Crowded Space
Competition is high when it comes to your lip gloss distributor, so it's important that you spend a good amount of time analyzing the market and understanding where the demand lies.
Motivation of employees
If you plan to have a sales/content team on board, finding creative ways to motivate them can be a challenge. It's important that you're able to offer great incentives and a good work environment for your employees.
Longer Sales Process
A lip gloss distributor can be a big time and money investment for your customer, so it's important you plan and predict a longer conversion funnel and stay in communication with potential customers.
Low margins
The gross margins for your lip gloss distributor are typically around 30%, which can make it more challenging to incur new expenses and maintain profitability.
High employee turnover
In the lip gloss distributor, employee turnover is often high, which can be quite costly and time consuming for your business. It's important to try and avoid this as much as possible by offering competitive pay, benefits, and a positive work environment.
Work can be inconsistent
As a lip gloss distributor, the amount of work assigned to you and schedule tends to be more inconsistent, which may make your income less stable. It's important to set boundaries and budget accordingly based on the amount of work you plan to have.
Lack of benefits
With a lip gloss distributor, you are typically self-employed and responsible for finding your own insurance, which can be quite costly and time-consuming.
Isolation
Often times, as a lip gloss distributor, you typically work alone and do not have much face-to-face interaction with other team members.
Taxes
As a lip gloss distributor, you typically pay self-employment taxes which can be quite high. It's important to understand what you will be paying in taxes each year so you can determine if the work you're taking on is worth it.
Stressful work
This line of work can be stressful for both you and your clients. This type of transaction is a significant financial decision for your client, so expectations are very high for you. Although this career path can be very rewarding, it also comes with its challenges and stressful moments.
High overhead expenses
With becoming a lip gloss distributor, there are overhead expenses that come with selling a physical product. You will want to make sure you strategically budget for these overhead costs. We discuss this more in the startup costs section below.
You may need to charge sales tax
If you are selling your products in various states, you may be required to charge sales tax. Although this may not impact your financials specifically, it can be a headache to create a process and procedure for this. To learn more about sales tax, check out this article
Strict regulations
With any lip gloss distributor, there are strict rules and regulations as it relates to processing your product. You must follow these regulations specifically, or significant legal issues could occur.
Complex development process.
The development process for a lip gloss distributor can be quite complex, which may cause delays and challenges when launching and growing your product.
Complex maintenance
Your lip gloss distributor will require a long-term investment due to the need for updates, bug fixes, and security vulnerabilities. It's important that you (or someone on your team) stays on top of this at all times.
Be prepared to get out of your comfort zone!
Although this is exciting for some entrepreneurs, it can be a big challenge for others! You may find yourself in uncomfortable social and business situations, jumping into tasks and responsibilities you aren't familiar with, and pushing yourself as far as you can go!
You might struggle financially (at first)!
If you bootstrap your business or choose not to pay yourself (or pay yourself less than you were making at your corporate job), this can be financially taxing. It's important to adjust your lifestyle and set a plan for yourself so you don't find yourself in a stressful situation.
More of a challenge to run your business from home!
Running your business from the comfort of your own home is a big appeal for many entrepreneurs. With a lip gloss distributor, you are more likely to run your business out of your office or storefront space.
Minimal physical activity
A big part of starting a lip gloss distributor is sitting at a desk for the majority of the day starting at your computer. Some may enjoy this, but others may struggle with sitting for the majority of your day without much physical activity.
Work is not always glamorous
With starting a lip gloss distributor, you may need to get your hands a little dirty. Although it may seem glamorous from the outside to start this business, the work can require a lot of physical activity and repetition.
Learning Curve
When you start your own business, you no longer have upper management to provide you with a playbook for your roles and responsibilities. You should know the ins and outs of every aspect of your business, as every decision will come down to you.
The job can be demanding
This is one of the major disadvantages starting a lip gloss distributor. It's important to understand that you may need to make yourself available on a 24/7 basis.
You may need to relocate
There can be a lot of opportunities that come your way when starting a lip gloss distributor. Although moving around can be fun and exciting, it can also be physically and emotionally taxing for you and loved ones.
High liability
Running a lip gloss distributor involves a lot of liability, which means the cost for insurance premiums may also be high.
Equipment Breakdowns
Over the years, your equipment can get damaged, break down, and may need repairs which can be expensive. It's important you prepare for these expenses and try to avoid damages/wear & tear as much as possible.
Answering Phones
The lip gloss distributor is still considered a traditional business, which means answering phones is a big part of the job. If you or your team miss calls, you could be missing out on potential revenue opportunities. If you are unable to attend to your throughout the day, it would be in your best interest to hire a call center or an employee dedicated to this.
The job can be dangerous
Your lip gloss distributor can have its dangerous moments, which puts you and your employees at risk. It's important to consider all liability and put processes and procedures in place that will prepare you and your team.
Takes time to see results & make money
Results and revenue do not come overnight with a lip gloss distributor. Often times, it takes weeks, months or even years for your work to monetize.
Technical issues can be frustrating
Doriff supply professional and honest service.
Technical issues are common in this business. If you struggle with the technical side of things, you may want to consider outsourcing this responsibility to save yourself the time and frustration.
More challenging to earn passive income
It can be more of a challenge to make passive income in this business. Often times, the amount of revenue you bring in is limited by the amount of time you have in the day.
My friend Emily made $375,000 on Etsy in her first 2 years selling digital products. She's a new coach in the E-Printables online course teaching you how to get started with this side hustle too. She's a mom of two kids and does this part-time. Join us?
My friend Emily made $375,000 on Etsy in her first 2 years selling digital products. She's a new coach in the E-Printables online course teaching you how to get started with this side hustle too. She's a mom of two kids and does this part-time. Join us?
If you're looking for a side hustle that pulls together your do-it-yourself skills and your creativity, look no further than a lip gloss business.
Selling lip gloss has three key things working in its favor.
First, startup costs can be low. Lip gloss startup kits can be less than $100 if you know where to look, and those kits come with everything you need to get your private label up and running.
Note that you'll pay more money if you're looking for higher quality products, but even then, the cost to profit ratio is reasonable.
Second, creating your own lip gloss is a relatively easy skill to learn. You don't have to pay for classes, and usually, you'll get it right on your first or second attempt meaning there's no wasted supply.
Third, the lip gloss business is a growing industry.
According to Grand View Research, the lip care industry reached an $820 million valuation in . Grand View Research projects that the industry will jump to $1.17 billion by . In other words, sales are trending up.
One of the reasons the lip care industry is growing is that people are looking for more variety.
According to the Grand View Research report, a couple of key changes are occurring in the industry.
For one thing, consumer demand is changing. People are now looking for natural components in their lip care products, including beeswax, essential oils, aloe vera extract, green tea extract, and shea butter, to name a few.
People are also looking for something more in their lip care products, such as sun protection.
Also, the market is expanding. Men are starting to look for personal care products, including lip care products.
These changes are things that you want to consider as you start to create and grow your lip gloss brand.
One of the great things about the lip gloss business is choosing to create a type of gloss that speaks to you.
Makeup brand L'Oreal has a breakdown of the types of lip gloss you can create for your brand, including:
Once you've decided what type of lip gloss you're going to create, it's time to gather the ingredients. The Naturally Handcrafted blog says you will need the following:
You may also want a double boiler, though you can also use a glass measuring cup and a pot of water to get the same result.
Naturally Handcrafted also has a recipe and step-by-step instructions to help get you started on your lip gloss journey. You can find it here.
Now that you have your lip gloss made, you're ready to create your brand.
The first thing you need to do is come up with a name for your lip gloss brand. If you're stumped, there is plenty of help out there.
The marketing brand agency Soocial brainstormed and created a list of 469 potential names for a lip gloss brand. While some of the names may already be taken, you're sure to find one that you love.
The site Biz Name Wiz has created a list of more than 1,000 other potential names.
When you find a name you like, Google it. If no one has it, snag it for yourself.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is the federal agency that oversees the cosmetics industry. While you are not required to register your lip gloss line with the FDA before putting it on the market, you must work within the FDA's guidelines.
Guidelines include making sure that your cosmetics are unadulterated and are not misbranded. They must be appropriately labeled, with all of the ingredients listed. If you add color additives to your the additive must be FDA approved, and you must use it as it was intended.
The FDA has pulled together a Q&A for people looking to sell homemade cosmetics. I suggest you read it before you start labeling and selling your products. You can find it here.
In addition to the rules put in place by the FDA, you also need to take into account the basic business needs of your new cosmetic line.
For example, do you need a business license? Some states will require you to have a business license while others will not. Usually, the answer depends on whether or not the state collects sales tax.
If you need more guidance, I looked into the issue in this post here.
The blog Modern Soapmaking has tackled this issue. While, the site specializes in soap, it's also dabbled in lip gloss and balm as well. The bottom line, you need product liability insurance.
'Product liability insurance protects you from claims made against you as the manufacturer and seller of your products, including soap, lotions, lip balm, and more. It's a common misunderstanding that if you formulate your products correctly, you don't need product liability insurance because nothing can go wrong,' writes Modern Soapmaking.
Get insurance. Don't stop your business before it starts going.
With the legal all sorted out, you now need to consider branding your lip gloss business. You need to create a logo that people will associate with your business.
You will also need to create stickers that you will apply to your lip gloss. These stickers will include your company logo, all of the ingredients in the lip gloss as well as other requirements from the FDA. Again, if you have not read the FDA Q&A, read it!
You can find it here.
With your lip gloss all packaged and ready to go, you now need to find some customers.
You can choose to sell your lip gloss locally. That means you visit local beauty shops, talk to fellow crafters and attend local events to get the word out about your brand.
The benefit of selling locally is that you're building a grassroots effort. You're meeting personally with your clients and you're getting immediate feedback on your brand and its products.
The downside is, building a brand like this takes a lot of time.
Your other option is to sell your products online. For a little extra, you can create a website and an online store and then market your brand through social media such as Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest.
If you're not sure how to get a shop started online, then turn to a ready-made marketplace like Etsy to sell your products.
There is also the hybrid option, which can offer the best of both worlds, but also requires more work for you as the small business owner. You can create an online shop, but also attend local events to get the word out about your product.
Whether you sell online, locally or both, a lip gloss business can be a very fulfilling and profitable side hustle.
Your own lip gloss line does not cost a lot of money to start and it's fairly easy to learn. As you get better and your sales increase, you can increase your production to match.
Like many of the small businesses we feature a lip gloss business can be as much or as little as you want. It all depends on how you fit it into your lifestyle.
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Contact us to discuss your requirements of Lip Gloss Manufacturer. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.