HOW I MESSED UP NOT FOLLOWING TRENDS
Written by Jessica Brown, Founder of Locks Lash
I was just sent some super interesting statistics on lash & brow trends from Google Trends.
The amount of people searching ‘brow lamination’, ‘lash lift’ and ‘brow tint’ continues to go up and up over every year!
What beauty services are people searching for?
Searches for ‘brow tint’ in Australia
Searches for ‘ Brow Lamination’ in Australia
Searches for ‘lash lift’ in Australia
Why does this matter?
More consumers than ever (your potential customers) are searching for information and places to receive these services. The profit margins are simply amazing with a hybrid tint costing you around $0.70 cents per application for product with the average price being charged is between $45-$85 (with a shape) in Australia.
The average price of a lash lift in Australia is $120 (in the main cities) and $99 in regional areas. It only costs you $2.16 per application (using Locks Lash new pumps)!!
Brow Lam’s not only look amazing, but again the profit margins are insane! You can double up too with Locks Lash Lift products are some of the only on the market that you can additionally and very safely use for Brow Lam’s too. Which make it even more profitable for you.
You need to get on this and not make the same mistakes I made which costs me literally millions!
What I learnt:
I’ve really learnt recently was that one of my downfalls, as a business owner, has been that I've not always paid attention to what the consumer / customer are wanting (trends). I have just plodded along doing my own little thing and rejected what was needed and wanted by consumers - thus losing a lot of money in the process.
I made a HUGE mistake 4-5 years ago when Pre-Made lashes really started rearing their heads. It costs so much money & time to introduce a new line of lashes (or any product) to market as a company;
- First you have to find out exactly what qualities you need in the product. What makes it good quality? What do your customers actually want? You have to know the science of it.
- Then to find manufacturers who make exactly what you want. (Luckily I have been in the industry for so long, that I know how to do this easily).
- There is the vast quantities of samples to collect, then distribute to various people to test and try and wait for their feedback.
- You have to test them yourself too.
- Then art work going back & forth on design on packaging.
- Negotiation of price with the supplier
- Predicting & making the correct order and quantities which you’ll be able to sell
- Huge outlay of money to purchase that initial stock
- Marketing and formulating the right strategy, then implementing that plan (which includes more costs for promotion and man hours).
- Paying all the freight charges, plus customs duties AND bloody GST (a tax) on the shipment
- Then finally the shipment arrives and you are down thousands & thousands of dollars and man hours without making a cent yet.
Due to these huge outlays and costs I resist many new trends and implementing them into Locks Lash. I can’t be bothered with M curls and whatever else is in vogue for 3mins.
However, I made the huge mistake with Pre-Mades in believing they were just another passing trend. I didn’t research this enough and jumped to uneducated conclusions to only stock a very limited range.
Meanwhile other smart people/companies saw this trend, jumped on it and killed it by selling pre-mades.
So much so, that because the trend kept on getting bigger and bigger and they were delivering what was needed and wanted by you (the customers) at the correct price point, these other companies got more and more attention that they became known as ‘the’ suppliers for pre-mades. Leaving Locks Lash in the dust.
I mean when you think pre-mades what 3 companies in Australia come to mind? I know what your answer is and it might not be Locks Lash - despite that we (now) have higher quality pre-mades at a cheaper price point.
The Best Lash Glues
Locks Lash totally has the majority of the lash glue market and is the go-to in glues…and that was a moment when I DIDN’T do the above! Instead I listened to what customers were saying about glues on FB forums, through surveys, through customer feedback, really understanding the science and what it needed to be and then I went on a mission to find THE glue. It took ages, but I found it and that was Holy Grail.
It is still the best selling lash glue in Australia.
Moral to the story … brow tinting (hybrid), lash lifts and brow laminations are happening RIGHT NOW. Don’t do your business a disservice (like I did) and miss this trend. Learn how to do them correctly and beautifully and go deliver them to your existing clients. Do lots of promotion about offering this service and attract more customers! Boom your business babies!!
Jess x
