May 2009

Bringing Your Product to Market

How many beauty products have we all seen come and go in our industry?

Some lines have longer lives than others in the marketplace and often, that has to do with how much homework the people behind the products did up front.

If you’re the entrepreneurial type that dreams of having your own product line out there one day soon, just remember the dream becomes real and has longevity if you’re willing to put the time in up front to do the proper research.

Getting the right start in your exciting new business venture is as important as the final product showing up on the shelves and in the hands of the customer.

According to beauty product and business consultant Lynn Ludlam, developing your own line of products does not require a rocket science background, but it does require both your creative head and your business head. The idea, of course, is to increase your bottom line and deliver a higher gross margin or profit from your product investment, Ludlam said, but there are a few things that developers consistently overlook.

Here’s what some of the top beauty industry experts have to say to guide you in your product development process.  

GUY L. LANGER, President of Qumulus Group LLC which specializes in cosmetic and nutritional technologies, ingredients, product development, marketing:

• Time is something we never give ourselves enough of. Definitely allow enough time to develop your product and understand who and what the market is for. This may take 6 - 12 months if the line is developed from scratch. 
• Pay careful attention to what ingredients are labeled since natural customers want to avoid petrochemicals and synthetics, etc.
• Choose a formulator carefully after getting referrals, checking references, being quoted for pricing, etc.
• Consider having just one company provide the formulas which would allow the marketer to focus on packaging and labeling; this shortens the lead time to a few months. However and this is very important if you get stock formulas, you will NOT necessarily own them and cannot readily bid your business out to other manufacturers later on.

IRENA KOJOUHARAVA, Business Development Director at JT Brands, distributor of exquisite beauty brands from around the world:

• Bringing a product successfully to market means having integrated marketing components. This means that you must reinforce the same brand positioning through what we call the Four P’s or now, the consumer-driven Four C’s: Consumer (Product); Cost (Price); Communications (Promotions); Convenience (Placement).
• The product should immediately speak for itself. Customers have less time, shorter attention spans and too may distractions at any given time. If a customer needs to read more than a sentence or hear a pitch from a sales person to understand what the product is about, many will get discouraged.

LYNN LUDLAM, Product and Business Development Consultant of Isis Consulting:

• Here are a few things that salon and spa owners developing both hair care and skin care products consistently overlook:
• Have a firm idea of your target retail price, so that you can predetermine your own product cost from your supplier. For private-label lines, your margin of profit should be at least three to five times your cost. Also, be careful not to over-commit to higher quantities you cant sell within the products lifetime.
• Develop an in-depth picture of your target client for each product. Today’s time-challenged consumer is looking for multi-use products that work quickly and deliver results. Make sure you deliver what you say!
• Customize your private-label products by using a unique name, fragrance, label or signature. Make sure you are not selling something that looks just like the salon down the block.  
• Don’t skimp on introductory trial sizes, sampling and promotion.
• Training your staff and rewarding their sales success is important!

LINDA BERTAUT, President, Beauty Industry West (BIW). An esthetican, educator and author, Bertaut has designed her own Energy-Infused Cosmetics line, Face Options and an aromatherapy Mood Bar, Petal Potions:

• Three key steps to bringing a beauty product to market include:
• Design a product that will fill a need in your area of expertise.
• KNOW your client! Will she/he use your product and if so, WHY?
• Blend intuition with science to come up with a product that people just cant resist!
• Make your packaging as well as your product compelling and innovative. The packaging MUST be a head-turner so don’t skimp on the quality of package design.
• Consumers today are looking for high-performance products with emotional appeal. When you really appeal to their senses with a product that offers high-performance ingredients that actually do what they say they’re going to do, the product price seems less important to the product purchaser.

Beauty Industry West (BIW) is a non-profit West Coast beauty trade organization dedicated to educating and providing resources for companies and entrepreneurs who want to develop their own personal care and beauty brand. From raw ingredients to product development, packaging and design to contract manufacturing, marketing and sales, BIW whose website (www.beautyindustrywest.org) is a vital resource and platform for networking with peers, clients and suppliers.