How to Start a Makeup Business? Free Essay Example

I want to set up my own new business within the make-up market to sell my own branded make-up as I feel I have the right passion, determination and knowledge to do this successfully. My business will take a sole trader form of ownership meaning I will be the full owner. I choose this form of ownership because I feel being a sole trader has many benefits such as; having full control of the business meaning I can run it how I wish to, I will be able to keep all the profit made from the business to myself and lastly, all data and information within the business such as trade secrets and recipes will be kept private and secure.

All those factors are extremely important to me because they ensure I make decisions effectively and efficiently without anyone else input which will allow me to meet the needs of my customers which will lead to an increase in profit. Being a sole trader can be challenging however, I know it will boost my self-esteem as I will have a sense of independence and it will be able to help me control my life more.

As a sole trader, I will be able to react to any competitors or any changes efficiently to ensure I am keeping up with the trends, competitors and the market. The products my business will provide are new and exclusive products to only my business. The products I sell will range from bronzers to makeup brushes, to makeup sponges and a whole lot more.

I will be liable for every employee I hire as well as all the accounts within my business. Liabilities are my businesses obligations such as money that will need to be paid or services that must be performed. I will have unlimited liability over my business because I’m a sole trader, which has many benefits like having full control over the business and being able to keep all of the profit. Although, there are disadvantages because I will be personally responsible for anything that goes wrong.

My aims for the business is that it survives which will be achieved by making a profit/income and by gaining brand awareness as it is a new business and people won’t be familiar with the brand. I aim to make a profit as my business needs to run, also I need to increase the market share which can be challenging however I am determined to do it. To be a successful business, my business needs to grow and expand which is why I need to make a profit to start off with in order for these future aims to happen. My products will be aimed at any females aged between 10-50, this is because there is a wide range of products that are suitable for different people which is why the target audience has a large age range. The products will be priced at an affordable high street price to attract customers, however, not too cheap as customers won’t want to purchase products that are priced too low as they fear the products represent the price.

A suggested name for my business was ‘KANDY’, pronounced CAN-DY, as this was thoroughly thought about after a million different names were proposed to me. However, I was really drawn to ‘KANDY’ because it has a vibrant sound to it and you instantly think of sweets and candy, which is colourful and happy which represents my products. The name has a good vibe to it and is happy which is why I feel this name is perfect to represent my business.

I have a real passion in beauty and make-up as I am a freelance makeup artist with a BA (Hons) Hair and Make-up qualification. I currently work freelance however, I recently opened up a salon at the side of my house where I have various repeat customers. I have previous work experience at MAC Makeup along with Charlotte Tilbury which has both helped to intensify my passion for make-up as I learnt a huge deal of knowledge and skills from working with both of them. My work and personal balance is really good as I know how to manage my personal life separately to my work life, I do not overload on work, however, I am extremely professional and do not discuss any personal information with my clients. Managing my own business will be a lot of hard work although I am determined to manage it alone and deal with various things such as; creating profit and loss accounts, managing my accounts, operating day to day business activities, calculating break-even points, fixed assets and fixed costs.

The unique selling point of my business is that all my products will relate to a different type of candy. For example, I will be selling a range of mascaras, one of which is called Curly Cane which is a curl intensifier mascara to make your lashes extra curled. The colour of the bottle will be red and white just like a candy cane and it will be in the shape of a candy cane. There is defiantly a gap in the beauty and the make-up market for my products as they do not already offer any products like this. I feel like my idea will really stand out from my competitors as they do nothing unique like this and are all closely competing on who has the best makeup and which is the cheapest. I also feel my business is attractive and stands out because there are not a lot of distinctive, quirky and cool makeup brands like mine. All the existing makeup brands all follow the same style and are plain and boring which is why I feel my products will sell. All the products I will be selling are difficult to imitate which means no other brand will copy them because they are distinguishing and exclusive to my business.

There are plenty of external influences that I need to consider which include PESTLE analysis. The P stands for political which includes international trade relations, government stability, recession, the possibility of war, tax and employment policy which are all essential aspects to consider when managing my business. Economic factors include tax increases, consumer confidence, banking crisis, economic growth and retail sales trends which also majorly apply to my business. Social consider things such as education, crime levels, retirement issues, changes in population and lifestyle changes. Technological involves technological changes in the industry, ICT application impacting the business and improvements in new equipment and machinery. Legal includes health and safety regulations, employment laws and competition policies. Lastly, the environmental factor considers things such as waste disposal, pressure groups, pollution legislation, the local community analysis of the business’s activities. All these factors are extremely important and

UNIT 26 P2

Explain how to identify the target market

In this assignment, I will be explaining thoroughly how to identify my target market for my business.

A target audience is a particular group at which a particular product/service is aimed. My target audience for my business are females aged between 10-50 therefore I need to really understand their needs, their spending habits, which makes them want to buy a product etc. Given that my business is new, I will need to carry out various different methods of research in order to receive information and data necessary to help me understand my target market and to understand if my business will be a success or not.

I will carry out market research to first gather research by using primary research as this will give me accurate and detailed information as I will be collecting the information first hand. By choosing primary research, this will allow me to make my research specific and choose questions to suit the needs of my research. Questionnaires and surveys are good formats that I may use in order to collect information as you can choose different question formats which will allow me to obtain short or detailed answers which are useful. Secondary research is also a good method to use to gather data as it is already existing which means It won’t waste a lot of time as well as money which is a benefit. The information I need may have already been found out by researchers and published online, however, I may need to do additional research in order to collect the most accurate and reliable research I can. Collecting research is a continuous process as you need to constantly meet customers needs and the information needs to maintain current and not out of date.

Published research, also know as desk research could actually benefit me as it is research which has already been carried out. Publish research will provide information about various relevant things such as; customer behaviour, consumer trends, market analysis, potential competitors etc. These are all vital factors to find out in order to help me when starting up my business because it will prevent my business from failing.

I need to be aware of the market place’s potential and the best way to do this is by using primary research and sales forecasting in order to find out things such as; who will buy the products, how much are they willing to pay etc. As my business is new, it will take longer at the beginning, however, the better my reputation gets and the more my business gets to know, the better the forecast will be. Also, the forecast depends on the strength of the competition and seeing as the make-up industry is quite competitive I’m not sure how that will go. Secondary research can also be useful when forecasting sales as I could look at the past trends within the make-up market.

Customer needs and wants are an extremely important factor to consider because I need to be aware of their actions and choices. Sometimes customers do not always know what they want and don’t have a preference, however, the majority of consumers do. There is so much competition nowadays there is new technology and businesses are trying to compete with one another to be more successful. Direct competition is where businesses offer the same product however, indirect competition is where businesses offer different products that satisfy the same needs from the consumer.

SWOT has strengths such as internal ones like; having expertise in a specific area as this will mean you have had experience working in a business which is similar to working in a make-up business. The location is extremely important because finding the right place to place my store depends on various different aspects such as; if the area is busy, the population etc. The USP which stands for the unique selling point is also really important to consider as you need to find a space in the market in which there is no business which sells the same products as I will be selling because if there is then my products won’t do well because there won’t be a reason for customers to buy my products if there are the same products somewhere else which is an existing business which is known. Although, the weaknesses are that you could have lack of expertise meaning you would struggle to get a grip of the business and you would not be able to entice customers if you didn’t know what you were talking about within the business. Besides, there is high competition within the make-up industry along with the products and services because there is a high demand for them as females want the best products for a lower price than high-end brands which is what I am providing allotting I have found a USP in the market.

Market trends are the movement of the financial market over a short, mid or long term period. Being aware of these trends ensure I can plan stuff to be as successful I can be and ensure I stay up to date with the latest trends in the make-up industry. Regular basis movement is known as a cyclical trend and this is when something occurs frequently in a cycle.

Environmental issues are the issues that involve the environment which include stuff like; making sure that equipment used it replaced. For example, the first fighting equipment does not harm the environment therefore there is no issues there, this is the same with cleaning products. The Department for Business Innovation Skills (BIS) publishes and communicates leaflets out to the public with relevant information inside of them which covers legislation on it. These would be essential and useful to keep in my store as it will remind employees of the legislations they have to abide by as well as customers who enter my store.