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Freelance Makeup Artist Business Plan [Sample Template]

Makeup Artist Business

Are you about starting a freelance makeup artist company? If YES, here is a complete sample freelance makeup artist business plan template & feasibility report you can use for FREE.

Okay, so we have considered all the requirements for starting a freelance makeup artist company. We also took it further by analyzing and drafting a sample freelance makeup artist marketing plan template backed up by actionable guerrilla marketing ideas for freelance makeup artists. So let’s proceed to the business planning section.

Makeup is everywhere. There is hardly any lady you see that may not be wearing makeup. A makeup artist specializes in helping to change the appearance of clients depending on what the request of the client is, either to boost confidence, go out for an occasion or to use professionally.

The changes that are being created by the makeup artist come with a combination of artistic talent, specialized tools and the makeup itself.

Even though the business might look easy enough to start, but not carrying out thorough research before starting the business is likely to do your business a whole lot of harm because it means you will not be prepared for challenges that will occur during the process of starting or running the business.

Most people will prefer to hire a business consultant at this point but if it isn’t something you can afford, you can gain insight about the business from someone who is already in the business. Another thing which needs to get done is writing a comprehensive business plan.

A business plan is very vital because it shows how your business is expected to run and as such it acts as a guide when it comes to making the right decisions for your business. If you do not know how to write a business plan, we have provided a sample make up artist business plan for you below.

A Sample Freelance Makeup Artist Business Plan Template

1. Industry Overview

The use of lipstick first came into existence about 5,000 years ago in ancient Mesopotamia when the women of that age used ground precious gem dusts to decorate their lips. However this has changed as the use of makeup and cosmetics became popularised through Hollywood movies.

Globally, the beauty industry grows at an average rate of 7 percent every year which is twice the GDP growth of developed countries.

The growth experienced in this industry is driven by baby boomers that are aging, an increase in discretionary income in western countries and the growth of the middle class in developing countries. This means that beauty firms have it good as only about 3 percent of their sales are put into research and development as compared to the 15 percent spent by pharmaceutical companies.

Beauty firms spend about 20 – 25 percent of their sales on promotion and advertising and the makeup sector in the beauty industry generates revenue of about $18 billion. The cosmetic industry generates $160 billion on a global level. According to research, Americans spend more on beauty than they do on education.

Lipstick during the Roman era was depicted as a status marker as even men used this to indicate their rank. According to statistics, an effect known as the lipstick effect enabled the sales of lipstick to increase during periods of economic downturn as well as on rainy days.

More makeup artists are beginning to manufacture their own brands in order to achieve the intended effect they need for their clients as most feel that having their own brands help boost their image. However, start-up capital is a huge factor delaying most from manufacturing their own brands especially in a market that is already deemed too competitive.

While makeup artists love to create trends with make-ups on their clients, more are opting to allow their clients have simpler looks except when the occasion demands for something else.

2. Executive Summary

Shimmery Beauty Studio is a leading freelance makeup business here in Florida – Miami helping to meet the needs of our clients whatever the occasion might be.

Our vision is to become a well known brand in the makeup industry where we not only anticipate and meet the needs of our intended clients but also ensure that we exceed whatever expectations that they might have had. We are also hoping to be trend setters here in Florida as well.

Our sole intention of establishing the business is to ensure that we generate enough revenue that will enable us sustain and grow our business. We intend to offer as many services as possible in order to ensure that our bottom line is in a healthy condition.

Our offering of other services will also enable us to compete favorably against other similar startups here in Miami – Florida.

The makeup artist industry is service based and as such, it is filled with intense competition which means most of the services being offered are uniform in nature and so it is pertinent that we offer value-added services in order for us to stand out from our competitors in the industry.

We are looking to ensure that we retain as much as customers to our business in the first year of business and so we will be looking to build a solid business structure where we hire the best makeup artists that understand industry trends and therefore help us achieve our desired goals and objectives of not only meeting but also exceeding the expectations of our clients.

We will also ensure that our other staff are competent and proficient enough to fill in the available positions that we would have in our company. Our employees will always receive training to update their skills in order to make them become better than their counterparts in similar start-ups here in Miami – Florida.

We will ensure that our customer service executives receive the right support always that will enable them attend promptly to our clients by ensuring that they remain updated as regards  company policies.

Shimmery Beauty Studio is owned and run by Shim Newton and Merry Crabs. Shim has more than 15 years experience as a cosmetologist and Merry has 10 years experience. They have both worked in several industries and are ready to help the business attain its goals and objectives.

3. Our Products and Services

At Shimmery Beauty Studio, our intention is to ensure that we are able to provide all our various clients regardless of the gender and age with the right makeup that will suit whatever occasion that they have in mind.

However, in our bid to ensure that we create multiple sources of income, we intend to add other services to our core service. This is because we understand that offering a variety of services will ensure that we generate more revenue and attain profitability for our business.

However, in our bid to generate profit, we will ensure that everything we are doing is within reasonable ambition and under the permissible laws of the united states of America. Below are some of the products and services that we intend to offer;

  • Different makeup services (basic, specialized and extravagant)
  • Makeup tutorials
  • Sale of makeup supplies
  • Consultancy and advisory services

4. Our Mission and Vision Statement

  • Our vision is to become a well known brand in the make-up industry where we not only anticipate and meet the needs of our intended clients but also ensure that we exceed whatever expectations that they might have had. We are hoping to be trend setters in the industry.
  • Our mission is to ensure that we give professional training to all our make-up artists and to ensure that we remain updated as regards trends in the industry so that our clients can confidently accept our suggestions and information.

Our Business Structure

Regardless of the fact that we intend to run a freelance business, we will not neglect to build a brand that will be a force in the industry, which therefore means that we are looking to build a solid business structure for our business. In order to achieve this, we have laid down plans and processes that will ensure that we start on the right path as we know how critical this is to our business.

We understand how important choosing the right employees to fill in available positions in our company is and so we will carefully choose those that we know are not only competent but ones that understand our core goals and objectives and will be willing to do all they can to ensure that we achieve our goals and objectives.

Even though this is a business that we can run by ourselves but due to the fact that we will be offering several other services in addition to our core service, the need to hire more employees than the conventional number needed by a freelance makeup team is vital as more roles and responsibilities will require more people.

Below therefore is the business structure that we intend to build at Shimmery Beauty Studio;

  • Chief Executive Officer
  • Human Resources & Administrative Manager
  • Accountant
  • Marketing Executives
  • Makeup Artists
  • Customer Service Executives
  • Cleaners

5. Job Roles and Responsibilities

Chief Executive Officer

  • Creates, communicates and ensures the implementation of the vision of the organization
  • Provides overall direction for the business
  • Carries out periodic evaluation of the organization in order to determine the success

Human Resources & Administrative Manager

  • Sources for competent hands and conducts interviews in order to determine the best hands for available position
  • Carries out periodic performance appraisal on employees in order to ensure that their tasks align with the overall objectives of the business
  • Ensures that the administrative function  of the organization flows smoothly

Accountant

  • Helps to prepare the financial analysis necessary to create a budget for the business
  • Ensures that the accounting books are duly reconciled with that of the bank at every interval
  • Prepares tax documents on behalf of the business and ensures that they are submited as at when due

Marketing Executives

  • Carries out periodic market survey in order to  determine new target markets for the business
  • Engages in direct marketing activities on behalf of the business
  • Crafts marketing plans and strategies and ensures that they are aligned with the goals and vision of the business

Makeup Artists

  • Professionally trained in order to anticipate the clients’ needs and ensure that their needs are being met
  • Updated on the trends in the industry so as to be able to identify trendy requests from clients
  • Constantly updates on skills in order to be more artistic than counterparts in similar start-ups

Customer Service Executives

  • Attends promptly to inquiries, complaints, bookings and feedbacks on behalf of the organization
  • Ensures that the organizations’ database for customers is updated and accurate at all times
  • Is updated on company policies in order to be able to give customers accurate information

Cleaners

  • Ensures that the entire premises is kept clean at all times
  • Ensures that cleaning supplies are never out of stock
  • Carries out any other duties as may be determined by the administrative officer

6. SWOT Analysis

Even though there are enough freelance makeup artists in existence plying the craft, the fact that we are taking our business seriously by writing out a business plan means that we want to do all we can to not only make the business a success but to make it stand out as well.

We have therefore decided to engage the services of a business consultant who understands the industry well and the location where we intend to operate in, Miami – Florida, to help us come up with professional simulating scenarios on how we are likely to fare in this business.

The business consultant who has had various experiences intends to use certain attributes such as our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in determining how likely we are to succeed when faced with several scenarios in the industry as well as in the location we are looking to run our business from.

Below is the SWOT analysis that was conducted on behalf of Shimmery Beauty Studio by the business consultant we hired;

  • Strengths

We already have a positive image online especially as we have a YouTube channel where our audiences are given makeup tips and we get to reward loyal audience members in our location with a free makeup regardless of whatever occasion they are going for.

It is this positive image that we will be cultivating offline to help with our business which is why we are building such an excellent business structure where the employees we have hired know and identify with our goals and objectives.

We also have an excellent customer service as most of our customers are those who keep coming back not just for our artistic skills alone but also for how well our customer service works. Just as we do online, we intend to give our loyal customers discounts or a free makeup every now and then.

  • Weaknesses

The fact that we have a bit of popularity online unfortunately does not translate to the same offline and so we have to aggressively promote our business in order to build the awareness we desire and the fact that we are running a tight budget means that this may take a long while before we are able to get the attention of a substantial part of our target market.

  • Opportunities

The makeup industry is one that offers up a lot of opportunities for innovative entrepreneurs as there are many niches available as well as training and we are looking to take advantage of as many as we can based on our workforce.

  • Threats

Just like any other business, we are faced with threats during the course of starting or running the business and some of these threats are ones that we may have no control over.

The threats that we are likely to face are the arrival of competitors in the same area where we are looking to run our business as well as economic downturn which will see more people preferring to apply their make-ups themselves instead of paying a professional.

7. MARKET ANALYSIS

  • Market Trends

Most makeup artists in existence work in the motion picture and television broadcasting industries and only a quarter of these makeup artists are self-employed. Most jobs by these artists are usually short term with only a few going on for longer periods.

Earlier on, most jobs were centered around Hollywood but now this is no longer so. According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, it is expected that the employment of makeup artists will grow slowly than the average occupations all through till the year.

One factor that has caused the decline of the employment of makeup artists is the fact that many movies take advantage of computer generated imagery to create special effects instead of using makeup artists.

8. Our Target Market

Even though it might look like the target market is limited to only females within certain ages, we might be doing our business a great disservice if we do not take the time to conduct a thorough market research that will enable us know our real target market based on the location we are.

Another reason why we are conducting a market research apart from knowing our target market is to ensure that we know what it is our target market wants in order that we might be able to draft the right strategies that will allow us not only penetrate but also get a huge share of the market for our business.

From the result of the market research that was conducted, we have found that we are in business to offer our services to the following group of people;

  • Women
  • Men
  • Celebrities
  • Film Production Studios
  • Theater Groups

Our Competitive Advantage

There are several reasons why people apply make-up and understanding this fact, we at Shimmery Beauty Studio intend to ensure that we use our artistic skills to provide our clients with whatever makeup needs they might require.

Also, while other similar startups look to ensure that they meet the needs of their clients, we strive to not just meet the needs but to exceed it as well. However in order for us to stand out from our competitors, we intend to have laid down strategies that will enable us achieve our true goals and objectives.

One of the advantages that we have over our competitors is the fact that we are located in an area where there are lots of people who want professional make-up to be done for them regardless of the occasion they might be attending.

The desire to build the best business structure means that we are determined to go all the way in ensuring that we hire the best hands to fill in all available positions in our organization. Due to this fact, we intend to source for and hire competent professionals that identify with our goals and are committed to ensuring that we are able to achieve our goals and objectives.

We intend to create a conducive work environment for our employees where we will allow them hone their creative skills in the hope that they will set industry trends that will project the image of our company.

We will also ensure that the welfare packages for our employees are better than what their counterparts are receiving in similar startups here in Miami – Florida. We will also ensure that our employees receive adequate training as at when due so as to brush up their skills.

Finally because we believe so much in customer excellence, we are determined to do all we can to ensure that our customers receive the best care possible by not only promptly attending to their requests and feedbacks but also ensuring that from time to time we give out discounts or incentives to show how much we appreciate them.

9. SALES AND MARKETING STRATEGY

  • Sources of Income

Shimmery Beauty Studio is a business that has been established with the aim generating the profit that will ensure the growth and sustainability of our business here in the United States. However in order to achieve this, we intend to have various sources of income.

Below are some of the different sources of income we intend to create in order to be able to generate revenue for our business;

  • Different makeup services (basic, specialized and extravagant)
  • Makeup tutorials
  • Sale of makeup supplies
  • Consultancy and advisory services

10. Sales Forecast

Even though there are lots of makeup studios and artists, shimmery beauty studio, we believe will have a huge impact in the industry as there are lots of clients which we will cater for.

We are strategically located in Miami – Florida because there are various sets of people here who require makeup for a variety of purposes. We are therefore confident that we will be able to not only meet our target but to also make profit within a year of starting this business.

For us to be able to come to this conclusion, we have conducted a thorough research regarding the business and the industry and therefore know what chances we have of making it in the industry. We have also engaged the services of a sales consultant who knows about our kind of business and the industry we are in to help us determine what our chances would be.

It should be understood that the data and assumptions used were from similar startups like ours here in Miami – Florida. Therefore below are the sales forecast that was made based on certain assumptions and facts and depending on our location;

  • First Fiscal Year: $160,000
  • Second Fiscal Year: $300,000
  • Third Fiscal Year: $500,000

N.B: It should be noted that our sales forecast is not only dependent on the services which we intend to offer but also on the other products and services that we are looking to offer as well.

The sales projections are also based on the fact that several conditions will not vary during the period such as the downturn of the economy and the arrival of a major competitor. Should there however be any change to the above factors, the sales forecast will either increase or decrease.

  • Marketing Strategy and Sales Strategy

The importance of marketing for a business cannot be overemphasized because not only does marketing ensure that a business is able to generate revenue and then make some profit but also that adequate awareness is created for the business as well.

For us to ensure that the revenue objective is achieved, it is important that we come up with an achievable marketing plan that will enable us to not only penetrate the market but also get a certain percentage of the market for ourselves, which will then enable us to be able to compete favorably against our competitors here in Miami – Florida.

Even though we might have laid down marketing plans for our business, crafting effective marketing strategies is something else entirely and for this we must ensure that we conduct a thorough market research that will enable us understand the type of market we are going into, what is expected from us by our target market, who our competitors are and what to expect from them as well.

We understand how inexperience might affect the effectiveness of our marketing strategies and because of this, we are prepared to engage the services of a marketing consultant who has the required experience in this industry to help come with marketing strategies that are effective enough to help us achieve our goals and objectives.

We will also ensure that our marketing team is empowered enough to review our marketing strategies both offline and online and ensure that they remain aligned to our overall goals and objectives. Below are some of the marketing strategies that we intend to adopt in order for us to deliver our services effectively at Shimmery Beauty Studio;

  • Use a creative way to announce our freelance makeup business to our intended target market as well as other stakeholders here in Miami – Florida
  • Ensure that our freelance makeup business can be found in Yellow pages as well as online directories
  • Empower our marketing executives to engage in physically marketing of our business
  • Distribute handbills and fliers in various strategic locations – events, fairs, carnivals and concerts
  • Make use of social media platforms – Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to promote our makeup business

11. Publicity and Advertising Strategy

Having the right publicity is very vital to the growth and sustainability of a business and knowing this we intend to ensure that we take advantage of any activity that will positively promote the image of our company and ensure that there is increased awareness for our makeup business especially as the industry where we intend to operate from is very competitive and not engaging in publicity activities will mean us not achieving our goals and objectives.

This made us to engage the services of a publicity consultant to help us create the right strategies that will ensure that we are able to get the attention of our target market so as to have an edge in competing against similar start-up such as ours.

Some of the publicity and advertising strategies we therefore intend to use when looking to boost our brand – Shimmery Makeup Studio include;

  • Ensure that we create a website and use this to promote our services
  • Make use of social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to promote our services
  • Attend beauty conferences and special events in order to network with others and gain prospective clients for our business
  • Sponsor and participate in relevant community events that will ensure that we are able to boost our brand
  • Pass out business cards, fliers and handbills in strategic locations

12. Our Pricing Strategy

Because we are offering services majorly to our clients, fixing a price will vary from those that are selling products. Also what we will charge our customers will depend on what kind of makeup they are looking to get and because it is easy to undercharge when it comes to services.

We intend to conduct a thorough research that will enable us to know what to rightly charge so that we are able to offer affordable rates to our customers while not also running our business at a loss.

Because we are however a new business and will be looking to increase awareness for our business in order to attract more customers; we will offer promo rates to our customers in our first three months of operation. The decision to offer a discount was one that was thoroughly considered and we have found that this will not in any way affect our bottom line during the period.

  • Payment Options

Technology has made running a business more complex as different customers have different means by which they intend to pay for services and so understanding this, we at Shimmery Beauty Studio have come up with different payment options that will be suitable for our various customers.

Below are the different payment options that we intend to offer to all our customers;

  • Payment via cash
  • Payment via check
  • Payment via bank draft
  • Payment via credit card

The above payment options were chosen after a deliberate consideration of the paying trends and we have thoroughly gone through each option and as such are confident that there will be no hitches whatsoever for our clients should they wish to go for any of the options.

13. Startup Expenditure (Budget)

Even though the makeup business does not require a whole lot of capital to start up and run successfully, there are still various things – overhead and running costs – that have to be handled for the business to be able to run smoothly till it starts generating its own revenue.

Below are the areas where we intend to use our capital on;

  • Fees for registering and incorporating our makeup business – $750
  • Obtaining of licenses and permits and software (accounting and CRM) – $1,250
  • Insurance coverage (General liability, contents coverage and Workers Compensation) – $2,000
  • Marketing expenses for general activities as well as promotional activities to promote grand launching of Shimmery Beauty Studio – $3,000
  • Cost of hiring a reputable business consultant – $1,000
  • Operational costs for the first 3 months (employee salaries, utility bills) – $50,000
  • Purchasing of a variety of make-up and makeup supplies (foundations, lipsticks, eyeshadows, exfoliants, self-tanners and emulsifiers) – $5,000
  • Leasing of office facility for a period of one year including renovations – $23,000
  • Cost of purchasing furniture, computers, printers, fax machines, phones – $3,000
  • Cost of purchasing a vehicle – $20,000
  • Cost of launching a website – $1,000
  • Cost of throwing an opening party – $5,000
  • Miscellaneous – $5,000

From the above breakdown, we would require the sum of $120,000 in order to successfully set up our freelance makeup artist business here in Miami – Florida. It should be noted that the above amount will cover the salaries of those we are looking to employ for at least the first three months of operation.

Generating Funding/Startup Capital for Shimmery Beauty Studio Business

Shimmery Beauty Studio is a business that is owned by Shim Newton and Merry Crabs, two make-up artists who have teamed up to ensure that customers are able to not only meet but have their expectations exceeded.  The two owners have no plan to get an external business partner and so have decided to limit the sourcing of their capital to just few sources. Below are some of the areas where we intend to generate our start-up capital from;

  • Generate part of the start-up capital from our joint personal savings
  • Source for soft loan from close friends

N.B: Because we are a new business that is majorly into freelancing, we do not intend to approach the bank for any loan and will therefore use funds from our personal savings and from close family members and friends. We were able to generate the sum of $70,000 from our personal savings and we got the sum of $50,000 from family members as a soft loan to be repaid in 5 years or as soon as we start running a profit. 

14. Sustainability and Expansion Strategy

The aim of establishing a business for most is to be able to generate revenue in order to maximize profit that will ensure the sustainability and expansion of your business. In order to be able to achieve this however, it is important that you have a solid re-investment strategy, excellent business structure and good customer relationship.

Even though a business is established for profit, the profit has to be substantial enough so that a percentage of it can be ploughed back into the business to ensure that it continues to remain in existence. We have therefore decided to offer a variety of services in order to be able to have a substantial profit to reinvest into the business.

Building an excellent business structure is very vital for the growth and sustainability of the business and so we are ready to go the extra mile in ensuring that we hire only competent employees that have the right artistic skills and that identify with our core goals and objectives.

We will ensure that our employees are duly trained in order to be able to meet up with the trends of the industry. Creating a good customer relationship service is very important as this will ensure that we achieve a high retention rate that will ensure that our customers keep coming back to patronize our services.

We know that if we engage in these three measures, we would be able to achieve our sustainability and expansion strategies.

Check List/Milestone

  • Business Name Availability Check: Completed
  • Business Registration: Completed
  • Opening of Corporate Bank Accounts: Completed
  • Securing Point of Sales (POS) Machines: Completed
  • Opening Mobile Money Accounts: Completed
  • Opening Online Payment Platforms: Completed
  • Application and Obtaining Tax Payer’s ID: In Progress
  • Application for business license and permit: Completed
  • Purchase of Insurance for the Business: Completed
  • Conducting feasibility studies: Completed
  • Generating capital from family members: Completed
  • Applications for Loan from the bank: In Progress
  • Writing of Business Plan: Completed
  • Drafting of Employee’s Handbook: Completed
  • Drafting of Contract Documents and other relevant Legal Documents: In Progress
  • Design of The Company’s Logo: Completed
  • Graphic Designs and Printing of Promotional Materials: In Progress
  • Recruitment of employees: In Progress
  • Creating Official Website for the Company: In Progress
  • Creating Awareness for the business both online and around the community: In Progress
  • Health and Safety and Fire Safety Arrangement (License): Secured
  • Opening party/launching party planning: In Progress
  • Establishing business relationship with vendors – wholesale suppliers: In Progress