How to analyze supply and demand in brow business

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Tops Pricing

2. Start with analyzes

The allure of a career in powder brows, hairstrokes, and microblading attracts many enthusiastic individuals. However, a surprising number question their path after investing significant time, money, and energy into training, wondering, "Is this the right career for me?" as there is often a large gap between initial expectations and reality. Avoiding this doubt and ensuring you're on a path that aligns with your passion and skills requires careful consideration and planning. In this guide, we'll explore three essential steps that you must take before embarking on a journey to become a powder brows, hairstrokes, or microblading artist. These foundational insights will help you assess whether this specialized field is a viable and fulfilling career option.

Understanding the Fundamental Forces: Supply and Demand

In the dreamy world of becoming a powder brows, hairstrokes or microblading artist, it can be easy to get lost in the glamorous promises of trainers and academics. However, before envisioning fields of gold and endless opportunities, it's crucial to ground oneself in the rational realities of the market.

The concept of Supply and Demand is foundational to modern economics, and it is nothing new. Scottish economist Adam Smith first described it in his 1776 work "The Wealth of Nations." Later, French mathematician and economist Augustin Cournot formalized the concepts by introducing the supply and demand curves in 1838.

What exactly are Supply and Demand?

Supply refers to the quantity of a particular product or service that the market can offer. It's typically positively correlated with price; as the price increases, so does the willingness of producers to supply more of the good. Supply and demand factors can vary significantly across different industries and regions. For powder brows, hairstrokes or microblading, these include the service's popularity, the demographics of your area, the number of skilled artists available, etc.

3. Understand the Supply

The very first decision you must make is very practical: determining where you plan to provide the service in the future. If it's your hometown, draw a circle around it on Google Maps to locate all the artists operating in this area and beyond. Also, look at those willing to come there or who have mentioned that they get customers from this area. Many seasoned artists agree that the diameter of this circle should not exceed 120 miles (about 200 km) .This gives you an actual idea of the Supply.

Create the Supply

Table Next, make a spreadsheet table of all the artists with the services they offer and fill in the prices. If you are still looking for the prices from websites or booking systems, contact them and ask for them. It pays off to rigorously fill in the table and see their actual price level.

Factual Data from Business Databases

In most countries, you can access databases of actual financial information that artists have filed through their companies. Before spending thousands of dollars on training, spend tens of dollars on inquiries to get the financial data these artists have filed. That gives you a much better idea of what is going on. In public, everyone is doing "magnificently," but often, the financial data, on the other hand, shows quite a few smaller numbers.

Analyze Social Media Accounts and Fake Followers Ratios

We have discussed getting precise data about engagement and social media account fake follower ratios and demographics. There are several free tools that you can use for that. Add a section of Instagram accounts for each artist to your table and, at minimum, write down the follower number, fake follower ratio, engagement, and posting frequency (how many posts, reels, and stories they post per week).

Analyze Facebook Ad Library

Make systematic queries to the Facebook ad library, as discussed in many articles. See which artists are running ads and what keywords they use. Mark down the number of ads each is currently running in your area, and also make sure you analyze lips, eyeliner, and other services offered by these artists.

Check Google Ads

Next, take the time to Google all the artists on your table and see who is running ads on Google. Use the most elementary queries such as "Best powder brows in - your location - ," "The best microblading/hairstrokes artist in..." etc. See what paid ads come up and who ranks in search results. Mark down all who are investing in ads.

Use Tools to Peek into Organic Traffic

In different articles on powderbrows.com, we have discussed what tools to use to get an idea of the organic traffic of the artist's websites. Use those tools to see how much traffic they get from Google and which keywords (if any) they have built their website content around. Mark down the organic keyword traffic of each site for each artist with a website.

Both with Instagram, Facebook and Google data, it pays off to add columns to your table with different dates to see the changes in followers' growth and the advertising activity of your closest competitors. Understanding these trends gives you a very good idea of the changes in the supply in your region and the vectors different artists are on and how their advertising may have influenced follower growth.

You have to understand that there is no objective perspective that the Supply in your area would decrease significantly. On the contrary, if your prospective trainer, for example, is providing services in your area, the odds are that the number of "hungry and starving artists" you will have to compete against will likely increase rather than decrease over time.

This understanding is crucial to recognizing the market dynamics in your area and prepares you to make informed decisions. The idea is not to be dissuaded but to be knowledgeable and strategic in your approach. The more information you have, the better positioned you will be to find your niche and succeed.

4. Survey the Demand

Do Not Trust Common "Calendar is (Almost) Full" Tactics

Next, add a new sheeet with columns to your table to analyze the demand. Understanding real demand is tricky because most artists exaggerate or even lie about the market. You may have seen them make absurd statements that their "first available time" is in months, that "their calendar is full," "they can choose their clients," etc. In most cases, this isn't true, and it is hard to understand why artists say that. One explanation could be a form of social alignment.

Artists see others declare that their calendars are complete and follow the same pattern. Some artists demonstrate naiveté that is puzzling, making Instagram posts without any boost to accounts with only a couple of hundred followers to present the "last three available times next month" and then comment in a few hours that "all have been filled... except one," or that they made one more available. Analyzing such posts' potential reach and traffic, it's clear this is a misguided attempt to generate urgency among extremely naive clients.

Analyze the Facts

You get some idea of the actual demand from the financial results you added to the Supply section related to the artist. However, do not believe the myth that "there is a huge amount of cash" circulating somewhere. The financial data reflects what is happening well because most genuine artists with actual operational businesses do not manipulate figures to evade taxes - it would just not pay off to do that. In addition to the dollar figures from the statements, consider the posts. You can do the following.

Take the Instagram and Facebook Accounts One by One Calculate the uploaded before-and-after pictures and photos of work completed on clients. Make sure you try to calculate images of different clients, as there can often be a series of photos from the same visit. Mark down the average of the last three months to each table row. This gives you some idea of the actual demand.

Act as a Client

To get a better idea of the reality, act as a client and contact your area's powder brows, hairstrokes, or microblading artists.

Email them and tell them you wish to have the service "as soon as possible because you are leaving."
See what times they offer.
Ask for prices, and when you get them, reply: "This price is a bit too high, I I would be interested if the price were lower. What sort of deal or discount can you give on that?"

Fill in Your Table

Add the original and discounted prices; this way, the actual demand in your area becomes clearer. It is an excellent indication if it's impossible to get a time in the following weeks - which is rare but can happen. If you get several offers for the next few days, this should raise an eyebrow (excuse the intentional bad pun).

In all these steps, your focus should be on uncovering the accurate picture of demand in your area. By scrutinizing these factors, you can determine whether there is a genuine opportunity or if "full calendars" claims are merely tactics.

5. The Third Key

Do the Elementary School Level Math

We have verified that the math required to evaluate the potential of making money with the service in your area is of elementary school level, so there's no excuse for not going ahead.

Calculate the Averages

Calculate the averages, and be cautious by rounding everything upwards. Use real numbers. Multiply the average procedure price with the factual treatments artists have uploaded. While we can expect that they won't upload pictures of every customer, calculating this still gives you a good idea of the ballpark figures in your area.

Trust What You See and Don't Generate Illusions

Avoid cultivating myths that large bags of cash are flying around, and don't deceive yourself with the bias that "everyone is so busy and successful" that they don't have time to upload pictures. Instead, apply Occam's Razor method.

The Occam's Razor Method

Occam's Razor is a philosophical principle suggesting that the simplest explanation is often correct. In the context of evaluating Supply and demand, if artists in your area are struggling to upload new pictures, their financial stats show small figures, they make discounts, and the overall "feel" of their social media posts is "rather needy," then one viable explanation could be that Supply is greater than demand.

6. Understanding the situation

If the Demand is Higher than the Supply If it's hard to get a time slot, there are no discounts, the financial stats of top artists are impressive, and a substantial number of new posts of client procedures are completed consistently, what are you waiting for? Starting a career as a powder brows, haristrokes or microblading artist in your area is an excellent idea.

If the Supply is Higher than the Demand In this case, the situation is much more challenging. Take a very realistic look at your existing digital and social media assets. Assess how many accounts with how many followers you have, whether their demographic matches the one needed for brow services, how much organic traffic your website attracts, and the actual costs of the keywords you need in your area.

Suppose you don't have any digital or social media assets. In that case, you should calculate a realistic budget for creating and growing the accounts to the same level as competing established artists. In some cases, the realistic budget for this could be over USD 30,000, sometimes even USD 50,000–100,000. While these numbers may seem significant, do the math, and you'll see they're not inflated. Add this to the training and other costs, plus the value of your time, and you'll clearly understand what's involved.

By following these methods and doing the simple math required, you can decide whether to pursue a career in powder brows, hairstrokes, or Microblading in your area. The key is to be realistic and not let illusions or social pressures cloud your judgment.

7. Conclusions

In the world of semi-permanent makeup, aspiring artists often invest considerable time and effort to cater to a demand that may not exist. The key to grasping the local possibilities is approaching the situation through classic supply and demand analysis.

This article provides a systematic framework for understanding supply and demand based on concrete data rather than relying on the often embellished narratives on artists' lavish social media profiles. To truly comprehend the supply side, one can analyze the demographics of competing artists' followers and delve into public databases to compile financial data. Additionally, a systematic examination of Facebook Ad Library and Google Adwords used by competitors consolidated into a comprehensive table can offer a more precise overview of local demand.

Similarly, a thorough study of the demand aspect is essential. Instead of trusting optimistic claims about fully booked calendars, it's wiser to base analyses on facts. A helpful indicator is turnover divided by reported fee rates and average service fees. Many experienced artists have also adopted the practice of "Acting as Client," finding it invaluable for gathering information before making significant decisions.

Suppose you find that time slots are in high demand. In that case, artists are maintaining their pricing, top artists boast impressive financial statistics, and consistent client procedure posts flood your digital space, it's a clear signal. Starting a career as a powder brows, hairstrokes, or microblading artist in your area is a promising prospect because demand outweighs supply.

However, in cases where supply surpasses demand, the situation becomes immensely challenging. Taking a realistic inventory of your digital and social media assets is vital. Assess the number of accounts and followers, ensuring they align with the demographics necessary for brow services. Evaluate your website's organic traffic and the costs associated with the keywords relevant to your locality.

This approach can be applied to various services, and many have tested the demand and supply dynamics within hairstrokes. Often, these investigations lead to the realization that the demand exists, and the market is balanced with excessive supply, encouraging artists to offer their services confidently.