Do you need a license to sell organic skin care products?
In 2004, US cosmetics shoppers indicated that 66% of them use organic makeup products. The market for these products also increased from $190 million to $318 million in a five-year period. Because of these numbers, organic cosmetics are becoming more common and can be found in well-known stores across the country. This promising trend underscores current attitudes towards ecological causes and the desire to lead healthier lifestyles.
As the manufacturer grows to meet demand, they look for more outlets to sell their products.
This opens the door for people who want to start a small home business selling organic produce. For these entrepreneurs, the prospect of offering customers products that move like hot cakes is appealing, but how do you get started and do you need a license to market these items?
Legal Licenses
The answer to this can be a bit complicated. Although the organic cosmetics industry is somewhat unregulated, the sale of any item, no matter what it is made of, is not. If you want to start a business, you will need to obtain a license; the type of license may depend on how you structure your business.
brick and mortar business
Dermatologists, cosmetologists, estheticians, makeup artists, and health professionals are often licensed. In many cases these licenses will allow them to sell beauty products from their offices. If your experience falls within these parameters, you should check and see if you need a special license to advertise and market organic beauty products. Laws may differ from state to state, but you’re probably fine if you already have a license in the beauty trades.
Online and home based
For people who do not have a formal health and beauty certification, a license may be required to sell organic products. This is because anyone starting a business must have a license. Again, laws may differ from state to state, so check with your local government agency about what may be required regarding the purchase of a business license.
You may find that some laws are written where you may not need a business license if you only sell a certain number of products a month or a year. In some cases, an individual may own a sole proprietorship but does not necessarily have to be licensed.
When you call the trade-related government agency in your city, be sure to ask detailed questions that cover all of these bases.
There’s money to be made
The organic cosmetics industry is not only exciting to get into, but can be quite lucrative, in fact; experts posit that sales of natural and organic cosmetics will reach $6.6 billion by 2010. This figure can be very tempting, just make sure you have what it takes to run your cosmetics business. While the company will most likely provide you with the merchandise you’ll need to get started, you’ll have to work to build your clientele and partake in the billions that may be generated in the years to come.
risk capital
The main thing that stops people from starting their own business is the assumption that they don’t have the money to start. However, the wonderful thing about a cosmetics business is that it often doesn’t take a lot of money to get started, in fact, in some cases, it may just require an initial setup to receive the product.
Again, if you are interested in investing in an organic skin care business, contact the company you are interested in working with and ask them to send you some information about their setup.
With the right mindset, you should be able to excel in an organic cosmetics business and earn a significant amount of money to boot!