Q&A: Is The Beauty Market Saturated? How Can You Succeed?

Me, after a MAC makeup session.

Hi Heather,
 
Thank you for you inspiring words. I started a handmade skin care business but it failed miserably. I gave it my best shot and wasted a lot of money. My question is do you think the beauty market is saturated and what tips would you give to start a successful business.
 
Regards 
Denise R.
 
 
This is a great question, Denise, you’re not the first person to ask me this.
 
The truth is there are A LOT of skin (and hair) care products out there and a good majority of them have exactly the same ingredients so consumers find it difficult to distinguish good brands from rubbish brands. The result is that a buyer may continue to buy a product for many, many years although that product that doesn’t work particularly well for them.
 
The vast majority of supermarket skincare products are in fact owned by just two companies, Proctor & Gamble and Unliever; moreover, a good proportion of more upmarket skin and beauty brands are owned by L’Oreal and Estee Lauder.
 
This has certain repercussions for people who want to start a new brand:
 
Disadvantages

1. You will not be able to match their pricing. These companies have incredible buying power and they can reduce their costs to virtually nothing.
2. You won’t be able to match their marketing budget. these companies spend A LOT of money to keep their market share.

 
Advantages
 
Despite this there are some advantages for you:

1. Today’s consumer is more educated and has a bit more money; they’re tired of the same old stuff and are more willing to experiment.
2. These big companies are very inflexible and take a very long time to change their ways. New companies can be fast and nimble.

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Is the market saturated? ​

​It is definitely saturated for “me too” products but it’s not saturated for products that come out with a great story and attempt to do something different.
 
To succeed today you need to find a very narrow niche, don’t try to be all things to all people and you need to do things a little differently to turn heads and make people consider switching products.
 
You cannot succeed with a product that’s dull and appears to be no different to existing brands.

So, how do you succeed?

Mum looks A-MA-ZING at 57.

A. Have a great story.
 
Do you know Levi Roots? He created a cooking sauce when there were thousands of sauces on supermarket aisles. He went on to Dragon’s Den (the equivalent of Shark Tank in the US) and nailed it with his pitch.
 
He wasn’t same-old, same-old.
 
He came on with his guitar, he was authentic – he didn’t attempt to change his Jamaican Patois and he charmed us all with his reggae-reggae sauce jingle.
 
After that interview you just thought, I want that guy’s product, that guy deserves to be rich…and rich he became.
 
B. Have fantastic branding.
 
People have more money nowadays so they’re willing to spend a bit more for something that looks amazing.
 
Middle class consumers care now, probably more than ever, about how they are perceived and they want to buy things that make them look wealthy and successful.
 
Poorly branded products have no chance.
 
C. Build your own audience, grass roots style.
 
Have you heard of Michelle Phan? She is a beauty vlogger on YouTube that’s spent hundred of hours producing beauty videos.
 
She grew such a large audience that L’Oreal paid her several million dollars to have her own brand of makeup products, Em. Ultimately that product line didn’t make the type of money L’Oreal hoped for, the suspicion is that the products were overpriced for the type of fans Michelle has (young and just starting out in life), but the brand is still around; it’s now owned by Michelle’s own company, Ipsy.
 
Building a big following means you can sell directly to a certain audience and although most beauty bloggers won’t get bought by the L’Oreals of this world, they have an opportunity to create their own brands, they have influence and can disrupt people (and industries) from their usual way of doing business.
 
What do you need to build a significant audience?
 
Time, lots of time to produce vlogs, blogs and incredible images for your social media pages.
 
I hope this answered your question, Denise.
 
Have a business or life question you want me to answer? Please email it to me with the subject “Question”. Note that all such questions will be answered as a blog post and will be sent to my full email list. 

Want to start a business? Check out The Money Spot Program.

Related stories:
Are P&G And Unilever Headed In Opposite Directions?
Who Owns What In The Beauty Industry?
Levi Roots on Dragon’s Den

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