Brand founders in the beauty industry … You are your business, the star of your show and the heart and soul of your company. You are responsible for the finances, innovation, and ultimately making this happen. You have a considerable impact on the future of your business, what direction this takes and how you are going to move this forward.
Whether your vision is to build a big corporate global company that employs staff or whether you are looking to keep your business small, nimble and predominantly online, who you are and the culture you introduce into your business is a core part of what people see your brand to be.
Not every brand remains in the custody of its founder, some are bought out in the early stages, others further down the line and often by larger companies. How you incorporate your vision, mission and values into your business, will strongly determine the future success of your brand.
Strong performing brands are clear about where they are going, how they are going to get there and what they stand for and believe in.
Vision Statement
A vision statement describes the overarching aspirations of your business, what the business has set out to achieve, your bigger picture, hence the word ‘vision’. It should be concise, no more than a few sentences or paragraphs. It is something your team clearly understands and can communicate. No matter how lofty is sounds, and how impossible you think it may be to deliver, particularly if you are the only person in your business at this present moment, start with your bigger vision. Over time with people and technology, what seems currently impossible, may be easily achievable.
Mission Statement
Your mission statement illustrates the purpose of your company.
Brand Values
Brands have two primary external aspects:
* Visual identity – which includes your logo, brand colours and your brand typography.
* Voice identity – which incorporates your tagline, copy, tone of voice, the words you use and the way in which you use them.
These two elements are vitally important to making your brand distinctive. There is a third element that sets one brand apart from another, your brand values. Your brand values encapsulate your brand proposition, brand personality and your brand purpose. Your brand values not only make you distinctive, but also create clear boundaries for positioning your brand in your marketplace.
Think about how you would you like your customers to describe you and how you would like them to feel when they experience your brand. Consider brands you are most drawn to, those that have a founder that isn’t hidden behind the brand but leading from the front. What values and attributes do they portray? Some of these values may include
* ambition
* determination
* clear vision
* purpose
* courage
* loyalty
* authenticity
* passion
* empathy
* inclusivity
* creativity
* fun
Five points to keep top of mind as you develop your brand:
Ensure you Stand for ‘Something’
When a brand is known for ‘something’, this ‘something’ is what makes it distinctive and differentiates it from others. It is your ‘something’ that resonates with your customers and makes them reach out to you as opposed to someone else. It embodies your passion, and how you communicate your passion to others.
Be Visionary
Have a clear picture of what your brand will look like in the future, think long term, consider who your customers will be, why people will come to your brand over others and what problems you are solving for them. What purpose do you want to have in the world, and what difference do you want to make? This becomes your driver and your vision for your brand.
Your Big Why
Your Why needs to be big enough to carry you through the challenges you are bound to experience, building a brand doesn’t come without its set of challenges. Your Why also needs to be big enough to inspire and motivate your team and your customers to support you in creating your vision.
Create Systems and Processes to Streamline your Business
When you first start your business, there is so much you need to consider and to create. As your business grows a lot of these day-to-day decisions and processes can be systemized, saving you time and money. By introducing processes and systems, not only are you improving productivity, you are also making it easier for your team to support you in developing high quality, innovative products and services by providing them with a clear road map to follow.
Be a Creative Leader
As the founder of your brand, you are no doubt a creative thinker. As you build your brand you will come across changes in the marketplace, your sector, technology. As your business grows in people and turnover, continue to innovate and adapt to these changes quickly, and keep your brand current and fresh.
Build a Supportive and Inclusive Team
With strong brand values, it is easier to articulate to people you employ what you stand for and how you would like them to support you. As you grow in numbers, ensure that you keep your mission, vision and values consistent and clear, so that your team understands what is expected of them, believes in your vision and can credibly communicate this to others.
Whilst the role of being answerable to yourself as a founder can bring up all sorts of exciting opportunities, it also rests with a lot of responsibility.
Whether your plan is to remain in your business or to ultimately sell this on, keep these points top of mind as you build your business from a mere idea into an aspirational brand that people are going to reach out for time and again.
If you are looking for support with taking your idea forward, get in touch, we would love to hear from you.
As a beauty and wellness consultancy, we develop a comprehensive strategy for your business by understanding your vision (and the marketplace) and then delving into the details to create order and structure neatly packaged up to deliver you commercial results. We design brand identities and visual elements, manage your product development, build your go-to-market strategies to help you to engage with your ideal customers.
We are proud to support our clients from different regions of the world – from Saudi Arabia, to Dubai, Sri Lanka, Africa, Australia, the US, Canada, Europe and the UK – from entrepreneurs, to multi-award-winning beauty and wellness brands, retailers, investors, distributors, embassies and trade bodies. And we work with you across the retail sector, and the professional sector, including the hair care market, professional nail care market, spas, salons, hotels and the aesthetics market – here’s a snapshot.
If you would like to discuss your ideas with us, get in touch, we would love to hear from you.
As an international beauty and wellness consultancy, we are proud to work alongside clients from different regions of the world – Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Sri Lanka, Africa, Australia, Canada, US, Europe and the UK . We love collaborating with entrepreneurs, multi-award-winning beauty and wellness brands, retailers, investors, distributors, embassies and trade bodies across the retail sector, and the professional sector, including those selling into the hair care market, hotels, spas, professional nail care market and aesthetics market.
If you need support with devising a new strategy, developing a new product range, designing your packaging or rebranding your current product range, managing your PR, or with planning your market-entry into international markets, get in touch, we would love to hear from you.
Bespoke is a brand management expert with deep industry knowledge, extensive experience and a comprehensive understanding of the beauty and personal industry in the UK and Europe, complemented by an extensive network of contacts in the relevant market segments. Bespoke’s expertise, experience and contacts significantly contributed the success of the UK/Europe project with the companies that Bespoke assisted successfully entering or well on track to enter the UK and European markets. The Bespoke team was very professional, responsive and obliging and always delivered within timeframes. It was a pleasure to work with them.
Working with Janet over the past year has been a real pleasure, she has fantastic industry experience and knowledge of the UK beauty market. She has delivered a number of webinars for my clients looking at how to enter the UK market, providing an overview of the market and how to build a strategy. She took the briefs we provided and added real value to them, included key insights and information that my clients have found incredibly useful. Feedback on these sessions has been very positive. Janet is a clear communicator and has always delivered as agreed and on time. We are continuing to work together on other projects and I very much value the conversations we share.
‘Janet has a wealth of experience across retail, buying and marketing. She conducted a full strategic review of our cross functional business and the travel retail market to develop a comprehensive buying and quality control strategy that was signed off at board level. I highly recommend her as an asset to any business.’
‘As a Queensland-based company, we were determined to tap into the European market and establish a strong presence. From the very beginning, Bespoke Advantage demonstrated a deep understanding of our export goals and objectives. Their comprehensive knowledge of the European market, coupled with their extensive network of contacts, enabled them to connect us with key decision-makers and influential stakeholders in our target countries. Their strategic guidance and insights were invaluable in shaping our export strategy and positioning us for long-term success.’
‘Through Janet’s management skills, expertise and proven track record on the job she successfully managed the purchasing of our retail operations and ensured the integrity of our brands in-stores. Her enthusiasm and total dedication, delivered results in any project she was involved in.’
‘Janet has excellent beauty market knowledge. Level headed with clear vision, direction and the ability to drive business forward, Janet led the teams through a complete product design change advising on what the key marketing messages should be, incorporating her technical knowledge and beauty expertise.’
‘Absolutely fantastic course. Condensed learning from Janet, an expert in developing beauty brands. Also, valuable introductions to expert professionals, in the Masterclass sessions. In 12 weeks, you will learn from Janet, what would take years to learn by yourself. A very worthwhile investment’