Starting a brand of makeup products requires important steps, especially concerning the formula of the makeup products, the definition of your market, the sale according to the legal framework, and the distribution in stores or on the internet.
It’s not so easy to create a makeup brand: many tests of the cosmetic products will have to be put in place to ensure the conformity of the brand. A strict set of specifications must accompany the company, and a contract of trust must be established with its potential future customers to ensure sales in an ultra-competitive market.
In this step-by-step guide, we’ll provide you with our best tips on starting your own makeup brand to help you begin on the right foot.
FAQs: Starting a makeup brand and creating makeup products
What are makeup products?
Makeup products are substances or mixtures that’ll be put in contact with the surface areas of the body, namely the face. Makeup generally has an aesthetic and/or a protective purpose, in order to beautify, modify, or keep the body in good condition.
These products improve the upper parts of the human body without changing its nature, as could be done by cosmetic surgery.
How much does it cost to start a makeup brand?
Creating a brand means either building up a stock with suppliers to be able to resell the products to your customers or creating your own products by proposing unique formulas in custom-made packaging for your own brand.
When it comes to determining the startup costs for your makeup line, just like with the costs to start an online boutique to sell clothing or the costs to start a skincare line, the exact amount will depend on numerous factors. However, the general recommendation is to have a budget of $5,000 to $10,000 for the first stage of your makeup brand: this will allow you to anticipate the daily expenses but also provide money to buy the merchandise necessary to sell your products.
It’ll be up to you to negotiate the best rates with your suppliers but also to buy your raw materials at the most advantageous prices in order to develop qualitative formulas whose margins will allow you to earn a substantial profit for each product you sell.
There are regional and national subsidies for business creation: contact your Chamber of Commerce and Industry to find out more.
What course of study is required?
It all depends on the ambition of the makeup brand: if the owner wants to resell products from different laboratories and other brands on their point of sale or on their ecommerce website, then skills in marketing and commerce will be necessary.
If the entrepreneur wants to create their own products and formulas, then a scientific degree or a diploma in cosmetology will be the most suitable course of study for the company's objectives.
Nevertheless, in order to be able to sell cosmetics online successfully, the entrepreneur must be interested in the virtues and assets of their products sold as well as being trained in the different facets of sales and online sales.
With the WiziShop ecommerce solution, benefit from complete ecommerce training included in your subscription! Step by step and with video, you can discover all the facets of the business to support you effectively in your work as an entrepreneur.
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First of all, you must know that it is impossible to sell a makeup line consisting of homemade cosmetics if they don’t abide by the legal certifications in force. National regulations, legal obligations, standards, required licenses, and best practices, etc. There are many country-specific rules regarding this industry to respect before you can sell your makeup.
To start selling your own cosmetics professionally, it's best to take a certified training course that will allow you to learn all the ins and outs of this sector. Many training courses are available on the internet, in regional laboratories, and in certified schools.
How do you create your own makeup line and build a cosmetic brand?
Before starting a business in the cosmetic industry and launching your first line of products, a few steps are necessary to create your own makeup brand!
1. Have a project idea and perform a market study
First of all, the first essential step will be to find the project idea for which you’ll flourish in the makeup sector. This market opens many doors to start a makeup business: you’ll have to study this market through the different ranges and different proposals that exist.
Foundation, mascara, eye shadow, lipstick, concealer, makeup brushes, body makeup… What type of products are you interested in? What kinds of cosmetics are in demand with shoppers?
Once you’ve determined these elements, you can start by performing market research and thus make the choice of the items you want to turn to based on your interests and your manufacturing criteria.
2. Determine the products to sell and know your target customer
You’ve determined the universe that makes you want to sell; now you have to choose the products you could turn to in order to get the maximum benefits.
To do this, at the same time as discovering the different products that you could offer for sale, it’ll be essential for you to meet the specific needs of your target customer.
This persona will be central to your cosmetics business: without it, it’ll be very difficult to determine your catalog, the key ingredients to add in your basic formulation, or the range that'll be a best-seller as soon as it’s released.
3. Create your company and your brand
It’s then time to create your company and your brand. Often, one does not go without the other: creating your business implies choosing a legal status adapted to the sale of cosmetic products, and the brand designates the creation of all the elements inherent to this company, from its name to its values and its ambitions.
The structure possibilities will of course depend on your specific location and your country’s regulations. Once the structure of your company has been determined, the entire sales and marketing strategy can be put in place with peace of mind!
4. Turn to the top suppliers or the best laboratories
The next step entails figuring out your supply chain. Depending on the type of business and makeup brand you want to launch, you have two options: either stocking up with outside suppliers and cosmetic creators or creating your own products and manufacturing them in your own laboratory.
To do this, think about monitoring your market and your potential future competitors to find out which products are the best sellers and the most popular brands, especially on the internet and social networks. On the one hand, you’ll be able to draw inspiration from these ranges to propose them on your online sales website, for example, or analyze the formulation of products in order to adapt them to your brand.
You can turn to specialized training to help you in the creation of makeup products, to obtain a more in-depth understanding of all the natural ingredients as well as their benefits, but also to learn the mandatory rules to make the compositions legal according to hygiene regulations.
5. Create a solid business plan
Once you’ve determined your future company's flagship formula, the definition of your brand and its values, the choice of your raw materials, your ingredients, and your items, you can start creating a solid business plan.
This document is the backbone of your company: a business plan is made up of all the steps involved in creating your company but also of all the elements inherent to your legal status, your brand, your products, and your activity. This administrative document makes it possible, from the launch of your business, to follow a precise course towards the profitability of your activity.
Your business plan will also include your future ambitions as well as your forecasts for the future: this document will allow you to pitch your ideas to investors or your bank to secure funding.
6. Work on your branding
It's no secret that the beauty industry is super competitive. It's therefore essential for you to ensure that your business stands out from the sea of other beauty brands out there and clearly demonstrate why potential customers should buy your product over a competitor's.
The good news is that spending time on your branding before launching your makeup line can help boost your chances of attracting the attention of the people in your target audience and earning their loyalty. Brand
When working on the branding for your makeup line, you'll need to ask yourself several questions:
- How would you describe your brand?
- What do you offer that's different from the competition?
- What are your mission and values?
- Who is your ideal customer?
Besides bringing your brand to life by developing your branding, you'll also want to start to work on your brand identity, which includes your brand voice as well as the visual elements of your brand, such as your logo, website design, and product packaging. Your brand identity is what you use to convey your message to your target audience and help to bolster brand recognition among the wide range of other beauty brands on the market.
When it comes to your brand identity, don't forget that knowing your ideal customer and being consistent is key in order to not just attract potential customers but also assist them with remembering your business and spreading positive word of mouth about your business.
For example, when crafting your logo design, consider what color palette best represents your brand and is going to appeal to the people in your target audience. Then, be sure to keep these colors in mind when designing the various aspects of your packaging, including the packaging of each product itself (product label and container) and what you use to ship your orders to customers (envelopes, shipping boxes, tissue papers, stickers, bubble wrap, etc.).
7. Launch your ecommerce site to start selling makeup online
The easiest thing to do when you start selling makeup is to launch your online sales site!
And with the Wizishop solution, you can benefit from more than 400 features, 50+ SEO optimizations, personalized follow-up by online sales experts, AI for generating text content for your store in a flash, free ecommerce training, and a customized site design, all included in your subscription. Furthermore, the cost to start your online boutique with WiziShop begins at just $40 per month, and you'll get your first month for only $1!
In addition, you can try out the platform free of charge for 3 days, giving you time to set up your ecommerce website and start importing your first product images and descriptions onto your online store. Of course, the mobile-friendly version of your site is included, as well as the creation of a blog that can accompany your online store.
What are you waiting for to take advantage of our 3-day free trial? Test the best ecommerce solution on the market and launch your entrepreneurial journey today!
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GET YOUR FIRST MONTH FOR JUST $18. Build your brand's marketing strategy
Your online store is launched and you have everything ready for your products to be sold: now it's time to work on your brand awareness.
To do this, you’ll need to build a solid marketing and communication plan to highlight your unique product creations.
We advise you to start by creating your social media accounts like Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, and perhaps even TikTok. Feed your social networks with videos and photos of your products while explaining to future customers your values, your history, and your day-to-day activities to help convince them why they should consider your product offerings over a competitor's.
In addition, SEO will also be one of your priorities: by accessing the first pages of the search results of search engines like Google, you ensure more visibility and better chances of conversion than by betting on paid ads. This long-term work is well worth the effort! To help take your SEO strategy to the next level, discover all our guides related to SEO on our ecommerce blog.
9. Keep an eye on the competition and constantly reinvent yourself!
The creation of a makeup brand doesn’t stop at the first sales, quite the contrary! Once the initial success arrives, it’ll only be temporary: it’s up to you, as an entrepreneur, to know how to reinvent yourself, follow the trends of your target market, listen to the comments of your customers and the positive and/or negative feedback from the people who purchase from or interact with your store, monitor competing businesses, keep an eye on what’s being done better by beauty brands elsewhere in the world, etc.
Your activity in the makeup industry is just beginning. The most exciting challenges are waiting for you: it's up to you to take up the challenge while proposing high-quality cosmetics without ever losing sight of your brand values!
