Raising your cosmetics box in Paris, during the second confinement following a pandemic and being a woman of foreign origin, is not at all obvious!
So why do it?
I have always been passionate about cosmetics, from little one I bought myself makeup, facial products and I liked to test everything! Small problem: each product gave me unwanted reactions even severe allergies. Coming from a country where natural cosmetics are not very widespread, it was complicated to find products that are most suitable for me and my sensitive skin.
My passion for cosmetics has evolved when I arrived in France because in addition to discovering pharmaceutical products, I discovered natural, organic and eco-responsible products: a first for me. I also subscribed to several monthly boxes in order to discover new products, and I regularly bought other products to test in pharmacy but I was not not always convinced.
Confainment, the desire to undertake, my passion for cosmetics and the discovery of homemade cosmetics pushed me to create my own brand of natural cosmetics.
How did I start structuring Melāhuac?
First of all, you must first know what you want to do, that is to say to choose between a product or a service. Make market studies, inquire about the sector, compare competitive future brands, launch surveys To find out which product your target needs, ... so many steps to make your final choice beforehand. You should know that throughout your project, the initial idea can evolve and change several times; This was my case.
The most important thing is to know where to start, it will avoid wasting time and money to your business.
Here are some key steps to start:
Find an partner: You can do the project alone, but having an associate allows you to expand your ideas, complement your skills and save time.
Do a survey: If you want to know if what you are selling corresponds to your target, make a survey To know the habits people, how much they would spend, or they buy their cosmetics etc. For our part, this survey opened our eyes and we had to change our initial range.
Find an incubator: The most important thing for me was to be accompanied. This allowed me to do networking*, meet other entrepreneurs, exchange contacts of suppliers and be accompanied by experts whose vocation is to guide you for the next steps, especially the most important: the creation of the company and the brand's deposit with the INPI (National Institute of Industrial Property).
Make a business plan: A business plan ** evolves all the time, but this is the element that will allow you to move forward and have a visibility of your business and the future of your company as a whole. The incubator can always help you refine the business plan and prepare it to show it for your future chartered accountant.
Find an accountant and a lawyer: Once you have your idea, your partners and the brand name, it is very important to use an accountant and lawyer who will guide you on the legal and financial side specific to business creation and the brand's deposit . Above all, you should not start creating content (social networks, website, etc.) for your brand if you have not yet validated the name with the INPI: you might lose the name and money ( This was our case). To give an idea, it takes about 4 months after the brand's deposit to have validation. Once this is validated you can start working using the name and looking for a domain name for your website and/or e-shops if necessary.
Choose a laboratory and suppliers: Cosmetics is a business sector that is expensive ... Having savings, love money *** or financial aid is important at the time of starting. There are laboratories that make the formulation of products, that is to say that they themselves prepare so-called "white" formulas in order to resell them (so you will have the same formula as the brand X, alone The packaging will be different), however you can find an independent formulation expert and produce in a laboratory. Personally, we have chosen to formulate our compositions A to Z, that is to say choose our ingredients so that they correspond to our own specifications, and our own desires and needs: a formula 100% Created thanks to the collaboration between my partner, our independent and me.
It's necessary coordinate The quantities to be produced with the laboratory and your suppliers, they must be consistent and that they adapt to your needs.
You must always wait until you validate your formulas and declare them to Cosmetic products notification portal (CPNP) Before selling the products.
Make a test workshop: Testing your final formula during a workshop to see if the formulas or bottles need changes. Do too test to everyone of those around you to have sincere (and sometimes raw) feedback. Our test workshop made in September 2020 at The right composition We made it possible to validate the final formula and change one of our bottles following ergonomics problems. The people present at the workshop were therefore future followers of Melāhuac and as the first concerned by the use of products, their feedback was of precious help to suit our target perfectly.
Make a crowdfunding campaign: Crowdfunding more than a tool to finance your production, it turns out to be a great tool to test the attraction of your products, know your target (what type of people will participate financially) during the launch, make the communication on a large scale and have the first customer experience feedback. We have done our campaign on Ulule And we have achieved a goal of 342% in 24h !
Use Shopify: This is the favorite tool to start your e-commerce without spending too much and having all the tools to make a functional and aesthetic site. It is perfectly suited to sell cosmetics and easily customizable With applications then integrate into the website. Shopify offers different offers depending on the needs of the company, the price becomes higher by successive additions of applications related to the page, the commissions are also to be taken into account.
Continuous improvement: Permanently improve your packaging, product and site is important to stay in the running against competitors. Like the basic idea, your brand will evolve each year, every month, every day in order to best adapt to your target. The cosmetics industry is a sector very competitive And adaptation is an essential quality, indeed, if you are not interested in new trends, the needs of your customers or in the cosmetics market in general, you will be impossible for you to develop your brand over the years .
Small advice: Try as much as possible minimize THE expenses Looking at tutorials to learn to do things such as the creation of the site, professional photos, social media management, etc. You will learn much more things by trying for yourself and you will become more independent. Also find suppliers who inspire you confidence and share the same values as you! A good relationship with his collaborators completely changes the way you work and advance in your projects.
Take everything in the creation of a cosmetics brand. Take your time, it's worth it!
*Networking: Ability to create a network of trust made up of professionals, enthusiasts, experts, etc. to exchange knowledge and advice over the long term.
** Business Plan: File constitute the complete business plan of the company. There are the values, ambitions and financial needs of it in order to presented them to future investors in particular.
*** Love Money: Building funds made by the founders of the company with their family, relatives, friends and acquaintances in order to finance part or the entire project.