How to Start a Perfume Selling Business

Introduction to how to start a perfume selling business

If you are thinking to start a business with a small capital then the perfume selling business is the best option for you. As the demand for fragrances is rising day by day especially, women have many perfumes in their wardrobe for different occasions. For running this perfume business online, you need to have an e-commerce site and software related to setting up an online perfume store.

Everybody wants to smell nice. And one of the ways of achieving that is through the use of perfumes. It is agreed that not everybody uses perfumes but by the time you consider the number of times an average user of perfume applies it in a day, this will surely compensate for the number of non-users. The quicker the perfumes get exhausted if the more the numbers of times people apply perfumes in a day. Hence there will always be a need to order for new perfumes.

A step-by-step guide to starting a perfume selling business

Perfume business can be a profitable business if planned properly. It can be started from home and this is a low investment business too. All that is needed is a creative mind with the desire to experiment with various scented essential oils. If so, find here a detailed stepwise guide on how to go about starting a perfume manufacturing business. In this article, we will let you know the steps involved in the perfume selling business, and how to sell the perfumes, and cost involved in starting a perfume selling business and some advantages of starting a perfume selling business. So, let’s get started!

Steps to start a perfume selling business

These are the steps involved in starting a perfume selling business:

1. Learn the skills of making perfume
2. Perfume selling business plan
3. Source for capital
4. Understand and research the market
5. Select the niche
6. Choose the right location
7. Name your perfume selling business
8. Create your brand
9. Register your perfume selling business
10. Decide on your business model
11. Create perfumes
12. Filling the bottles with perfume
13. Deciding on the price
14. Contract with a mass producer
15. Marketing your perfume selling business
16. How to sell perfumes

Step 1: Learn the skills of making perfume

The first important thing is to learn the art of making perfumes. The two basic steps involved in making perfumes are ingredient collection and formulation. It is advised to find a mentor in a nearby locality who teaches perfume making. There are also plenty of online tutorials on the internet where you can learn the basics.

Step 2: Perfume business plan

Everything starts with a workable business plan, which includes: product definition, marketing niche and strategies, and profit and loss projections. Product definition involves narrowing down the fragrance product. Decisions can include whether to offer a single scent in several diverse formats, such as cologne, body lotion, and soaps, or just one type of product, but in different scents.

Your business plan is a list of all the goals that you want to achieve with the business and the various investments that you plan to make through the entire span of the business. Determine a mission statement, statement of initial goals. At a minimum, include a mission statement; statement of initial goals; statement of three-, six- and 12-month goals in terms of the desired number of product offerings; the desired number of retailers reselling the products.

Step 3: Source for capital

To start a perfume selling business, you need capital. The amount of capital you will require will be determined by the option and scale at which you choose to start the business. You should not underestimate your capital requirements. For instance, you will not only need funds for the payment of franchise fee, rent, purchase of equipment, fixtures and fittings, initial materials, or inventories. You also need adequate money as working capital.

Step 4: Understand and research the market

Talk to people as many as possible to understand more about the taste and trends of the local people.  Also, do some market research with local retailers and distributors and know more about what kind of perfume is selling most.

You need to thoroughly browse the internet and various online forum sites and communities to gather data about the perfume purchasing trend of the people of the area that you aim to sell your products initially. 

Step 5: Select the niche

You have to select a niche in the domain that your perfume store shall cater to. It is always important to start small and then spread the wings to fly higher and longer. Some of the popular niches in the domain are-

• Deodorants
• Perfumes and Roll-ons
• Floral and exotic fragrances
• Celebrity perfumes

Step 6: Choose the right location

If you want to be successful in your perfume selling business, then you need to select the right location for the business. A good location can be a market place or a storefront located in a busy environment. The important thing is that your business has to be located in a place where it can easily attract customers. If your business is located in a hidden place, it does not matter the amount of money you spend on marketing, you may not enjoy many customers. Good locations may be somehow expensive. Notwithstanding, if you can pay the price, you will surely enjoy the benefits.

Step 7: Name your perfume business

Select a catchy and relevant business name. The name of a business is important as a relatable name makes customers easy to remember with your products. Do not forget to find a domain name that is similar to the business name.

Step 8: Create your brand

Create a logo to represent the business, and include the logo into a range of promotional materials. Make business cards, a label for the bottles, a promotional brochure, and an ingredient list to distribute to potential resellers. Print all these out or order their products from a print shop.

Step 9: Register your perfume business

If you are starting your own perfume selling business, then you need to register the business properly. You can either register the perfume selling business as a sole proprietorship, partnership, or a limited liability company. It is the registration process of a business that will give your perfume business a legal identity. Register the business for paying the taxes and other financial charges to the state to function properly. If you don’t know which option to choose, get help from an attorney and an accountant to keep a track of all these measures as they are integral to the business process. Also, check with local concerned authorities for the required licenses and permits to start and run perfume making business.

Step 10: Decide on your business model

There are several ways in which you can start a perfume selling business. They are:

• You can start a perfume selling business by producing your brand of perfume. If you are finding it difficult to come up with good fragrance, you can look at the recipes of any perfume you like and try to come up with your unique mix.
• Buying a franchise is another way in which you can start your own perfume selling business. If you don’t have funds to buy a franchise or you an individual that values uniqueness, the franchise may not be a good option for you.
• The other way by which you can start a perfume business is to start buying and selling finished perfume products. This will afford you the opportunity of selling different brands of perfumes at the same time.

Step 11: Create perfumes 

The art of blending various oils can be learned, but it takes practice. Make some distinctive blends by purchasing some small sizes of essential oils in fragrances that are of interest. After the blending scents together, make notes and after the experiment arrive at a few favorite scents to large scale production.

Step 12: Filling the bottles with perfume

Once you have thought of a name for your perfume, you can move on to the next step in the process, which is bottling or putting your perfume into a bottle. To make perfume selling business profitable, you will need to have experimented with the perfume bottles and tester bottles. You can choose a specific shape and size for a specific scent. The innovative ideas for sizes and shapes of the bottle increase customer attraction about the product.

Choose a bottle that is unique and is brightly colored but, at the same time, complements the fragrance. Concentrate on the packaging items like boxes, bags, and wrappers. Talk to the vendors about minimum order quantity with an agreeable price for the containers.

Step 13: Deciding on a price

Your perfume is neatly packed in a bottle, and now you need to decide at what price you should sell to earn a handsome profit. For that, first calculate the cost incurred in the entire manufacturing of the finished perfume and packaging process, including the cost of raw materials, bottles, labels, etc. The general rule is to sell your product for three times the cost incurred.  

Step 14: Contract with a mass producer

Choose a company to mass-produce the scents that are the final choices for the perfume line. Ask if they also handle packaging, when interviewing these potential mass producers. Discuss pricing for the contracting part or all of the manufacturing and packaging costs, including minimum orders and the price per minimum orders. Arrive at a contract that fits the needs of the business at this stage of its development, and incorporate an option to expand the contract as sales and demand increase.

Step 15: Marketing your perfume selling business

Marketing your perfume selling business will play an important role in success. People need to know about your business before they can start patronizing you. Your marketing efforts begin with the word of mouth. This will automatically show up as profits in your business. The choice, design, and size of the container whether bottle or can contribute to the attractiveness of the perfume. Many people can also be attracted by the type of package look you give to the perfume.

Don’t forget to make use of social media to reach people. A simple website with images of your perfumes will surely advertise your products for you. Above all, the quality of your perfumes and the consistency of the quality will help you keep your customers. If they are satisfied with your perfumes, they will surely help you advertise it to other people. Just a simple remark; “You smell nice” from friends or admirers can help you advertise your products. And tell everyone about your new online perfume store business by drafting a press release and you can publish an advertisement through

• Television
• Radio
• Magazine
• Newspaper
• Social Media etc.

Step 16: How to sell your perfumes

There are many ways to sell perfumes. You can sell to customers directly to customers or from your retail store. You can also sell to retailers on a wholesale basis.

Nowadays selling online is much easier. Selling the product online you have to upload different perfumes products on-site so that customers can reach as per their demand and you must have lots of fragrance so the customer can get all the different variety at one roof. You can sell your perfume products in online marketplaces like eBay, Amazon, etc. You can also create an online store if you are looking to sell to a wider audience.

How much does it cost to start a perfume business?

You may also check this: Profits in Coffee Shop Business.

Before you venture down the path of starting any enterprise, it’s always smart to know what the upfront investment will be. So let’s get down to the bottom line before we go any further.

The average cost to launch a perfume business with a minimum of 200 bottles that are branded, packaged, filled, and capped, you should be prepared to spend anywhere from 2 lakh to 5 lakh to do it professionally.

Advantages of starting a perfume selling business

There are some advantages to starting a perfume selling business are listed below:

• Perfumes’ demand is high, especially in boutiques
• Supply costs are low; profit margins are high
• You can charge high-end prices for your perfumes if you brand your product line correctly

The bottom line of how to start a perfume selling business

If you are looking for a profitable and unique business opportunity, consider learning how to make your perfume. You can make your perfume and sell it in your store or you can sell it in someone else’s spa store or boutique. All you need to do is make this business idea a success is a good nose for which scents mix well together.

In case if you are interested in this: Aquaponics Farming Business Plan for Profits.