How to begin a booming brow business

Do you have a major passion for eyebrows, and do you want to make your passion into a living? We got you! Starting a brow bar can be tricky especially if you don't know where to start.  But don't worry, we've picked out the most important things to keep in mind if you want to start your own brow salon

The brow industry is growing more and more day by day. It used to be that eyebrows were only shaped at beauty salons. Anno 2021 you will see a salon on every street corner where they offer services with the latest brow trends! The big question remains "how do you excel as a starter among all the choices".  We live in an environment where social media is unforgettable, your skills are super important, and people don't just come for the treatment, but they want to experience the whole brow experience. In other words, you must have a unique concept, some knowledge of social media, and be persistent.

Leverage your skills 

Before you can start your own brow business it’s very important to know what you are doing. No matter how comfortable you feel working with brows, lashes, etc. You need to have that credibility and education to work with such a critical and sensitive part of the face. You need to remember that when you are working with someone’s brows. This is one of the most important features of their face and can really define their entire look, expression, etc. They are entrusting you with taking care of their appearance and that's a big responsibility! You must know the ins and outs of shaping, coloring, and being able to know the skin. It's important that you can estimate whether the treatments you offer are suitable for the client's skin and hair types and whether they are suffering from certain allergies that don't allow coloring, waxing, or lamination.

There are currently numerous eyebrow courses offered online that you can take. For example our own online Supercilium Academy, in which we offer free and paid courses.  However, in addition to the online courses, I recommend that you take a training course in real-life. Why? Because during one-on-one training a trainer can guide you and help you with problems you might encounter. Click here to find a trainer near you. 

A unique name for your salon

Before you can register you have to think about what you want to name your brow bar.  A common name is "Beauty by xx". Therefore, when choosing a name, think of an original name that fits the style and atmosphere of your brow bar. You also want to make sure there isn't another beauty salon nearby with the same name. Below I give two tips that can help you choose a business name.

 1. Choose an easy name 

Nothing is more annoying than a company name that contains difficult words.  So, keep in mind that your company name should be easy and short. You could even come up with a fictional name for your business to keep your brand name exciting and interesting.

 2. Brow salon name should fit the concept of your salon. 

Do you want to start a business where eyebrows are one of the many beauty treatments you offer?  Then a name like Brows by xx would not be the most logical name. Think about what kind of business you want to put out there and consider a more appropriate name. You could even come up with a fictional name for your business to keep your brand name exciting and interesting.

Moving on to the next important step: getting your company registered. In each country, this happens differently. Research what the rules are in your country.

Creative brow concept

As I mentioned earlier, it is important to have a creative concept. This will allow you to stand out from the other numerous brow bars. There are always differences in techniques, prices, branding, environments, etc. But the most important thing you can offer someone that no one else can is their experience with you. 

Do you always offer your clients eye pads during a brow treatment? Do you regularly attend courses to keep yourself up to date with the latest techniques and products? Do you give your clients a free mini-workshop on how to apply eyebrow makeup? You name it, there are millions of possibilities that can make you stand out from the competition. Find the inner magical power that you transfer to your clients during treatment and make sure it becomes a signature for your business. 

In addition, it is also important to think about what kind of brow salon you want to be. Do you want a concept store where you sell a lot of beauty-related products? Do you want to come across as clinical and focus only on eyebrows or does your salon make you feel like you're walking through a botanical garden? 

Remember that in addition to the results of their brows, your clients will also remember the personal experience with you and the salon and factor this into their decision to come back again.

Building a clientele 

We can't express enough how important it is to build a loyal, trusting client base that will keep coming back and helping you gain more customers! Your clientele is the foundation of your business and helps it both grow from the start as well as maintain it throughout. 

When you have just started your business, it can be incredibly difficult to attract clients. I have a few tips that can help you:

1. Hand out flyers announcing your brow bar in the neighbourhood where your salon is located

This can be your immediate neighbours or people who work in the street or regularly walk past your brow bar. This way you let people know that a new brow salon is coming. To make it even more attractive, you can offer a special opening discount.  People love the idea of getting a discount. So, this would be a good "lure". 

2. Make use of a loyalty card

What you can also do is create a rewards program for customers! You can provide stamp cards for discounts or free brow treatment after a certain number of appointments or even for referring a friend. This is a great way to create a loyalty program and make yourself memorable. 

People LOVE feeling appreciated and getting attention. A pre-made text/email following any treatment that says thank you and perhaps even asking for any feedback/tagged photos if they are happy and reposting customers now and then can make all the difference. This also allows new customers to read the experiences of others. 

Marketing your brow business

Advertising and marketing yourself is vital in any business. For starters, it is necessary to have a website where clients can find your brow bar and the services you offer.  As a start-up, it can cost a lot of money to buy a website. Nowadays it is very simple to build your website. The website should contain important information such as the treatment, location, prices, and booking system. 

Of course, you should start a website for your new company with some imagery (you can purchase these on shutter-stock if you have nothing to start with). You should keep it simple, customer-friendly, and clear.  

Anno 2021, social media ads have become more important than ever. Advertising through social media is easy and effective to attract new clients. To create good running ads, it is important to do the following things:

 1. Target your audience

You just keep your social content uniform and consistent. Posting on Instagram, Facebook, as well as creating paid ads (if it's in your budget it’s a huge advantage!) and target your marketing to a specific audience rather than keep it broad. For example: if you live in Amsterdam and want to target women in that area. Zoom into the neighbouring towns and cities where your salon/services are based and minimize the target group as much as possible to gender, age, industry, interests, etc. This will help filter out a larger audience that isn't as relevant and help you get more effective results out of the money you invest in ads.

 2. Posting good content is important

The top 3 important things to keep your advertisement at an all-time high:

Good content -Make sure you take lots of photos of before and after results of the brows, that's what clients mainly like. Take plenty of mood shots of your business, the products, and the surroundings of your brow bar let them know what you're up to, what services you are offering, any promotions, and brow beauty trends. 

Lighting - We all know that angles and lighting literally change a photo from flab to fab. Something as simple as a ring light from Amazon is a key investment in creating better ads and content, as well as using it with your brow treatments! Good quality photos are a must, you should def invest in a good camera/phone. Even iPhone 8 and up is doable, just make sure you invest in this aspect as its worth it

Consistency - This is probably more important than the other two in all honesty. You MUST maintain an active online presence, especially when first starting. Being consistent in your posting and creating tons of content is a key factor in getting more exposure, staying more memorable, as well as beating the annoying Instagram algorithm.

Pricing for eyebrow treatments

This is a tricky one. If you are starting for the first time, it is not advisable to charge too high prices because you still must get used to the treatment itself, and let's face it - we all make mistakes in the beginning. Doing brows is really an art and skill that you have to develop over time. Once you're more confident and your outcome reaches a higher and consistent level, you can always raise your pricing. It is also important to realize when you decide on pricing that you are passing on fixed costs, like rent and product costs. For example all the products you need in stock. A salon at home has lower costs than a rental brow bar in downtown New York.

Our next suggestion would be to do a competitive analysis of other brow bars in your area and compare prices. When you see the average price - you can then determine what you are comfortable with and base your prices on that. Unfortunately, we can't give you a definitive number because all prices vary based on location, salon, and treatment. 

Good luck with starting your own Brow Business! In our opinion the most beautiful profession and company you can own. Cause who doesn't want to make women happy daily and let them leave your beauty salon with more confidence by elevating their look?