How To Start A Hair Business: Your Guide To Make Money Selling Extensions

Are you looking for a way to make money from home? Have you ever thought about starting your own hair business? It’s easier than you think! In this blog post, I’ll walk you through the process of starting your own hair business.

I’ll provide tips on how to find suppliers, set up your website, and market your products. So read on to learn how you can start making money selling extensions today!

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This post is for general informational and educational purposes only. You can read the full disclaimer for more information.

Write a business plan

Starting a hair business is just like any other business in that you should have a business plan. Writing a traditional business plan can take some time and a lot of research.

Though if you want to start your business quickly you can use a lean startup format.

Lean startup formats include charts and just a few elements that describe your company’s feature product or service, structure, target audience, and finances.

Having these items in place will give you a good picture of your overall business.

There are tons of ways to write a lean startup template. I will discuss nine important steps of a model hair extension business plan here:

Strategic Partnerships

Make a list of all the other businesses or services you’ll partner with to operate your company. Consider vendors, suppliers, manufacturers, freelancers, and other important relationships.

Main Activities

List the ways your business will outshine the competition. Highlight things like expert advice, or using technology to tap into the power of social media.

Important Resources

List all of the resources you’ll use to produce value for your customer. Vendors, money, and intellectual property are all possible assets.

Tip: leverage business resources that might be available to women, veterans, and African Americans.

The Benefit You Will Deliver (Value Proposition)

Make a strong and clear statement about the unique value your business provides to the market.

Customer Interactions

Describe how your customers will engage with your business. Is it online, by telephone, or in person? What will each point of contact with your customer look like, from the beginning to the end?

Customer Segments

When you define your target market, be crystal clear. Your company won’t appeal to everyone, so it’s vital to have a clear understanding of the potential customers you’ll cater to.

Lines of Communication

List the most important ways you’ll communicate with your customers. You can use various ways and find what works best over time.

Cost Structure

List all the costs that are associated with selling your product or service. Include costs that are fixed and don’t change. Also, include costs that vary or change. Consider your desired profit margin.

When it comes to your bottom line… will you be a cost-driven business and specialize in low-cost products and services?

Or will you be a value-driven business and give your customers the best value for their money, but not have the cheapest goods or services? 

Streams of Income

Explain how your business will actually make money. Some examples are customer sales, membership fees, dropshipping, and affiliate marketing. If your company has multiple revenue streams, list them all.

At this point, you can come up with your business name. Be sure the name you choose isn’t taken by checking with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

In addition, you’ll need to outline your business’s legal structure e.g. LLC or C Corp.

Register your business with your state and obtain your EIN.

It may also be helpful to sign up with your state’s internet-based business tax system which will allow you to electronically file returns, make payments and/or extension requests.

Research the competition

You’ll need to have a solid grasp of the hair industry’s direction and target market. Competitive research will show you what other businesses are doing and how they differentiate themselves from the competition.

Look for trends and themes in your hair market study, as well as clues about what works and why it works that way. Here are some questions you can ask yourself (in no particular order):

  1. What are the competitors really good at?
  2. Why does it work the way it does?
  3. Can you improve upon it?
  4. What are the competitors really bad at?
  5. What types of hair extensions are selling well?
  6. Are the competitors selling extensions or wigs or both?
  7. What social media platforms are the competition using?
  8. What’s the customer base they’re targeting?

How to find hair suppliers?

On IG primefinesse: Our Raw Filipino hair made into a custom lace closure wig.

So I went to an expert in the business to get the best leads for this part of my research. 

I want to point y’all in the right direction so you can find GOOD hair suppliers. Here’s what I got (again in no particular order):

1. AliExpress

AliExpress is an online retail service based in China and owned by the Alibaba Group.

Launched in 2010, it is made up of small businesses in China and other locations, that offer products to international online buyers. Similar to eBay, the sellers are independent.

AliExpress is a business-to-consumer and consumer-to-consumer buying and selling portal. This is a good option for those looking to use a dropshipping business model. AliExpress also has an affiliate marketing program.

2. Alipearl Hair

Alipearl headquarters is located in a workshop of over 53,000 square feet in Hong Kong, China. Independent factories and warehouses, make up the workshop and support the mass production or customization of hair.

These wholesale hair vendors are able to supply quality hair at affordable prices. Alipearl carries a comprehensive line of hair products. They’re another good option for those who want to start a dropshipping business.

At this time Alipearl does not have an affiliate program.

3. WhatsApp

According to WhatsApp, you’ll get fast, simple, secure messaging and calling for free, available on phones all over the world.

Once you’ve downloaded the app on your mobile phone and created an account, you’re ready to start sending messages and photos.

In order to message someone, that person will need to be in your phone’s contacts and will need to also have a WhatsApp account. You’ll also need an Internet connection of some kind.

You can then use the app to contact hair vendors wherever they are located. You can purchase a list of vendors from someone you trust. This way you know the hair quality is good.

Or you can attempt to find and contact vendors on your own. Either way, you’ll want to be mindful of scams.

When you do locate a vendor you’ll want to ask for their name, wholesale price list, and where they are located. In addition, it’ll be important to know how often they are open.

For more details check out this YouTube video. This girl gave some really good tips.

4. Instagram

Use Instagram’s search feature to search by hashtag. #hairextensions #hairvendors #hairvendorlist

You may need to spend a lot of time looking for a good hair vendor with quality products.

At the end of the day, a reliable hair vendor is the only way to build a lucrative business selling synthetic hair or human hair extensions.

If you want to check out more from my article’s expert, Prime Finesse Beauty Supplier you can find her on Instagram. She has some great pieces and does excellent work, as you can see.

On IG primefinesse: Our Raw Filipino hair can be straightened! Length: 22,24,26in with an 18in 5×5 lace closure. Inquires email: info@primefinesse.com or DM

Set up your website

Shopify is a great e-commerce website for a hair store. Not only can you set up a dropshipping business using Shopify. You can create your own online store, add your products, and get your first sale in about an hour.

Plus if you’ll be making deliveries or selling in person, Shopify has point-of-sale hardware.

Below is a quick checklist for starting a new Shopify store:

Set up:

  • Name your store
  • Add your business details i.e. business address, billing details, and shipping setting

Organize:

  • Customize your theme
  • Add your products

Test:

  • Run a transaction
  • Fill an order

Here’s a more detailed checklist that you can print out and reference.

There are quite a few platforms that would work well in setting up your hair business. This article does a great job covering 12 different e-commerce platforms.

They cover pros and cons, price, free trial length (if offered), customer support options, third-party integrations, mobile app features, and more.

Promote your products

Now that you’ve started your hair business, it’s time to start promoting your products.

You can do this through a variety of channels including sharing your business cards, social media, email marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), and paid advertising.

When it comes to social media, you’ll want to be active on various platforms like Instagram and Facebook. Create a YouTube channel.

To increase brand awareness start by creating a profile or page for your business and sharing photos and videos of your products.

Email marketing is another great way to promote your products. You can build an email list by collecting the emails of those who visit your website or follow you on social media.

Then, you can send them periodic emails with updates about your products, new arrivals, sales, and more.

SEO is the process of optimizing your website to rank higher in search engine results. This can be done by including relevant keywords in your website content and on your product pages.

Paid advertising is another way to promote your products. You can run ads on search engines like Google and Bing, or on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

Paid advertising can be a great way to reach a lot of people and get more customers to your website or online store.

How to start a hair business takeaways

Starting a hair business can be a great way to make a lot of money and have fun. There are many different ways to get started, from setting up an online store to dropshipping products.

And there are various channels you can use to promote your products, including social media, email marketing, and paid advertising.

With a little bit of effort, you can have your hair business up and running in no time. So what are you waiting for? Get started today!

Do you have any tips for starting a hair extensions business? Share them in the comments below!

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