- 25/08/2022
- Bo International
A cosmetics brand that has just been launched usually tends to make mistakes. Some of these mistakes are unavoidable whereas many mistakes can be avoided if entrepreneurs enter the cosmetics market with a proper plan. If you are a proud owner of a fresh cosmetics brand, you need to spend months or even years strategizing your every move.
Each step should be calculated and designed to generate the best results for your company. Also, you would need experts to guide and help you avoid different situations and problems that startups are exposed to during their initial years.
For example, you would need a CA (Chartered Account) to help you manage your finances and a wealth manager might help you to invest your profits in the right investment plans.
Top 10 Mistakes that Startups Make: Tips To Avoid Them
Today, we will be discussing the top 10 mistakes that new cosmetic manufacturing companies make and how they can be avoided. So, let’s start this list without wasting any time!
1. Avoid doing Everything by Yourself
When you are a startup, you must avoid doing everything on your own. It is because doing everything by yourself will increase the chances of making mistakes. Also, it is true that young entrepreneurs don’t want to take help from anybody because they take pride in their own skills and upbringing.
However, if you start a beauty or cosmetics startup, you might not be able to handle everything by yourself. You will need a marketing team to endorse your offerings and a strong research and development team to come up with innovative and useful cosmetics. In short, new entrepreneurs like you should learn to trust their subordinates and put their best foot forward!
For handling the production, marketing, inventory control, and other processes of your cosmetics manufacturing company, you will need to hire the right individuals. If you don’t have the budget to hire multiple employees and workers, it is better to outsource some of your work to a reputed organization.
For example, the production part can be assigned to a Contract Manufacturing Company. If you don’t have a strong marketing leader and team, you may forward your marketing strategies to a marketing expert.
2. Not Focussing on Promotions and Marketing
New startups are not likely to invest a huge amount in marketing and advertising. However, they don’t realize that SMM i.e. Social Media Marketing is crucial for any business. Most customers tend to choose the products they buy from social media posts and reviews. Therefore, ignoring the digital marketing aspect can put a huge dent in your profits right from the start.
Startups need to create hype for their products and it is not possible to create it without being active on social media. Start with the basics like opening your own page on social media channels like Facebook and Instagram. Include the details of your business on these pages. Also, don’t forget to include the contact details as customers might want to contact you for more information related to your offerings.
However, creating social media accounts is just like the tip of the iceberg. The whole idea is to capitalize on online marketing by promoting your business through different channels. You might also need to launch a website where you can sell your products seamlessly. To bring customers to your websites, you can use both SMM and SEO tactics smartly.
In short, you need a strong marketing need for promoting your brand and products. If you don’t have the time or resources to hire such a team, it is better to contact a private-label cosmetics company.
A Private Label Cosmetics Company handles all the aspects related to manufacturing, marketing, and creating labels. You only have to worry about your core business and provide your input when it comes to manufacturing customized solutions for your end users.
New marketing strategies like influencer marketing can also make a huge difference for a small cosmetics manufacturing company. If they don’t have enough capital to hire mega influencers, they can always connect to micro-influencers and build brand awareness among their potential customers.
3. Not Fixing an Appropriate Price Tag
Most customers decide to buy after evaluating the benefits and cost of the cosmetics carefully. Therefore, the brands that fail to put the right price tag on their products are often discarded by the customers. As a cosmetic startup, you must analyze the market trends and requirements of your niche audience. You should come up with a price point that is not too high or too low.
A lower price tag can create an impression that your product is cheap. Higher price tags can repel the customers as they would get similar products at a much more affordable price range. You can hire an expert to decide the price range for your product line.
Don’t go by the vague standards that pricey products are considered to be the best. In fact, you should calculate the entire cost from procuring the raw materials to manufacturing the cosmetics, and from packaging them to promoting them through digital media platforms. Once all these expenses are covered, you can easily calculate the cost of manufacturing a single unit of different profits. After that, you can decide your profit margin and fix the product prices accordingly.
4. Don’t Launch Numerous Products Simultaneously
Launching too many products at a time can be risky for your business. It would mean that you invest a lot of money in producing them and when you are done with the production, you also have to promote these many products. It is better to select a limited product line after understanding the needs and demands of your target niche.
You can review the performance of your regular products and adjust the production and marketing strategies accordingly. For instance, if some of your products are not getting the attention of your customers, you may either discard them or set up promotional campaigns for them. Also, good-performing cosmetics can be manufactured more to meet the rising demand of your audience.
Choosing too many products might also delay production or slow down the launch process. Some companies load all their products in the inventory before launching their brand in the market. It is not a wise decision because they must first explore how the market reacts to their new products instead of producing them in bulk. When the products are stored in bulk, you would also spend more on storing them.
If you are unable to handle these things, you can outsource your production to a private-label cosmetics company. They will create custom formulations and suggest products that can work well for your cosmetics brand. Also, choose a manufacturer who accepts low MOQ (Minimum Order Quantity) so that you can adjust the production pace gradually as the demand for the products increase or decreases.
5. Launch a Website
Most people shop online these days. Therefore, before you launch your Cosmetics Manufacturing Company in the market, you need to create a working website. The plan should be to promote your cosmetic brand and products as soon as it hits the markets. The offline and online promotions would eventually divert the customers to your website and if they find your offerings useful, they might just buy it!
Keep these things in mind while developing a website for your cosmetics manufacturing company:
- The website must be mobile responsive so that the customers get the same experience while surfing it on smaller devices.
- The webpages must load quickly and the entire browsing experience must be smooth. Include high-quality images and designs as they would appeal to the customers and entice them to buy your products.
- Add multiple payment options so that the customers can get your products easily. Include a COD (Cash On Delivery) option as well as customers don’t tend to trust new brands easily.
6. Getting Dejected after a few Setbacks
Most startups fail to deliver because their owners tend to discard them after the initial setbacks or failure. Consistency is the key to sustain in the market and therefore, you should be prepared for such failures in advance. You can reduce the chances of failing but you cannot avoid them completely. We live in a highly competitive world where even the top MNCs are competing with startups to maintain their user base. Therefore, you must be mentally prepared to accept challenges and overcome hurdles as they come along your way.
If some of your products have failed to impress the customers, you can take their feedback and try to improve them. By getting the exact reason for the failure, you not only find means to overcome them but also strengthen your attitude towards loss and failures.
7. Following the Trends Blindly
While running a cosmetics manufacturing company, you might often tend to follow market trends. It is not bad to follow the trends as they might eventually help you gain some profit. However, following the trends blindly is a big mistake that a young entrepreneur can make.
For example, manufacturing an organic soap just because every second brand is doing it is not a wise strategy. However, if you promote your organic soap as a remedy for a skin issue, it might just work well in the market. Therefore, you should know how to make the trends work in your favour.
8. Having Unrealistic Expectations
Having unrealistic expectations from a startup is as bad as the fear of failure. Once you set your mind on the bigger picture, you will not be happy when your brand surpasses the smaller milestones. Eventually, you will get disinterested in the whole process and might just abandon a project or shut the business down.
It is important to have a bigger vision to make your brand successful. However, you must also celebrate the small victories as they motivate you to work harder. You can set smaller goals for your cosmetics manufacturing company and work your way towards these goals. While you taste the initial success, your hunger for it will eventually drive you towards your ultimate goal. The key is to climb one step at a time instead of jumping back and forth.
9. Neglecting Legal Protection
Every business must have strong legal protection to help it during tough times. For example, if you do not create a detailed contract, your suppliers or contract manufacturers can take undue advantage of it. Therefore, if you have started a cosmetics startup recently, you should hire a lawyer or a legal firm that can protect your firm legally. You can ask them to create contracts, privacy policies, trademarks, and other compliances that would protect your company’s interest in the long term.
10. Scaling the Business too Quickly
After tasting an initial success, most startups find ways of procuring funds too quickly. They should not hurry unless they are 100% sure of their business model. Therefore, if you are running a cosmetics manufacturing company, see to it that your business works well. Work with a smaller capital to avoid any hassles and scale up the business slowly.
If you are convinced about the business model, you can also take the help of a private-label cosmetics company to help you scale up the production and marketing aspects of the business. You can also extend your lineup of personal care and cosmetics in the future with their guidance and expertise.
Conclusion
These were some mistakes that personal care and cosmetics companies make at their inception. It is better to avoid as many mistakes as you can to make your business run successfully. Also, you must not hesitate to take professional help from contract manufacturers or private-label cosmetics firms so that your business decisions don’t falter at the start.
