In 2004, US cosmetics shoppers indicated that 66% of them use organic makeup products. The market for these products also increased from $190 million to $318 million over a five-year period. Due to these numbers, organic cosmetics are becoming more common and can be found in well-known stores across the country. This promising trend underscores current attitudes towards green causes and the desire to lead healthier lifestyles.
As the manufacturer grows to meet the demand, they look for more outlets to sell their products.
This opens the door for people who want to start a small home business selling organic products. For these entrepreneurs, the prospect of offering customers products that move like hot cakes is attractive, but how do you get started and do you need a license to sell these items?
Legal Licenses
The answer to this can be a bit tricky. Although the organic cosmetics industry is somewhat unregulated, the sale of any item, no matter what it’s made of, is not. If you want to start a business, you will need to obtain a license; the type of license may depend on how you structure your business.
brick and mortar business
Dermatologists, cosmetologists, estheticians, makeup artists, and health professionals are often licensed. In many cases these licenses will allow them to sell beauty products from their offices. If your experience falls within these parameters, you should check and see if you need a special license to advertise and market organic beauty products. Laws may differ from state to state, but you’ll probably be fine if you already have a license in the beauty trades.
Online and home based
For people who do not have formal health and beauty certification, a license to sell organic products may be required. This is because anyone starting a business must have a license. Again, laws can differ from state to state, so check with your local government agency about what may be required in regards to purchasing a business license.
You may find that some laws are written that you may not need a business license if you only sell a certain number of products per month or per year. In some cases, an individual can own a sole proprietorship but does not necessarily have to have a license.
When you call the business-related government agency in your city, be sure to ask detailed questions that cover all of these bases.
there’s money to be made
The organic cosmetics industry is not only exciting to get into, but it can be quite lucrative, in fact; experts postulate that sales of natural and organic cosmetics will reach $6.6 billion by 2010. This figure can be very tempting, just make sure you have what it takes to make your cosmetics business work. While the company will most likely provide you with the merchandise you’ll need to get started, you’ll have to work to build your clientele and share in the billions that may be generated in years to come.
risk capital
The main thing that prevents people from starting their own business is the assumption that they don’t have the money to start. However, the wonderful thing about a cosmetics business is that it often doesn’t take a lot of money to start, in fact, in some cases, it may only require an initial arrangement to receive the product.
Again, if you’re interested in investing in an organic skin care business, contact the company you’re interested in working with and ask them to send you information about their setup.
With the right mindset, you should be able to excel in an organic cosmetics business and earn a significant amount of money to boot!
