Lesson 1: Getting To Know Your Customers

Market research is an organized method of gathering information about the industry, markets, and customers. Learning about the market is a very important component of your business strategy and a major factor in maintaining your competitiveness in the beauty industry.

When creating your price point, you want to price yourself based on your market, experience, expertise, and specific area. The best way to start this process is by doing your market research. Research your industry and better understand how you could price yourself. 

Dig deeper and be realistic!!  Look at the quality of your work and compare it to your competitors. Learn about their prices, pricing strategy, and potential price charges according to your services, client needs, and strategy. For those businesses looking to specialize in the wedding industry, I recommend the use of websites such as The Knot and WeddingWire. But don’t limit your resources to those specific websites, as there are many other great bridal and wedding websites that you can use to learn more about what your competitors are charging.

During your market research, you can create spreadsheets that include specific content, such as the name of your competitor, demographic, location, years in business, area of specialization, business strategies, offers, discounts, and any other useful information that you can apply to your business strategy to join the competition. The key is to have a specific overview of the market prices within your field, expertise, and demographics, including your location and surrounding markets. 

My recommendation is that you try different prices. The worst outcome of this strategy is that any potential customer could say no to your offered services, whereas I would recommend you negotiate your price and service with the client. During negotiations, be confident about your services, products, and performance. You know your worth, the quality of your work, and your capabilities. However, it is very important that you believe in yourself, and that you believe that the quality of service you are about to provide is worth the price you are charging because by doing so, you will reflect such confidence, which in exchange, will provide you with the type of clients willing to pay for your services.