How to Start a Cosmetic Manufacturing Company in 6 Steps

Creating a cosmetics manufacturing business can be an overwhelming endeavor. During the planning stage, you have a lot of important choices to make. These decisions will have a large impact on the overall success of your cosmetic business. If you overlook a crucial part of the process, you could put your new company at risk. While this list is in no way exhaustive, it’s a great starting point for your new line of business. To assist you during this exciting time, we’ve put together a handy guide for starting a manufacturing facility for cosmetics.

1. Define Your Brand, Market and Goals

Before you can hit the ground running, you need to lace up your shoes and do some stretching. In other words, you have to do your research and due diligence before starting a cosmetics company. This process is crucial to your success. The whole point is to provide you with a clear vision of what you want to do as a cosmetic line manufacturer. Take some time to ask yourself the following questions:

• What is my brand, and what are its values?
• Who is the target audience I want to reach?
• What product(s) am I intending to sell?

Ultimately, seek to determine your overall goal as a company. Perhaps you intend to start small and run this new business as a hobby. Maybe you’re seeking a slightly larger platform and plan to partner with smaller retail companies. Or, you may dream of running a large cosmetic business and working with major retailers.

Compile your research findings and create a presentation that supports your vision. As a new company, your presentation will help you stay on the right track and illustrate your business to potential partners and investors.

As you answer these questions and reflect on your goals, be sure not to rush the process. This research and preparation is key to helping you make responsible decisions as a future cosmetic products manufacturer.

2. Choose a Manufacturing Strategy

When creating a cosmetics manufacturing business, how you decide to create your inventory is a pretty big step. Use the data and business projections you found in the previous step to help you choose the best method for your business.

In recent years, in-house manufacturing has become quite popular throughout the cosmetic industry. If you’ve heard of a brand that is “hand poured” or “small batch,” odds are it uses this method. The process of manufacturing in-house is exactly like it sounds. Cosmetic businesses do their own research and development (R&D), ingredient sourcing, production, filling, packing and labeling. If your cosmetic business is a small start-up this just may be the route for you.

When considering in-house manufacturing, note that the cost per item can be high since raw materials are purchased in smaller quantities. Despite slight drawbacks like cost, you still gain complete control over your product with in-house manufacturing. This process gives makeup manufacturers a great amount of flexibility and freedom without having to rely on a partner.

3. Build Out Your Products

After all that critical thinking, it’s time to have some fun. Once you’ve selected a manufacturing strategy, you can focus on the product itself. As a cosmetic line manufacturer, this is when you get to play around with packaging ideas and products. Creativity plays a major role while you brainstorm and get your thoughts in motion.

If you haven’t already, draft a brief that summarizes everything you’re looking to include in a product. You can refer to this as you continue creating your cosmetics manufacturing business and building out your line. It will also come in handy when you start working with a packaging vendor and design agency to create containers for your products. This process may seem long, but seeing it through to the end will make everything worth it.

4. Determine Your Warehousing and Fulfillment Strategy

Refer to the manufacturing strategy you chose in step two, and consider the following:

• Where are you planning to store your finished products?
• How will you get them to your customers?

They may seem simple enough, but those questions are another crucial part in your success as a cosmetic line manufacturer. As you grow over time, you may decide to use a Third Party Logistics company to help with dynamic storage and order fulfillment.

5. Ensure you have the Right Equipment

You’ve done a lot of hard work up to this point, and you’re almost there. To reach the finish line, cosmetic manufacturers need to make sure the right equipment is ready and available. You absolutely want to have the proper materials on hand to create your products. And, better yet, you want devices you can rely on to get the job done right. Span Tech’s Cosmetic Conveyor Systems are the perfect solution for handling manufacturing materials. We can cater to every facet of the manufacturing and distribution process so that your cosmetic business gets exactly what it requires. Along with our top-quality automated conveyor builds, we also offer innovative accessories and add-ons to help you personalize your product.

6. Focus on Growth via Marketing and Sales

Remember all that research and planning you did for your cosmetic business in step one? It’s time to take a closer look at your findings. When you go to market your cosmetics, you’ll want to recall who your product is for and why. What do your customers like? Where do they shop? Keep your target audience in mind while you develop a plan to sell your cosmetics. The goal during this step is to show your customers why they need your products and make the sale.

Start Your Company Off Right With Span Tech Cosmetic Conveyor Systems

Creating a cosmetics manufacturing business is no simple task, but Span Tech is here to make it easier. Our Cosmetic Conveyor System and packaging solutions are just what your cosmetic business needs to make an incredible product time and time again. Starting a manufacturing facility for cosmetics requires the right plan and proper equipment — we can help you find it. If you want to know more about what we can offer cosmetic businesses and manufacturers, contact our customer service team today!