This part-time home business can be started by someone who has a sincere desire to help others. A gratifying and fascinating career to begin with is image consultancy. You will require an internal sense of fashion, style, and familiarity with the most recent trends.
Introduction to Image Consulting Business Plans
Following these 8 steps will help you launch a successful image consultancy business:
1. Competencies Necessary for Image Consulting
You must be passionate about fashion, have a good eye for detail, be up to date on the newest color palettes and fashion trends, and be knowledgeable about a wide range of fashion names. A knowledge of facial and body forms will also be necessary.
You’ll need to exercise patience, control your ego, be imaginative, and be able to think beyond the box. One must be extremely well-organized, driven by one’s own goals, sincere, reliable, and presentable. Additionally, you must be able to adhere to a plan and have a sense of humor.
You might take advantage of such training programs before starting an image consultancy business. These seminars might touch on topics like communication and nutrition as well as elements of fashion like colors and work attire.
Numerous organizations offer image consultants certifications and training. A few of the trade organizations are listed below:
- The International Image Consultants Society (ICSI)
- Worldwide Association of Image Consultants (IFIC)
- International Association of Image Consultants (AICI)
2. Services an Image Consultant Can Provide
Image consultants can give clients the kind of counsel that will enable them to acquire employment, advance in their careers, fall in love, or simply feel better about themselves. Here are some examples of the services you can offer:
- Help a client with an image makeover by offering advice on makeup, a new hairstyle, color analysis, and wardrobe purging.
- Consultations in verbal and non-verbal communication, including handshakes, posture, eye contact, and etiquette for everything from cell phones to dining, are provided by a communication and etiquette consultant.
- Personal shopper: A individual who conducts personal shopping, includes buying clothes and accessories for clients.
- Liaison Services: Establishing communication channels between the customer and other experts who can enhance the client’s look, such as dermatologists, physical trainers, or hairdressers.
- Working directly with designers and a few retailers to create outfits tailored especially for the customer, marketing consultant for the fashion industry.
Corporate trainer, fashion stylist, and brand strategist are additional occupations in image consulting that you might want to think about.
3. Recognizing the Image Consulting Market
People starting a new profession, company executives wanting to connect with their stockholders and consumers, actors, and news characters like politicians aiming to portray a successful image are all prospective clients for you.
Brides-to-be who struggle with social graces or dress choices are another potential consumer, as are a plethora of others seeking professional guidance on how to make an impression physically and/or psychologically.
Corporations may be among your clientele and employ you to train their leaders or staff members or to modernize the workplace dress code. To understand the need and developments of your current industry, significant market research is required.
4. Plan your business
Writing a business plan is crucial for starting an image consultancy company. You might not require a comprehensive business strategy for small-scale enterprises. The following are some fundamental concerns that your plan should touch on:
- Initial and ongoing expenses
- target audience
- Price range
- The services you’ll provide
- How would you market your image consultancy services?
5. Brand your business
Choose a memorable and appealing name for your brand consultancy business. Don’t forget to reserve a domain name that is similar for your website.
6. For Image Consulting Equipment
All you need to get started with image consulting is a smartphone and a computer with an internet connection. As your company expands, you can buy your own mirrors, makeup, color swatches, fashion books, and publications.
To record your clients’ perspectives both before and after getting cosmetics, you will also require a video camera and related equipment.
7. Licenses & Permits for the Business of Image Consulting
Register the name of the company you plan to use for day-to-day operations as your image consultancy firm. Creating an LLC will aid you in preserving your personal assets if you are a citizen of the US.
For information on the types of licenses and permits you need to begin an image consultancy business, speak with the local competent government. Some states require a cosmetology license in order for you to offer makeup services to clients.
8. Publicize Your Image Consulting Company
Only 20% of starting an image consulting firm is actually about providing advisory services; the other 80% is about how you sell and promote yourself.
You may identify your target audience and the activities you must take to reach them with the use of a marketing plan. Invest your time in developing your brand identification through a website, business cards, and brochures.
Creating a media kit is the first step in establishing your reputation when launching an image consultancy business. Press releases, your biography, and professional images are all included in press or media kits. Make connections with business people and community groups. Approach wedding advisors, caterers, or event planners so they may recommend you to their clientele. For both individual and business clients, conduct workshops and seminars.
