How Much Does It Cost to Start a Beauty Brand?

"How much does it cost to start a beauty brand?" is one of the questions we hear most. The honest answer depends on whether you go private label or custom formulation, and on a lot of costs that have nothing to do with your manufacturer.

Why making a product costs what it does

A lot goes into making your products: chemists, regulatory, testing, compounders making your bulk, manual and automated labor on the filling lines, quality control, and shipping. The cost of a product is so much more than labor and raw materials.

Private label budget

At Lady Burd, you can technically get started with just $150 by ordering stock products with no customization. If you want custom labels with your logo, plan for a few hundred dollars and up. Custom labels start at 50 pieces per SKU. For a first real order with branding across a few products, a budget of a few hundred up to around $2,000 is a good starting point.

Most private label products land between $3 and $15 per unit, with tiered pricing, so the more you order, the less you pay per unit.

Custom formulation budget

Custom formulation is a different story. You need a bigger budget, you need to be ready to hold more inventory, and you need a lot more time (plan for 12 to 18 months). From a contract manufacturing perspective, a healthy budget starts around $35,000. That covers a decent first run of bulk and labor. Full custom packaging, custom boxes, and other add-ons will cost more.

You'll also need to budget for packaging, testing, fulfillment, and marketing.

The hot take: your unit cost usually isn't your biggest cost

Founders love asking their manufacturer for a discount when they need to improve their margins. But in our experience, the manufacturer's unit cost usually isn't the biggest piece of a product's total cost. The bigger costs tend to be:

• Customer acquisition: paid ads on Meta and Google
• Fulfillment: fees from your 3PL (third-party logistics/fulfillment center)
• Marketing: content, influencer gifting, and promotional items
• Payroll: you and your team

Build all of these into your budget from day one.

Know your numbers before you call

A legitimate budget helps a manufacturer show you what's realistic for your brand. Here's what to have figured out before you reach out, and when you're ready, book a free consultation.