Did You Know That Perfumes Are Arguably One Of The Most Profitable Products In The World?

 

I’m just going to be straight up about it…

 

Perfumes are arguably one of the most profitable products in the world.

 

The reason is because creating the actual perfume liquid is ridiculously cheap and can be sold at an extremely high margin. For example, it may cost you just Ksh.50 to make a perfume that can be sold for Ksh.500 or Ksh.1,000.

 

That kind of margin is almost unheard of, which is why almost every luxury brand has their own line of perfumes. The opportunity is wild.

 

However, there’s a caveat to this.

 

While the cost to create super high end perfume is cheap, the cost to market it is not. The reason is that fragrances are hard to sell especially online. It’s much harder to convince someone to buy a fragrance versus other types of products because they can’t smell it through their phone or computer screens.

 

It’s also a product that requires expensive packaging, which is critical because that’s what drives up the value of the perfume.

 

If you can overcome these problems, then it’s an amazing business to be in.

 

The cost of starting a perfume business can vary wildly.

 

You have to take in consideration the type of cologne, quality of cologne, quantity of cologne, and more. Many of these things are going to come down with what manufacturers you decide to partner with and what you’re trying to do.

 

Overall though, you can expect to spend anywhere between Ksh.50,000 to Ksh.150,000.

 

This pricing includes solid cologne, which you will be on the lower end of the estimate. Liquid cologne will naturally be on the higher end. This is also with average packaging costs. For more expensive packaging, you can expect to be in the top 10% of that range, if not more.

 

With that said, perfume is a business where you can start homemade first.

 

If you decide to go the handmade route, you can get started with less than Ksh.5,000 for solid cologne and less than Ksh.10,000 with liquid cologne. This includes average packaging. Again, if you decide to go with premium packaging from the start, you will need to spend much more.

 

None of these estimates includes marketing costs.

 

Research shows that Kenyans spend over Ksh.5 billion a month buying beauty products. These include bath and shower products, cosmetics, skin care, baby care, oral care and perfume products.

 

Talking about perfume products, the local industry is largely dominated by foreign multinationals; which begs the question – are there not enough Kenyans who can control their own market?

 

There is demand for scented perfume and even if you were to sell your product at 500% mark-up it would still be cheaper than most of the big brands on the shelves today.

 

The secret to conquering this market when you are a small investor lies in producing a high quality product that can get you intimately connected with your target market.

 

But what does it take to create a perfume brand that can be loved by many people?

 

As it turns out, the underlying concept is very simple. You can even start a small “factory” in your bedroom and grow with it.

 

Remember that every big company you see out there started just as a small dream. Coca cola for instance only sold 25 bottles of soda during its first year of operation.

 

KFC was started by an old retiree who was surviving on pension – but when he cooked a special chicken for his friends a global company was born.

 

Even those big perfumes you see out there once started as small and hopeless entities. It’s continuous marketing, persistence and consistence that keeps them going.

 

So don’t let anybody tell you that you can’t do it. There is nothing that can stop you from starting your own perfume business in Kenya.