New business venture - can anyone give me advice please

[Appleofmyeye05]

Originally posted in work and had no responses so posted here for traffic

So I have taken the plunge to go it alone! I am going to be starting my own online business selling strip lashes, hair extensions, glitter, basically everything you will need for a night out or a festival weekend away minus the clothing

Anyway, what I want to do is find a manufacturer and sell cosmetics under my own brand and by cosmetics I mean cleanser, toner, moisturiser, liquid foundation, bronzer etc etc etc

Anyway as I m new to this, google has been my best friend and I’ve managed to source manufacturers for the self tan and skin care and for the majority of other things I need. However I am finding it freakin’ difficult to find ANYONE who is doing make up aside from BB creams or anyone who is doing lashes in the UK.

I did previously order lashes from Aliexpress for a good price and good quality however they took an age to come and this isn’t ideal if I have a surge in purchases and I’m left without stock.

As I’m new to this game, can anyone point me in the direction of where I could look for said manufacturers? I’ve trawled google and found only 1 for lashes and only 1 for BB cream. Is there any a directory or anything I can go and have a look at? Sorry if it sounds like a stupid question!

Bump

I'd say your immediate problem is the lack of going out.

People are going out though. No nightclubs but are going to bars/ restaurants and for some people, wearing strip lashes/ hair extensions/ accessories etc is a part of their daily look.

cleanser, toner, moisturiser, liquid foundation, bronzer etc
This seems very very broad, have I misunderstood?
I don’t think I’d buy skin care products from the same person who makes lashes and glitter. I’d want to trust they actually know what they’re talking about.

Same with foundation etc. It would take a lot to swap foundation to a completely random person’s brand who isn’t specialist. I wouldn’t look at hair extensions and think “wow, I hope they make foundation”.

Apologies if I’ve misunderstood though!

Some folk are even having group video chats dressed up to the nines not to mention garden parties (which will start to drop off now we are entering poorer weather)

@BlueSlice no you haven’t at all, and thank you for your input. Might be a sign I’m moving a little too fast and should concentrate on what I have at the moment!

Well my train of thought was if I am to sell glitter, face paints and make up then I could have a cleanser or remover of some kind to advertise along side

Yes that makes some sense, to have glitter remover/cleanser.

It also make me think “fuck, I’m not going to be able to get this off my face without special cleanser, maybe I should have a rethink”. But I might be that special kind of overly cautious person 😂

You might benefit from running a focus group.

Maybe not so much a special one but say a micellar water or a gentle cleanser. I’ve yet to find a cleanser which takes glitter off in one go, I still find it around the house several weeks later 😂 even found a speck on my baby’s leg weeks after wearing it!

I have a bit of experience in start up.

I'd specialise in an area first. Don't dilute with numerous products. Think about your brand, what are you offering that is unique to you?

Make sure your product photos are amazing and you have superb social media presence on as many platforms as you can manage.
Product photos can be taken easily but you do need to watch watch watch videos to help you.

Stay true to your vision but do lots of market research before you launch and buy.

You need to know what sells, how much, when, type of posting service, fees, commission.

What you like and think should sell might not sell in quantity.

Don't get caught out by ordering stuff that you can't post cheaply. Think about how it will get to your customer before you buy.

If you are sending things out Royal Mail then you can get rolls of 'Royal Mail tracked' stickers online. This usually helps avoid customers saying they didn't receive the goods and demanding false refunds.

There is a whole sale directory you can pay a one off fee to view for a month. E-source. It's valuable to find wholesale but you often have to order a minimum of £1000 at a time.

If you are tempted to order stock from AliExpress be aware of import restrictions before you get clobbered with tax. It might be worth ordering under the threshold and putting in many regular small orders.

Be also aware that the law changed this year regarding glitter in products. I'm not sure if this includes face/ body products.
The UK are moving towards bio glitter that decompose so the oceans aren't polluted with more micro plastic. Could be a good marketing angle!

Good luck!

I think it’s too broad. People will only buy skincare And makeup they’ve heard of and you’d need a hell of a lot of marketing behind that. With no skincare background it sounds like you just want to buy the cheapest, relabel and sell on. This would be a minefield.

Re the glitter/face paint etc I’m not your target audience but with no festivals and garden party/bbq Season coming to an end I’m struggling to see where your market is.

Re strip lashes, if you can buy them from AliExpress then so can I so why would I buy from a third party? I understand there’s possibly a market for handmade sets to order but that’s Quite specialist and they’d need to be high quality.

I think you really need to start with one good quality thing that can’t be easily sourced online by your potential customers and work out an online marketing strategy from there.

Sorry, I know that sounds horribly negative but it sounds like you’re about to spend a lot of money for not much return.

I work in marketing for online retailers and marketplaces.

I think you need to go back a few steps.

What makes your site/offering special?
Why would they buy from you opposed to asos, boots etc?
What is the profile of your customer?
How will they find you?
What is your budget for marketing? Do you have expertise?
How will you manage your website?
How will you manage stock levels?
Payment gateways?
Delivery and returns?
Can you manage the accounting side?

Lots of retailers who make it either sell through marketplaces like amazon, eBay, etsy etc OR they build a strong social presence by having a unique product.

I love the idea of everything you need for a night out but agree with previous poster about the foundation. It's such a personal choice. It has taken me years to find a colour that suits me, looks good in photos and real life and doesn't irritate my skin. I would be weary of using random toner and moisturiser too. When my friends and I go away, we always take our little travel sized containers of our usual cosmetics.

I would totally buy a box containing all the accessories for a night out/festival (eyelashes, glitter etc.) but would not buy one which contains cosmetics because I would not use them. Hope you don't mind me saying! Good luck with it all.

^ by cosmetics I meant foundation/moisturiser/cleaner/toner.

I read once about how exploitative lashes manufacturers are, paying pennies to girls making them in Indonesia and selling them in the UK for £5.
I'd be more interested in ethically produced lashes but if that makes them extortionate, it becomes a difficult sell.
www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/28/false-eyelash-industry-indonesia-low-pay

I’m interested in why you have chosen lashes / glitter etc? Is there a reason for this?

Everything @doadeer says.
I actually quite like the idea of things for a night out - but makeup under your own brand? How much money have you got? Branding is a bottomless pit for this.
Getting any product in front of your audience can be tough - but getting people to buy into a makeup brand they haven’t heard of it really really tough.
I’d maybe look to niche a bit more - so maybe say magnetic lashes and those hair extensions that don’t damage your hair. Packaged up boxes I actually think is quite a cool idea.

@planningaheadtoday thank you that is some
Great advice.

@doadeer no it doesn’t sound negative, I’m glad I have posted this to get the responses I have got. My initial idea was make the hair extensions but I’ve been thinking about what else I could sell in the mean time whilst I’m building these up but I think I would defo need to stick to the extensions for now and potentially drop the make up idea conpletey. I understand what your saying about random skin care and having your favourites to take away too.

@Backgroundvicki I’m glad you mentioned you wouldn’t use the cosmetics in a box as this was an idea I had for Christmas time, which I’m now going to re-think!

@SomeOtherGirl I am looking to source Cruelty free/vegan/ synthetic fibre lashes. I did a poll on social media and the majority said they aren’t bothered about the origin of the lashes and were more bothered about the price which surprised me as I thought it would of been the other way around! But I didn’t realise about the Indonesian girls being paid so little! This will be someone else I look out to avoid

Thank you for all your advice!

I wouldn't buy unbranded products.

How much money do you have to plough into your idea?

I just looked on Amazon. I coukd buy everything you listed and have free next day delivery.

I'd be very surprised if there is any money to be made here whatsoever and I have started my own businesses before.

Honestly, there are too many issues, not least that you don't understand or know about the processes involved in bringing the products you are selling to market.

@Time2change2 I chose this because I thought it would be something that people who are into cosmetics and beauty supplies would be interested in and although the lashes I have got from Ali are re-usable, I’m hoping to secure some repeat customers for these. I have also chosen some packaging which Kees the lash safe inbetween uses and which isn’t your usual lash box, for instance I’ve got some cases which are shaped like lolly pops and I’ve got some cases which look like it could house the rose from beauty and the beast (sorry I don’t know the proper name for it!) and some other ones too so I’m hoping that will give me a unique-ish selling point with the lashes.

@yahoosername do you really think so? I have gone through DWP and enrolled myself on a programme to create a business plan and it was approved by the assessor and she didn’t raise any similar concerns?

@Bridecilla yes I’m aware of that also. Which is why it was hard for me to put a price against certain thing which a customer could go and buy for a pound at Poundland.
One thing was Velcro hair rollers, you can pay£2 wholesale price for a pack of 6 (good quality ones) but you can also go to Poundland and buy a pack of 6 maybe not so good quality ones for a pound. And who’s betting they will end up getting lost or thrown in the bin after the first use?

Who do you see your customers as being? Local people from your local Facebook sites?

I do nearly all my shopping online, even before Covid and if I wanted glitter or eyelashes I'd probably look on boots, Superdrug or Amazon. I wouldn't google 'eyelashes' and then buy them from somewhere I'd never heard of. The items aren't specialist enough for people to have to seek them out.

Please do at least speak to a few people to understand the costs

A few things to think about

• website -you could use something like Shopify but to make it look good you’ll need a designer.
• taking payments - there will be a fee for this so work it into your margins
• advertising budget (to our this in some perspective I work with a small skincare brand and we do around £30/day - and that is very low).
• postage and packaging - you will need to be competitive

These are just off the top of my head. E-commerce can be an expensive arena to be in

@SavoyCabbage yes Facebook and Instagram so local people to begin with.

Argh I’m feeling like it’s going to flop before I’ve even started😞