Our Six-Step Guide to Starting Your Own Beauty Business
They say that if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life. Unfortunately, that saying only counts when you’re standing atop the mountain that you’ve had to climb, prior to living your dream. If you’re just starting out on your beauty business venture, it can seem daunting to see the crossroads ahead and be unsure about which way to turn.
Luckily, you have us, and our philosophy is all about helping people like yourself be the best they can be. Below, we give you our sure-fire six-steps to starting your very own business in the beauty niche.
Research Your Role
It’s all well and good saying that you want to start a business in the beauty industry – but, at least at first, you’ll need to specialise in one area. Research which sector of the industry you’d like to get into – whether that’s being a nail technician, through to becoming a mobile hair extension technician. There are plenty of beauty business ideas to thoroughly check out and loads of experienced bloggers and beauticians who are keen to share their experiences, so do your research.
Invest in Yourself
If you haven’t received any training prior to your dream, it’s time to start investing in your education. While you could, technically, begin your business without any prior training, it is certainly not advisable and downright risky. Not to mention it makes you look as though you’re trying to cut corners – which is not what you want clients and business associates to think about you.
Getting yourself trained in your specific niche covers you against multiple issues that can spring up in the beauty business world. Namely, if – heaven forbid – something went wrong with the process like your customer had an allergy to a product you used, you would automatically set yourself on the back foot by not being certified by a proper trainer.
Create a Plan
If you’re not a natural note-taker, you might find yourself groaning at the idea of having to create a business plan of any kind but, we assure you, it’s 100% worth it. Analysing your strengths and weaknesses with a SWOT analysis is a good start – but you can also visualise your next steps by creating a thorough, researched (see point 1) plan.
Like anything in life, it’s best to achieve your dream of the distant future by setting up small stepping stones to success in the present. For example, if you want to be a makeup artist, you might consider your first step being the completion of a short course. This would be closely followed by buying your own professional makeup brushes, and so on.
Consider Your Costs
Now that you know what your next steps are, it’s time to consider the costs of the business you’re looking to run. There’s naturally going to be a lot of variation here, depending on what area of the beauty industry you’re looking into, as the start-up cost for a mobile hair extension business is likely to be very different to the start-up costs for a hairdresser with a solid location to work from.
Make a list (we do love our lists), taking into account your outgoings- don’t worry about your income until you’re ready to get out there and face the world, armed with your new skills. Knowing what you’ll be spending every week, be prepared that you’ll need to be earning at least this much to break even- this is now your aim.
Network, Network, Network
People buy from people- especially in a person-centred environment like a beauty business. So, always head out there with your best attitude, ready to take on the world and show off that confidence that you’re ready to instil in others with your newfound skills.
Bring up your business at every opportunity and don’t be shy about it. Let people know who you are and what you do! After all, your clients will be trusting you with their looks- so they need to know they can put their complete faith in you.
Be Prepared to Work Hard
One of the best things about the start-up being so hard is that it weeds out those who aren’t quite ready to make it. Fortunately or unfortunately (depending on how you look at it), you have to live and breathe your newfound commitment to your business- it’s why it’s so damn hard to set up a beauty business but also why starting your own business from scratch is so rewarding.
Have faith in yourself, always work to better yourself and learn new things and don’t feel bad about taking a step back if it’s too much. Remember that friends you’ve made via networking will become your allies and cheerleaders- they’ve been there and they’re going to be rooting for you. Most importantly, don’t forget to congratulate yourself from time to time!
