How To Start Hair Extensions Business
The use of the hair extensions which has been with us for centuries has come into the limelight of late because of the tremendous growth in the marketing of the hair extension products. The growth was a result of many factors, such as the increasing use of hair extensions by women particularly African Americans who wanted to change their hairstyles as well as celebrities globally who wanted to modify their looks.
It must be said that hair extensions have also been used by people who for one reason or the other lost their hairs, including aged people. But the question is; what is a hair extension?
Hair extension is artificial hair integrations; it is added to human hair to lengthen it and/or increase the volume of the hair. It can be sewn, glued, clipped on the natural hair by integrating additional human or synthetic hair. It is mostly used by women to modify and add elegance/glamour to their look.
In its documentary, the ABC news traced the source of the hair extensions to have come from mainly China and India, and other poor countries of the world. The documentary revealed that the people who shaved their hair had no idea the purpose for which their hair was used. Even those that did exchange theirs for money obtained less value than would have been the case if they were better informed.
The hair extensions documentary also mentioned the reason why many people had taken to wearing hair extensions was to enhance their beauty and made them change their looks. That was the reason customers of these extensions mainly women were prepared to pay so many dollars to buy it.
As has been mentioned before, the human hair comes to the US from China and India, and China exporting greater quantity due mainly because of its population and cultural beliefs. In India however, women as a result of their religious practices donate hair to the temple. In turn, the temple auctions the hair to hair making factories; the revenue realized is used to assist the poor in the community.
The unprocessed hair is then taken to the factory where wefts and keratin are added through the wax application method. When done, the work in progress is treated for colour and textures, after which they are sold to wholesalers for the market consumption.
In the US about 34 percent of women use hair extension to augment their natural hair, according to research sponsored by Haairtrade.com; the research also revealed that 87 percent of the women using hair extension concealed the fact that they were using one. 76 percent of women also disclosed that they use extension just to change their look, add volume, and look fashionable.
The market for hair extensions is growing at an annualized rate of 40 percent in the US, and 28.5 percent of the increase in the past two years is coming from the salons’ demand for hair extensions. The boom was occasioned by new development in technology in the application of the hair extensions for users and partly by its increasing use by celebrities.
In the US, its export market has been boosted by over 2 billion dollars as a result of exporting hair extensions. Indeed, the US is the largest producer, exporter, and importer of hair extensions in the world. As celebrities have finally joined the target market, it may be right to say that the US is also the largest user of hair extensions.
With this background information, if you have the passion to start the business of hair extension, it is easier for you to make a decision. But you must realize that it is not just passion, a lot of work is involved in the hair extension business so bear in mind that your passion doesn’t die and you get stuck on the way. One thing though you must also take into consideration before you dabble into hair extension business is to decide which area of hair extension business you want to concentrate your efforts since there are five areas you can choose from. They include:
- Hair extension production
- Hair extension drop-shipping
- Hair extension distribution
- The combination of distribution/dropshipping
- Hair Extension Affiliate Programs
Hair extension production:
The raw material, mainly human hair is preferably used for making human hair extensions, braids, custom wigs, and hairpieces. Since it looks more natural and versatile, human hair is a choice for many users. It can be heat styled and remain the same without damage. If you eventually decide to be a producer of hair extension, you may need to market your products through the wholesalers and retailers, and the use of direct marketing.
Hair extension dropshipping
What is Drop Shipping?
Drop shipping is a management technique designed to enable you to save money on inventory while orders received are forwarded to suppliers who ship the product to the customer. The chosen supplier packages the goods and supplies to a customer while concealing they are acting on someone else’s instructions. The major advantage is the cost-saving on inventory and warehouse but there might be a delay in executing orders passed on to suppliers. The cost of the delay can’t be quantified but may be significant sometimes. However, the probability that the supplier will stock the inventory of the specific hair extensions when customers orders arrive makes drop shipping a viable option
Hair extension distribution
With this method, you rely on the supplier to do most of the work, but you take all the profit, still concealing the original brand name. Drop-shipping is slower when it comes to delivery but you don’t have to invest anything to start the business. You should also consider buying in large quantities and selling in smaller quantities as a retailer of hair extensions. In this case, you may have to own a retail store and stock inventory which is absent if you decide to dropship. However, keeping your inventory lets you quickly deliver packages to your customers. The price for this is high since you will have to deploy thousands of dollars in different kinds of hair extensions which might sometimes prove difficult to sell.
The combination of drop shipping/distribution
This method combines the benefits of quick delivery and keeping no inventory. If you are selling hair extension worldwide, you can always deliver to locals but allow your suppliers to handle orders from customers in foreign countries. But if you don’t stock a particular hair extension to supply to a local customer, you can still invite your supplier to handle the particular order. By and large, this option is perfect if you have money to invest in inventory to enable supply to your customer at short notice and at the same time satisfy the needs of others you can maintain inventory and even those you can’t keep inventory.
Hair extension affiliate programs
This method like the drop shipping does not require any investment on your part. What it requires instead is for you to pass on a specifically generated link to your family members and friends. But since there are many programs of this kind, you should only accept one that guarantees to credit your account whenever a sale is made to your referred person. So this means that if you have given a link to your friend who doesn’t buy now but buys in nine months, you will still receive credit.
If you choose the affiliate program regime, all your efforts should be geared towards marketing the affiliate company products to generate enough sales to keep you in business. So many different promotional activities may be employed to generate sales such as; networking, distribution of flyers, generating links, and distributing links to your friends, email marketing, and social media marketing.
As an aspiring entrepreneur, you will have to conduct further research on the economic viability of each regime and decides which one or which combination suits your purpose. There are many factors to be considered before making up your minds such as available resources for investment, marketing efforts you are prepared to put in, and your desired return on investment.
If you are ready to go into the hair extensions business, we are ready too to take you to step by step to starting the business and running it successfully. So shall we start?
HOW TO START HAIR EXTENSIONS BUSINESS
- Make a Final Decision
- Choose your target market
- Research your market and choose suppliers/vendors
- Know Your Competitors
- Research Your Products
- Brand your products
- Package your products
- Promote your business
- Don’t forget the necessary legal documents you need to operate with.
- Conclusion
Make a Final Decision
Which of the different five regimes listed above you have chosen to concentrate your efforts, the basic process of starting them is similar but other differences are specific to each regime.
Whether you decide to produce what you sell or buy to sell, the process of selling is the same. It is only when you opt for drop shipping; the process of selling is changed. In that case, your effort is on marketing the brands you choose to sell. What you need to do is to set up a marketing unit to deal with selling your hair extensions.
First things first, decide whether you sell your products online or operate a brick and mortar retail store. You can operate the two options or choose one but your choice will largely be influenced by your goals and objectives, as well as your initial capital, target market, or what you consider best for your business.
If eventually, you decide to market your hair extension online and do away with having a physical store, you will need to secure a storage facility, free of dust, dirt, and pest.
Choose your target market
The target market should consist of all those who use hair extensions for different reasons and they include the following:
- Black women – home and abroad
- Celebrities – musicians, actresses, actors, comedians, etc.
- Female senior citizens – lost hair as a result of old age.
- Cancer patients – who have lost their hair because of illness.
- People in the A, B, and B plus in the social class ranking.
- Hairstylists
- Fashion Designers
- Hair Studios
Research your market and choose suppliers/vendors
The hair extension business has grown into a huge business, with more people – men and women using the extensions to attain different goals such as replacing lost hair, protecting the natural hair, but more importantly changing their look to make them more glamorous and sophisticated. Intending entrepreneurs, who want to excel in the hair extensions trade, should be able to identify the trending hair extension styles as well as reliable vendors who can maintain regular and high-quality supplies whenever orders are placed.
You must set up a wholesale account with producers/suppliers of high-quality brands. It is important to buy your products directly from international manufacturers to buy at the lowest price but renowned wholesalers such as Saga, Milkyway, and Bohyme are in the US to serve you too.
Know Your Competitors
After you have identified your target audience, you must also need to study your major competitors. Carry out online research. For example, if you are selling hair extensions for cancer patients, just Google “cancer patients hair extensions” or any such keyword combination you can brood over but try to visit up to 7 competitor web sites for more marketing information..
Write down all the marketing information that attracted your attention. It could be a great design or packaging. Or it may be a catchy label and astounding logo. Take your time to note all the pertinent information that met your eyes. All these will put you in good stead to figure out the best way to outperform your competitors. In addition to that, make sure you go through their checkout procedure and take note of the things that stood out. A great checkout experience makes a successful store.
Research Your Products
Human hair is the best material for making hair extensions; custom wigs, braids, and hairpieces. Because it is natural and versatile, a human hair is considered the real thing all over the world. If you choose the alternative to be a producer of hair extensions, you can get your products to the market via wholesalers and retailers. It is more liked than synthetic hair blends because of its natural look.
If you are into production or marketing hair extensions, learn about weaving and the different types of human hair available in the market. Know the differences between synthetic and human hair weaves so that you can give your customers better service. Not in some cases if someone chooses to purchase a 10-inch weft of Remy’s hair, you wouldn’t want to sell to him a 15-inch bulk bag of Asian hair simply because you are still confused about the difference. You also may need to counsel your customers on a different category of hair and which one is best for a variety of extensions, wigs, and braids.
Brand your products
You should realize that there are many retail stores up and down the country that sell a wide range of hair extensions you will be competing, so you must gear up for a good brand of product. If you have a burning desire for hair extensions business and want to produce something really good, your products should stand out and show for it. So whatever is the reason why you come up with hair extensions, translate it into your products, and choose a brand name that says it all. A good brand name should possess the following characteristics:
- It must be easily recognized, short, simple, and easy to spell and remember.
- It must be easy to pronounce among major languages.
- It must be capable of conveying the product benefits.
- The name must be unique and distinctive from other similar products.
- It must offer legal protection and fit legal requirements
- It must not be offensive to a certain culture.
Package your products
The way you brand and package your hair extensions is very important for your hair extension business achieving its promotional goals in the future.
Your packaging represents your company and your reputation so make sure to spend extra time on this to ensure your success. Some important details to include in your packaging include:
- Brand details
- Contact email box and phone numbers
- Physical address for your office or factory.
With this information, it will go a long way in helping you keep existing customers as well as attract new ones in the future.
Promote your business
If you maintain a physical store, get introduced to the community you operate in by sponsoring things like a fashion show, a hair show or related event organized in your community and others. Belong to associations of hair or fashion formed to help members who are in business to grow and be successful. Whenever possible, donate hair to a charity that can make custom wigs for people who have lost their hair. By so doing, you may be in the media spotlight and more people may get to know you.
If you set up an e-commerce hair extension, keep your social media account active and up-load frequently captivating content to your social media accounts. Set up a blog that you post hair fashion content and post tips and adverts on forums and websites that are constantly visited by target customers.
You should set up a promotional campaign aimed at attracting customers so that they can help improve your profit goals, but also to make certain that your brand’s goals and objectives are successfully communicated to your target customers. These may include the following:
- Giving out financial incentives to your customers on some of your brands
- Advertising your hair extensions products in beauty and fashion magazines
- Contributing to the sponsor of community fashion shows and pageantries
- Participating in trade fairs for the sale of your hair extensions and networking purposes
- Advertising on local newspapers, radio, and online.
- Distributing handbills and flyers in related gatherings and other target areas
- Set up a website and use the avenue to promote and market your products
- Make use of your social media platforms – Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to engage your target customers
- Encourage your customers to refer your hair extension business to others
- Register your hair extension business in online and offline directories such as yellow pages.
Don’t forget the necessary legal documents you need to operate with.
The essence of procuring the necessary documents for your business before you commence your business is to be on the side of the law. You cannot successfully operate any business in the United States without the necessary documentation. If you do, you will be risking being caught up with the long hand of the law.
The following are some of the legal documents that you are likely to have in place before you are legally fit to own and run a hair extension making factory or trade on similar products in the United States of America;
- Certificate of Incorporation – this document gives you the right to own your hair extensions business
- Business License – this document permits you to run your hair extension business.
- Tax Payer’s ID / Tax Identification Number – you get this document when you hire workers
- Chemical handler certificate – this document ensures the right handling of chemicals.
- Health inspection Certificate – it ensures the safety of workers
- Copy of license for the service support facility and/or a recent inspection report – for the assurance that your facility is regularly serviced.
- Hair Extension Factory Business Plan – to attract investors and serves as a road-map for you to implement your plan.
- Employee Handbook – it is a handbook for your employees about their relationship with your business.
- Employment Agreement – contains letters of employment.
- Operating Agreement for LLCs
- Insurance Policy – cover for the hair Extensions Company and employees
- Company Bylaws – this is the internal rules of the hair extension business.
- Memorandum of Understanding – the external rules of the company
Conclusion;
Hair extension business may look simple, prima facie, but may only be successful for those who are fully committed and persevere over time because of the tricky nature of the business and the stiff competition being witnessed today; not only in the US but the world over.
In the first place, the raw material used for the production is mainly imported from poor communities in China and India and other Asian countries and may easily be in short supply if critical cultural changes take place. The reason is that most of the exports are done because of the cultural and religious reasons for the counties of export.
The second reason is the intense competition among the players for different and fine hair extensions quality being rolled out on continuous bases; assisted by advanced technology in place and the innovation and foresight of the entrepreneurs.
All these put together, means that unless you as a newbie are fully determined to succeed and put in due diligence, an attempt to make headway in this hair extensions business may only be a mirage.