We recently connected with Trisha Bailey and Jennifer Dean and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Trisha Bailey and Jennifer Dean, thanks for joining us today. It’s easy to look at a business or industry as an outsider and assume it’s super profitable – but we’ve seen over and over again in our conversation with folks that most industries have factors that make profitability a challenge. What’s biggest challenge to profitability in your industry?
One of the biggest challenges to profitability in the permanent makeup industry is the initial investment and ongoing costs associated with quality training, equipment, and supplies. Unlike traditional makeup application, permanent makeup requires specialized skills and precision, which necessitates comprehensive training from reputable experts in our field. Additionally, acquiring high-quality equipment and pigments is essential for achieving satisfactory results and ensuring client satisfaction., Creating a studio space that fosters a professional and inviting ambience in alignment with our brand is also a necessary investment.
Another significant challenge is maintaining a steady flow of clients and generating repeat business. While there may be a growing demand for permanent makeup services, competition in the industry is fierce. Building a strong reputation, establishing trust with clients, and differentiating oneself from competitors are crucial for attracting and retaining clients over the long term.
Economic uncertainty plays a huge role in the profitability of our industry. During periods of economic uncertainty as we have witnessed this past year, consumers adopt more cautious spending habits, prioritizing savings and financial security over indulgent purchases like permanent makeup. We have to explore new marketing strategies to entice new clients and create value.
Finally, managing client expectations and addressing concerns related to the permanency and outcome of the procedure can impact profitability. Effective communication, thorough consultations, and realistic outcome discussions are essential for mitigating risks and ensuring client satisfaction. Addressing any issues or complications that arise post-procedure in a timely and professional manner is crucial for maintaining a positive reputation and fostering client loyalty.
While the permanent makeup industry offers lucrative opportunities for profitability, navigating challenges such as initial investment costs, competition, economic uncertainty, and client satisfaction requires careful planning, dedication, and ongoing commitment to excellence.
Trisha Bailey and Jennifer Dean, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
We are Jenn and Trisha, business owners, mamas, wives and best friends. We have been friends for 17 years and have been a part of each other’s biggest moments. We are truly blessed and feel so lucky every day that life has led us to where we own a business together and are now friends on an even deeper level. We are both married and have kiddos, and we do what we do every day to show our kids how strong their mamas are and prove that they, too, can do anything they put their mind to. We are living examples of hard work and dedication. We have owned our business for just over a year and before that, we both were dental hygienists for 15 years! We met in hygiene school and hit it off immediately. We have lived far apart and in the same city, but always remained close. For the last 6 years before opening our business, we both lived in Dripping Springs and worked at the same dental office. Dreams of owning something together were discussed often over dinner dates and drinks, but seemed so far from reality, until one day we were discussing our brow artist and we wondered why we couldn’t do this. So we sat down with our husbands the next day and hashed out the details to the business plan. It was then that the reality set in that we were actually going to do this. We haven’t looked back since.
We started out with only brow services, but we now offer Lip blushing, piercing, freckle tattooing, stretch mark correction and scar camouflage, as well as our side business doing permanent jewelry. We plan to continue expanding our services to include eyeliner and areola tattooing. We are continuously training and learning from the best in our field. We believe the education we have sought out truly sets us apart from our competition. We only do in-person comprehensive trainings with true experts and artists. We are able to get constant feedback on our work and it makes us that much better artists. We want to be experts ourselves in this field and we get there by continuously learning and keeping up with trends. What you get when you come in to Brow Sugar, are two women who truly care about your experience and really listen to you. We are so happy when we have our clients tell us how confident they feel after getting their brows done or how their friends all complimented their beautiful lips. That positive feedback drives us. We take pride in making sure you are getting the best care and that we are honoring your wishes when providing our services. We love including our clients on the design phase so they can know exactly what to expect. We also strongly believe in educating our clients on not only the process, but the after care. Our clients leave with all the products they need for aftercare, as well as all our printed instructions and picture cards. We go over aftercare very thoroughly throughout and after the appointment. Our clients appreciate this and have great results because of it. Our dedication to our client’s successful results is what makes us stand out and why our clients choose us.
Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?
Networking, networking, networking! It’s all about community and supporting those that you would like support from. The biggest lesson and honestly, benefit, from starting this business was realizing how a community can take you in their arms and make you feel so welcome when you are feeling so alone. When we embraced the community, everything changed for us. We have met connections that have become clients and now friends. We realized that word of mouth referrals are everything in our industry and positive reviews can have a huge impact on your business. Being women, it’s always more of challenge to compete in society, but getting to know all the amazing women in our networking groups has inspired and empowered us to be better business women. So we highly recommend getting to know your community and not just showing up but really connecting with people. The relationships will be the backbone of your business. In addition, you will learn so much from sharing struggles and successes.
How did you build your audience on social media?
Well this is a funny one for us. We were 40 something year old mamas and only used Facebook for sharing family photos when we started this business. We didn’t even have Instagram accounts and had no idea what TikTok was. Since we decided to use our own savings to fund our business, we had to be choosey what we spent that money on. So we decided to dive into the world of social media ourselves and learn the tricks of the trade from scratch. At the beginning, it could take us up to 4 hours to make one reel. We are still learning new tricks every day, but we have finally, for the most part, mastered Instagram and Facebook. We started by following as many people/businesses in our industry that we could find. Then we followed our local small businesses in Dripping. As we started networking, we started adding to our following. 500 followers was a huge milestone for us. We have now started using QR codes to attain more followers as well. We have a goal of at least 1 post or 1 reel a day and keep our stories full. We have attended many marketing and social media events that have given us great advice such as using trending music or how to choose the right hash tags. Everything we have picked up along the way has helped. We would love to at some point hire a social media expert, but just knowing that we can do it ourselves is a good feeling. So if you don’t have the funds to hire a company, just be dedicated to really learning the platforms and ask questions any chance you get. Our advice, don’t be afraid to push buttons and see what happens! People will follow you if your work is good, so focus on that! Quality over quantity is what we have learned.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.brow-sugar.com
- Instagram: @browsugarbabestx
- Facebook: /browsugarbabe
Image Credits
Matt Marchant