Four ways you can support your beautician business through COVID
Has your beauty business been hit hard during COVID? Here are four ways you can support it during and after lockdowns.
The last 14 months have been some of the most challenging for a generation or more. The emotional impact of a pandemic has been intense, and there is the loss felt by so many – for the lives lost and the livelihoods. Even for those not directly touched, the impact of staying home for a year in lockdown leaves scars.
The financial burden has been felt the most for those working in trades such as hospitality, hair and beauty. Even when hairdressers started to work again for a while, the beauticians were not allowed to undertake treatments requiring close contact. The consequence? Beauticians were left will little way of making money.
The internet offers some of the best opportunities for beauticians during COVID. Here we explore how you can make money from your beautician business when personal contact is still restricted.
1) Turn to online selling
There are many online stores available to support individuals looking to set up an eCommerce store. Whether it is Etsy, eBay or Amazon, you could sell beauty products that you would have recommended in your practice anyway. You need only stock a basic inventory, using connections with suppliers, and then add on a margin to make a profit and maintain some income.
If you are worried about investing money into the stock, you can become a reseller on Amazon as you have no income. You do not purchase stock or store it; you are merely acting as a portal for the purchase from your supplier, who dispatches the product to your buyer.
We appreciate that being a salesperson wasn’t the reason to go into beautician work; it is a solution to a temporary problem. It could also provide you with some passive income when you are allowed back to your treatment room.
2) Choose on-demand products
You might want to give careful thought about what sort of products people will want to buy. Therefore, it might no be the products you would usually recommend – but instead, looking to suggest some of the DIY kits available. For instance, that home manicure sets are likely going to be huge – up there with home hair dyes. Therefore, choosing the products well will help you make the most of the issues facing your clients.
3) Offer Zoom consultations
Most businesses have learnt to keep themselves going using video conferencing. You might choose Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Skype, or any number of video call tools, but it is a way to help a client through their beauty woes. It is possible to set up appointments, guide people through application methods, or act as a personal shopping guide. It is possible to recommend the products that you can then send to them from your eCommerce store.
Why bother we such consultations. Well, beauty products are renowned for being difficult to sell in an online store. People need guidance when buying a new product and often stick to the same old routine out of fear. Your consultation will act as the support the buyer needs to make the purchase. The good news is that once you win their custom, they will more likely be loyal to your product.
If you want to get snazzy, you can use AR (Augmented Reality) apps to help virtually demonstrate the products. Check out an app called Perfect, which turns your camera into a makeup mirror.
4) Be relevant
The one thing you will have had plenty of in recent months is time. Therefore, it is all the opportunity you need to build yourself a social media following. Even if you don’t want to sell online in your store, you can recommend products to your community and get paid for them.
While there are many people seeking fame as social media influencers, you do not need millions of people to make a living. Agencies have different tiers of influencers for various clients – but be aware that the more followers you have, the more you can charge.
Working your social media hard, and the odd YouTube video or 20, you can keep that personal touch that you love so much in your work as a beautician.
At a basic level, you can keep your customers up to date with what you know about opening again. You can also give them an insight into you as a person. Most people visit the same beautician again and again and start to feel like a friend. You can maintain the loyalty of your clients by keeping that personal connection.
As we move towards opening
COVID restrictions are being lifted ever-so-slowly. Hairdressers are now back at work – and soon, beauticians will be able to fully open the treatment rooms.
You should give some thought to how to use the internet to advertise your services again, a countdown to your big reopening day, and use online services to get all the bookings you can. At a minimum, you should be using your social media to encourage DMs and bookings, making the experience all the more personal.
It will take time to build up your business again – we hope these tips will help
In short, there are so many opportunities to use the internet to get yourself back on your feet. Even when in-person treatments are allowed again, it will take time for business to return to previous levels. Use these ways of making money to offer you the support and structure to continue your business and thrive.
Laura McLoughlin is a Digital PR based in Armagh, Northern Ireland. She has previous experience as a website editor and journalist, and currently works with Franklins Beauty.
Photo by Kelly Sikkema
