursuits is one way to do so.
Business Plan and Funds
If architectural buildings have a blueprint, a business has business plans.
A business plan will serve as your guide and map in starting, running, and keeping your business going (Write your business plan).
A business map with all necessary actions and steps will realize the company of your dreams finally.
If we have a goal, of course, there’s hard work involved.
We cannot just search for a magic lamp and make a friendly genie make our dreams come true by rubbing it like Aladdin.
Doing business is risky. To not waste your time doing something for nothing, it is necessary to make a rough business plan. It will show you all the budgets and risks, such as the materials needed for the product, the unit price, the expected income and expenses, the marketing methods, the costs required for sales. Customer base. Other factors, etc.
If you make your business plan thoroughly and with great efforts, it can even attract future investors (Write your business plan).
Design the Structure of Your Business
Aside from the business plan, it is also essential to know the structure and design of your eyelash business and operation. It will help you keep track and organize the things needed to be done or changed in tangible and intangible things regarding your business. It consists of the work, budget, and pricing flow of your products offered.
Competitors
As the Art of War by Sun Tzu said, “The best strategy in war is to defeat your enemy without ever fighting them.” Learn about your competitors. Check what they are offering(), their available products and designated prices for each, the materials they use, promos and gimmicks to attract buyers, etc.
Try to come up with your elements instead of just copying whatever they have in store. Try to answer the question “why they should choose you?” while developing your tactics to develop something uniquely yours.
It is best that you also offer something that isn’t known before, something that can make people curious and associate with your identity. Typical examples are the green stripes in Gucci apparel or the yellow and black printed silk of Versace. It will set you apart from the rest.
Aside from that, materials used in your products can also be your weapon to ace among your competitions. Sometimes, it’s the price that serves as the business’s pied piper and the quality and aesthetic beauty. Most today, customers post the things they find attractive or excellent on their social account, which can be your free promo too.
Perfect Business Location
We do not want to put our business in the middle of nowhere where no one will notice or a place that is too crowded that people can barely locate it. So, choose a place where it is easily spotted or accessible to the public but still the best spot to avoid being overshadowed. Know your customers well as they would be the number one reason to ensure that your business has a future.
Aside from that, it would be best to consider the taxes, rent, and other determinants related to these matters (Pick your business location). Every penny counts, and we don’t want to waste it over obligatory monetary fees without making sure that we get something profitable in return.
Finally, it would help if you also thought about setting a physical store, online store, or both, as these all have different underlying requirements.
Legalities and Registration
We do not want to be running an illegal business now, do we?
Make sure that you register your brand and business. Registering your business means getting permission to operate, trade and purchase, pay taxes, and make sure you are not copying other brands’ names. Licenses and other legal documents that prove your ownership can also protect your brand and business(Register your business).
Contact Information and Official Websites
Since we live in a digital age, our eyelash business should also be able to keep up. Our contact information shouldn’t only be limited to phone numbers like the old era.
Nowadays, a telephone, business email, website, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and many other social media platforms are considered a means of customer service contact and even a marketing strategy.
Especially that, as stated above, most of your future clients are from a generation where communication is heavily dependent on the said channels. It is only suitable for us to keep up, else we will be far behind the trends.
In line with that, it is best that you also hire an expert in handling your customer hotlines and website.
Paying Method
Some businesses often neglect the importance of the available paying methods for their business. Trust me, I know. Have you experienced ordering a product online that says “we ship worldwide” but only has local banks as a paying method? It’s frustrating, isn’t it? It can be not very encouraging too.
Deciding whether you will have your products sold online internationally is crucial. It entails opening international payment and shipping services. And if you choose to do so, make sure that you offer them options that ensure smooth and satisfactory transactions.
Some of the various methods you can introduce to your customers are PayPal, Payoneer, Visa, debit and credit cards, Wise bank transfer, and more. It will save them the hassle and would even encourage them to buy again.
These are some of the most important things you should think of to take off with your successful eyelash business finally. Some other factors also include:
- Availability of materials
- Wholesale and retail prices for the equipment and materials
- Staff and personnel
Conclusion
Above, we untangle some of the questions that may be bugging your mind in starting your own eyelash business. Remember to realize dreams. It would help if you considered a few things to give it a promising future and even keep loyal clienteles in the long run.
References:
- Write your business plan (retrieved from https://www.sba.gov/business-guide/plan-your-business/write-your-business-plan, 2021)
- Pick your business location (retrieved from https://www.sba.gov/business-guide/launch-your-business/pick-your-business-location, 2021)
- Global Fake Eyelashes Market 2019-2023 Introduction of Customizable False Eyelashes to Boost Growth |Technavio (retrieved from https://apnews.com/press-release/pr-businesswire/15f742d905754dad83651fb7257011a3, 2019)
- Register your business (retrieved from https://www.sba.gov/business-guide/launch-your-business/register-your-business, 2021)