Most working and middle class Nigerian women invest a portion of their income each month to purchase products that improve their appearance, both in the short and over the long term. In addition to making them more attractive to strangers and peers as well, it increases confidence in their status as women.
You now know it is possible to earn lots of money simply by selling skin care products. In this article you will discover how to begin an online cosmetics enterprise in Nigeria.
Table of Contents
How do you start a profitable cosmetics business in Nigeria
Follow these steps for starting an effective cosmetic company in Nigeria:
1. Conduct a market research
Let’s simplify this. It is possible to research three aspects in this article:
- Your ideal customer
- Purchase cycle
- Products
Market research for your ideal clients
First, you must identify your ideal customers. They are likely to be attracted to your skin care and cosmetics products. You shouldn’t be selling cosmetic products to those who are over 80 at the very least, not in a manner that can yield a substantial amount of profits.
A majority of your customers are females, and range from 18 to 40 likely to be around 40+.
Market research into buying cycles
This section focuses on the consistency. How often can customers buy back from you over the course of one year?
If you’re only selling cosmetics and skin care products that can help get rid of certain disorders and blemishes on the skin, a lot of your customers won’t be to you for a long period of time (unless the issue persists or occurs again).
That means that a lot of your customers you want to attract will only purchase from you a couple of times per year. Some won’t even come back. That means you must make a profit of a considerable amount from every sale.
Let’s examine another example. If you are selling cosmetics along with your skincare products and you make significant profits. Women and men both like to look attractive and will visit your store at least once a month to purchase.
Product market research
The process is fairly straightforward. It is important to determine which products are most popular in your local area. Certain customers prefer Vaseline rather than Nivea due to one reason or another.
2. Create a business plan for your cosmetic company.
This is optional, based on the kind of business you wish to operate. If you were born in Nigeria and recognize that business owners may be divided in two categories.
- Professional business owners
- Hustlers
Professional business owner
Funny, right? A business owner who is professional is one who has something concrete in their minds and views the company as an investment. Apart from earning a profit the business owners also want to increase their visibility and be recognized by the marketplace, and become the leader in their market.
They pay attention to the smallest particulars, like having a business plan, the business’s name and logo and registering their company as well as obtaining investors other such things. Many of these business owners are ready to be bought by larger companies.
If your cosmetics business falls into this category, then you must create an outline of your business plan. It’s the plan of your company, it will outline everything you need to do in order to grow. This includes your company’s goals and objectives, your marketing goals as well as startup costs, the required equipment, and many more.
Hustlers
Being a hustler can be easy. When a customer purchases something, you cash out the profits immediately. You started the business of cosmetics to provide your primary source of income and do not have a chance to run it for a long time. For now, at least until a new opportunity knocks.
If your business is a cosmetic one, and is in this category, then you may not require any business plans. However, you must be aware of your inventory and sales, profits as well as other factors.
3. Find the necessary capital for your cosmetics business.
There are a variety of ways you can raise capital to begin your own cosmetic business in Nigeria. Start by saving your own money or borrow money from friends and family or go to microfinance institutions.
If your business in the field of cosmetics is a professional one then you’ll have more financing options apart from those mentioned previously mentioned. It is possible to prepare and present business plans to angel investors as well as venture capitalists, accelerators for businesses, and commercial banks.
4. Find a suitable place to stay
The next step is find a suitable place to set up your cosmetics business. When you’re looking for a location to set up your shop, take into consideration:
- Customers of the target
- Competitors
Your ideal customers are the ones most likely to buy from your business. While males do purchase cosmetics, they’re just not as frequently as females.
It is recommended to locate your cosmetics company in an area that has a large number of women between 18-45.
Another thing to take into consideration is competition. If there’s already more than two cosmetic shops within the region, please look into locating elsewhere. It isn’t a good idea to go out of business before you even begin.
5. Register your cosmetics business
Next step picking an appropriate business name. It should be relevant to your business, simple to recall, but visually appealing.
Then, you must create a business logo, register your business with the Corporate Affairs Commission and obtain permits for your area.
6. Store your cosmetics in the in the store
Because you don’t own your own cosmetics manufacturing brand it is necessary to purchase wholesalers and then resell the products for your clients. The difference between the purchase price as well as the selling cost (minus the capital) is the return you earn on your investment.
It is important to be aware of a few points when shopping for cosmetics.
- Make sure that the items are correctly packed prior to being delivered to your store
- Keep track of the expiration date
- The cosmetics store you visit should be an environment that is dry and cool
7. Get some help (if required)
Although this might not be necessary at initial, it is possible that you might require employees as your cosmetics business grows. If you are hiring anyone you hire, make sure it is female.
The reason is because most of your clients are females as well, and they may not feel at ease discussing their personal preferences or issues with males. Your staff must be neat courteous, polite and, above all else and most importantly, reliable.
Conclusion
Many Nigerians particularly females, spend an enormous amount on skincare and beauty products each month. These include hair and body creams as well as facial powder as well as bathing soaps, lighterening products, black spots eliminators and other.
The business of cosmetics is becoming more lucrative every day, since a lot of young people nowadays want to look attractive. With the right knowledge and capital, you could begin a cosmetics business in Nigeria and earn lots of money selling skin care and cosmetics products.