Wigs
This is a subject that can be treated with an element of fun, and certainly novelty wigs may be part of your eventual product line but for people suffering from hair loss; this can be a traumatic process and they may want to keep it private. These people deserve to be treated with respect and to have a way of finding the products they require without being ridiculed.
Obviously you need to reach your audience, but they are very unlikely to come
walking through the door of a high street location. Better distribution methods
might include: -
EBay
Website
Direct Response
Hospitals / Doctors
Shop
There are almost 7000 items for sale on EBay if you just search for wigs. 238 of these are real hair. It is obviously competetive but on the plus side it is unlikely that there would be 7000 adverts without a demand for them.
A dedicated website is a must for this business. You will need to work out how best to promote it online as well as offline in order to draw sufficient customers. As with a number of businesses that we are recommending this is one that should probably start with a local focus, it allows you to target your customers more specifically and reduces shipping costs.
Direct response is the tried and tested method of finding new customers for this business. We have all seen the adverts at the back of both men's and women's magazines advertising wigs and toupees. Typically there is an address, phone number and website so that they can be reached easily by their customers. You can replicate this approach with cheaper advertising. Try to get online adverts on doctors, or health related websites as well as listings on local directories. Equally advertising in the local newspaper and yello pages are a must.
If you can get good contacts with your local doctors¡¦ surgeries and occupational therapy departments at the local hospital you may well be able to get referrals from people with new medical issues, or who are not coping with existing conditions. This will take a little time as the people you are trying to get to see are busy and have numerous reps trying to see them.
None of the above tactics needs to be exclusive, and of course none of them requires dedicated premises. If you want to be taken seriously however then you should at the least have a showroom where you can sit down with your customers, talk through the options and let them try on your stock. This should not be a high street shop with a large window as it does not afford the privacy that is required. You may want to go for a 2nd floor location in a busy street or an innocuous office type suite away from the shops completely. Fortunately both of these options will be much cheaper than a high street shop. It isn't necessary to have a flashy fit out but you should ensure that the shop is clean and tidy, put down new carpet, paint and display your wigs carefully.
This is a product that you probably do not want to purchase from Asia or Africa unless you specifically want to specialise in providing your products to people who originate from that region.
For most western markets you will be able to buy cheap hair based products from Eastern Europe. For example <Wig Suppliers Russia> gives 437,000 hits on Google.
There may be ethical issues around buying in poorer countries and you should look in to this and whether it is likely to cause issues for your clients. You will of course be able to find suppliers in your own country, and there are synthetic options available.
Both men and women suffer from hair loss, if anything it can be more traumatic for women than for men. Many women consider hair to be their crowning glory and are devastated when they start to lose it.