There are few things more exciting than starting a hair care business. The beauty industry has boomed like no other in recent years. At the moment, it’s a great world to dip your toes in if you love all things hair and are looking to turn that passion into profit.
And if you’re a newbie girlboss that needs extra help to hit the ground running, you may want to seek the help of a private label company. Partnering with us at FLPL would be a terrific idea if you’re looking to get into the business of moisturizing serums, frizz-defying shampoos, and other hair-loving products.
Private labeling hair products for your business is an option if you want to make life easier for you, but that doesn’t make you immune to making some mistakes now and then. In fact, there are a bunch of them you need to be wary of and avoid.
Why Private Label Your Hair Products in the First Place?
Private labeling is a great way to launch your first small business. Here’s how it goes: a partner company manufactures your hair products (with your directions and input, of course), and you get to sell them under your own brand name.
At FLPL, you can work with an R&D team for your beauty products and a creative team for your branding and aesthetic. This allows you to personalize everything your company puts out — from the formulas to the cute packaging — without having to do everything all by yourself.
And it’s not just the smaller business people who are getting into private labeling hair products. So many big brands are joining the party too! Huge retailers like Sephora and Walmart are tapping into private labeling their proprietary beauty products to make extra gains.
Why? Well, smaller, private label beauty brands provide solutions to the many demands of beauty lovers, from more sustainable packaging to natural, organic formulas. And they do it much quicker than huge conglomerates that aren’t as flexible, too!
Private labeling hair products is also smart if you have no way of making your goods yourself. Instead, you can rely on experts with decades of experience creating hair products from scratch. Leaning on an experienced team also ensures that your products are efficacious and safe to use.
Now, we know what you’re thinking. Private labeling hair products sounds simple, like you can just sit back and relax, but it’s not like that. You have to be on your feet for any problems that need solving, like any businessman. And believe us, tons of hitches can come about the private labeling process.
Here are ten mistakes you want to avoid when you start private labeling your hair care products:
Not Doing Anything to Stand Out
Bringing out your competitive nature is a must when running a hair care business. After all, there are many other rival brands you need to keep an eye on. Hair lovers are faced with so many options for their products, so you have to stand out and differentiate yourself right away.
Before you even think about formulations and packaging, you have to think about what your unique selling proposition or USP is.
Your USP is the specific benefit or value you provide that no other competitor can. It’s the main reason your customers should buy from you and not anyone else. You can’t just offer the same old products and benefits your competitors are. So ask yourself, what makes your company different?
One surefire way to stand out from the crowd is by being extra creative with the ingredients in your products. At FLPL, we have an extensive list of ingredients to choose from, ranging from exotic truffles to cult-fave retinol. Choose a unique ingredient you can build your brand around.
Another good USP is to advocate for a cause your target market cares about. You can fight for women’s empowerment, clean beauty, inclusivity, and more. That’s sure to make you stand out among bigger brands, which tend to be conservative and impartial.
Trying to Reach an Incredibly Broad Target Market
You don’t have to please everyone. If you try to cater to a huge, oversaturated, and general audience, your message won’t resonate that well, especially when it’s being drowned out by household name brands that target everyone too.
It’s important to zero in on one age group, psychographic, and lifestyle. Are you talking to moms? Millennials? Gen Z? African-American communities? Focus on them and solve their problems to earn their trust and brand love. The more generic you are, the less helpful and unrelatable your brand will be.
Niche down and look for a specific market segment you want to talk to and cater to. Pinning down a small but specific target market allows you to pay more attention to their needs and solve them the way bigger companies can’t, since they live to please everyone. It also makes driving loyalty much easier.
Plus, if your unique target market is specific enough, you can turn that into your USP. You can be that hair care brand that helps coarse curls, or bottle-blonde hair, or protective styles.
Not Conducting Enough Research to Understand Hair Needs
The main point of starting a business is to help people solve problems with the products you create. So if you don’t do enough research on hair, you won’t be getting anywhere even after private labeling hair products that seem okay. Doing the right research shows respect for the industry and your customers.
The key to being remembered by your audience is addressing their pain points. Your formulas, packaging, and advocacy as a brand should have a positive impact on your customer’s life.
Do market research on curly hair communities. Learn about protective styles that represent unique cultures. Educate hair lovers about damage from heat-styling and chemical treatments. There are tons of things you can learn about to improve what your business has to offer.
Settling for Generic Packaging
Packaging is a major way to bring your brand to life. It’s a reflection of your vision and personality. So when private labeling hair products, make sure that your logo, colors, choice of bottle, and tagline aren’t half-baked. Aside from formulations, your packaging is the heart and soul of your brand.
If we’re being practical and perfunctory, packaging serves functional benefits. It keeps your product safe, protects it from the elements, and prevents any sort of damage when your goods are in transport.
But it should be creative too. The design should be attractive enough to catch your customer’s eye. So you have to put careful thought into what colors, fonts, and bottles will appeal to your target market. You can’t settle for any generic and boring packaging; it always has to be compelling.
Carrying Only a Small Range of Products
A common mistake many small businesses commit, whether or not they’re private labeling their hair products, is relying on just one or two products to sell like hotcakes forever. You can’t just carry one item, no matter how raved-about it is.
Partnering with a private label company like FLPL gives you the advantage of easily expanding into other products in the hair industry too. If you’ve launched hair serums and creams, it’s easy to tap us and start carrying accessories like curling irons and wands as well!
Doing this lets your brand address multiple hair concerns, allowing your audience to build an entire hair care regimen—from washing to styling — with your brand’s products alone.
Having Too Many or Not Enough Stocks of Your Products
When private labeling hair products, your manufacturer may have a minimum order requirement for each batch of goods produced.
This can be an issue because you might end up with more stocks than you need, which can end in losses if your products expire on you. They could also end up being dead inventory — stocks that don’t move around because the demand isn’t high enough.
So when it comes to placing your orders for your products, make sure your forecast is realistic. Only manufacture what you need, not less or more. At FLPL, you can get strategic intel from our roster of business consultants that can give you advice on how to go about your merchandising strategy.
Pricing High Without Justification
One cool thing about private labeling hair products is that you get to dictate your price. While it’s easy to simply position yourself as a luxury brand and demand higher prices, you always have to stay reasonable. You can’t just name a price without justification, lest your customers come for you.
When naming your price, you have to consider many factors. These include your target market’s socio-economic class, how much it costs to make your product, and more.
Don’t be greedy with your prices, because your biz may suffer as a consequence. If you price high without any valid justification, your customers will see through it and start questioning where the value of your products is, or whether it’s a reasonable investment in the first place.
Not Adjusting Your Formulations Based on Customer Feedback
Because private labeling hair products allows you to move faster and be more nimble than bigger brands, you should adjust your formulations and packaging according to customer feedback. Here at FLPL, we make it easy for brands to continually evolve.
This shows that you listen to your customers and value their opinion. Tweaking your products according to their thoughts will help make your brand more relevant to them, which can win you some brownie points for loyalty and brand love in the long run.
Your customers’ needs will always evolve, so you have to be the one doing the chasing. If you don’t, a competitor brand will. So you have to look into customer feedback regularly to see what you can do to improve their satisfaction.
There are many methods to check for feedback, like surveys, interviews, and FGDs. Or it can be as simple as reading through product reviews on your site or listening to their DMs on social media. What’s important is that your customers are heard and feel valued.
Having a Lack of Communication with Your Private Label Team
Communication is key in every milestone of your business, from research and development to distributing it to your channels. One small miscommunication can spell disaster, so it’s vital that you’re present every step of the way, especially because it’s your brand and you call all the shots.
So when you’re working with a private labeling team, such as FLPL, make sure to set a couple of meetings every month to align next steps and orders. This allows you and your team to build rapport and ensure that you’re all on top of everything going on in your business.
Giving Up on Your Business Just Because It Hasn’t Taken Off Yet
Building a business takes time. Don’t be so hard on your hair care business just because it doesn’t take off in the first few weeks after your launch. Give it some time to stand out and be noticed—before you know it, you’ll be the talk of the town. Just make sure you never give up on your biz.
Remember, when it comes to private labeling hair products, it’s a marathon, not a race. As long as you have the drive and are willing to put in the work, you will get there slowly but surely.
Conclusion
It’s normal to stumble and make a few mistakes when you’re new to the business world, but it doesn’t mean you can’t come prepared. Consider this list a heads up for all the things you can do wrong even if you have a terrific private labeling team by your side.
Private labeling hair products is no joke. If you choose to go that route, being on top of everything and trusting the private labeling process is your lifeline so that your hair care biz can survive in the competitive beauty industry.
Every business will have to face problems down the line, but it’s extra frustrating if a drawback blows up in your face knowing you could have prevented it if only you knew these common mistakes to avoid. So on top of being business-savvy, you also have to be cautious, strategic, and always think on your feet. Fortunately, with FLPL on your side, you won’t need to worry quite so much. Get in touch if you would like to learn more about your options for private labeling hair products!