From tech to skincare, every industry is currently seeing the same trend, a growing number of small companies with bold ideas and big ambitions. While big players are relying on their brand recognition and legacy, the disruptors are entering the market using a consumer-focused approach giving them an advantage that’s hard to match.
Beauty is a dynamic industry particularly sensitive to changing consumer trends. If you want to stay relevant, you need to constantly change and evolve, together with your customers. Successful beauty brands nowadays are the ones driving innovation, while gaining the support of consumers who are looking for effective, clean and sustainable products from brands with compelling stories.
Understand where your advantage lies, and find your opportunity to push forward ahead of the market. While larger companies rely on their popularity to attract new customers, indie brands are capitalizing on common values they share with customers. – Entrepreneur
Legacy brands are not the ones dominating the counter space anymore, but indie beauty brands are not appealing to just consumers. As acquisitions in the beauty industry reveal, niche beauty brands are big business. From Unilever and Estée Lauder to L’Oréal and Shiseido beauty giants have all recently made significant company acquisitions. Acquisition by a big market player offers your brand the resources and support to grow but is by no means the only way to grow.
Nothing frightens a big company like a disruptive startup with scaling potential, but few startups make the leap from industry disruptor to major player. – Entrepreneur
For independent brands, initial success can sometimes result in a plateau and taking the next step to scale up can often be a daunting prospect. Taking a step back and conducting a thorough Brand Health Check at this point will tell you what the perception of your brand is, but also highlight your unique strengths and new opportunities, as well as point out the areas with the most room for improvement. You want to make sure your brand is doing the most in supporting your business. The more you know, the more you can anticipate the growing pains and be in a better place to take action.
Scaling is a long process and to do it right the company has to set up the system in a way that it is flexible and that can grow. Developing a detailed business plan and brand development strategy with clear goals will make it easier to measure progress against set milestones.
Reassessing your wider business plan is critical to ensure you’re ready to scale up.
The popularity of Amazon’s Indie Beauty shop is just another testament to the growing demand for indie beauty, and yet the majority of beauty startups fail in keeping up with their own growth due to the lack of planning and infrastructure. Capital is essential for growth, even if your efforts so far proved to be a success. When planning for the future consider all the resources available to you, from sourcing ingredients, manufacturing, distribution, and the increased volume of activities that will require new hires and establishing processes.
According to Access Development, 60 percent of shoppers will take their business elsewhere if a company fails to offer satisfactory delivery options — so make sure you can fulfill orders quickly enough to meet expectations. Start by solidifying your manufacturing and fulfillment process, either in-house or contract a fulfillment partner to scale your operations beyond your current capabilities. Working with a specialized contractor will also leave you with more time to focus on other aspects of your growing business.
Price still trumps all other purchase factors, including customer service and convenience, according to the 2016 BigCommerce State of Omni-channel Retail study. Before scaling up, make sure to reflect on your pricing to keep margins profitable. As your sales increase, these numbers will change, and by establishing retail prices ahead of time you can make sure that there’s enough ability for your brand to grow.
What all successful growing brands have in common is carefully evaluating all opportunities but expanding their operations one step at a time. Scaling slowly but consistently by monetizing and then reinvesting is the key to successful growth.
Use data to help drive your decisions.
Whether you plan on entering a new market or develop a new product, take time for comprehensive research. Building a strong online presence and listening to your consumers through social media is the best way to get direct feedback from people who already like your brand and have been using your products. Creating a demand before launching and the word of mouth strategy will help you expand to a new market with credibility while keeping the costs down.
Growing your business takes time and patience. Learn from the successful industry examples to gain an understanding of the potential challenges. With all eyes on the indie beauty sector, there is no time like the present to grow your presence and ensure your brand is on the path to success.
ARE YOU A YOUNG GROWING BEAUTY OR LIFESTYLE BRAND IN NEED OF SUPPORT WITH MAXIMIZING YOUR SALES REVENUES? SOMETIMES IT TAKES AN OUTSIDE VIEW TO SPOT THE THINGS YOUR MISSING. SIGN UP FOR A FREE BRAND HEALTH CHECK TODAY AND GROW YOUR BUSINESS.
MABE’s brand development consultancy services support new and developing beauty and lifestyle brands with sustainable content creation, brand messaging, values and culture, social influencer marketing, and recruitment outreach in addition to promoting a brand’s efforts in reaching new audiences.
