Yaneek Page | Starting a fragrance business in 2021
QUESTION: I finally feel ready to give you my questions to be published as follows:
How do I start a fragrance line business in Jamaica?
What factors must be considered prior to approaching the industry?
What are the listings of legit local fragrance manufacturers in Jamaica?
– Name withheld
BUSINESSWISE: The steps to take in starting a ‘fragrance line’ are similar to starting any other free-market enterprise in Jamaica, where real market conditions, including the forces of supply and demand, rather than government regulation or legislation, will largely determine your business fortunes.
You can follow the steps outlined in my column of January 27, 2013: ‘7 Essential Steps to Business Start-up’.
You would start with a detailed evaluation of the market opportunities to determine the feasibility of the idea. So if we are to drill down further into what that actually means, and some major factors to consider, you would explore how many segments exist within the fragrance market, the current size and value of each segment, and the trends and growth trajectories for all.
This information will be helpful in determining whether you focus on office or home fragrances via products such as candles, scented oils, or aerosol sprays; or personal body splash/sprays, body oils; or more high-end perfumes and colognes.
Ultimately, if you are a profit-seeking entrepreneur, you are likely to focus on the market segment with the higher profit potential that is also projected to grow in demand. In order to calculate your potential profit, you would need to decide where and how you will enter the supply chain.
Will you manufacture then distribute? Will you buy wholesale from a manufacturer and distribute to the retail trade? Do you intend to be a retailer yourself? Or, perhaps you will look to supply raw materials such as flowers, plants, grasses, spices, alcohols, and petrochemicals to fragrance manufacturers. There are many possibilities. Your decision should, ideally, be based on market opportunities that align with your vision, minimum profit target, strengths, skills, resources, and so on.
Should you choose manufacturing, then you would need to create various formulations that can be produced either by yourself or by another company on your behalf.
The Scientific Research Council, SRC, should be able to assist you, at a cost, with creating a unique product formulation, which you may be able to protect as intellectual property with assistance from the Jamaica Intellectual Property Office.
I called the SRC earlier this week and was advised that in order to advance the process of product development, you would first need to send an email with a specific request to headsrc@src-jamaica.org. You may expect a response in three days or less on whether they can assist with the development of your fragrance and the next steps in that case. You may also visit their website – www.src.gov.jm – for more information.
In terms of other key factors to consider, I can’t stress enough how important it is to test your product and assumptions within a sample group of your target market. Don’t rush to market with a product for which there is no ready demand at this time. It could be a recipe for huge loss.
When it comes to the possible competitors, and as you put it “legit manufacturers”, you can do that research on your own should you decide that this business is the best use of your entrepreneurial focus at this time. Which takes me to my key point in answering your questions.
Perhaps the best advice I can give you is to treat your potential investment the way a savvy investor would, and evaluate several opportunities across various industries to identify where you are likely to get the highest and best return on your capital and effort. I’ve found that too often, entrepreneurs come up with a single idea and take off running to get it started rather than taking a more disciplined and dispassionate approach of assessing several viable opportunities.
Since you have been reading my columns for some time now, you may recall that I strongly encourage prospective entrepreneurs to pursue opportunity-driven rather than need-driven entrepreneurship. That warning is especially relevant as the COVID-19 pandemic deepens and the world struggles to recover from the social and economic fallout from the virus.
The world’s spending power and what consumers choose to spend money on have changed drastically since March 2020, and you will need to align your entrepreneurial exploits accordingly. Good luck.
- Yaneek Page is the programme lead for Market Entry USA, a certified trainer in entrepreneurship, and creator and executive producer of ‘The Innovators’ and ‘Let’s Make Peace’ TV series.yaneek.page@gmail.com