If you ever doubted Black women are the gift that keeps on giving, meet Kechia Taylor; the first Black franchisor in permanent makeup. This is no easy feat as research from Zippia states that the most common ethnicity of franchise owners is White (71.0%), followed by Hispanic (14.3%), Asian (6.1%) and then Black or African American (6.0%).
For Taylor, it was diving into unchartered waters carrying the label of ‘the first black.’ She says: “I’m honored to be the first black woman franchisor in the permanent makeup industry. The industry is still changing regarding black women being respected for their work, talent and expertise. When I decided to franchise, I knew it would be talk but I didn’t care because the goal is to help as many black women as possible start their permanent makeup business with less friction and more support.”
Although she had the relentless goal of seeing black women have the opportunity to purchase a ready-made beauty brand, Taylor shares with us what drew her at first to franchising.
“Franchising was a way for me to expand my business without expanding myself and creating a legacy and opportunity for my family. I knew I could help black women entrepreneurs skip the line of building and turn to a reputable brand to start their beauty business with less friction. I was already doing this through my permanent makeup training classes and thought to myself…why not go the extra mile and offer this program as well,” she says.
From initially starting out as an esthetician in Maryland, she noticed that her clients wanted natural clean brows and saw microblading as a niche solution. “I started in the beauty industry as a teenager doing brows for friends and family members. As I grew older, it transitioned to doing coworkers’ eyebrows and then eventually led to opening up my first-day spa all while attending art school for Graphic Design and working full-time in healthcare. I was always intrigued by different brow shapes and lines. I want to credit my background in art because that allowed me to see the world differently through beauty,” she affirms.
Taylor also saw how it changed the lives of people with alopecia and cancer and decided to focus on that. Today, she is a certified makeup artist with 15+ certifications in permanent makeup and special techniques and the Founder of Brows & Co; the number one microblading program in the DC. Maryland and Virginia areas.
With recent data from Franchise Insights showing women are outnumbering men when it comes to seeking knowledge on financial ownership, and 31% of women accounting for small business and franchise ownership according to Guidant Financial, here are the five benefits of starting a franchise business.
1) Brand recognition
One of the benefits of starting a franchise business is that you don’t have to worry about spending huge amounts of money on advertising due to existing brand recognition. This helps new entrepreneurs save money on marketing and advertising when compared to a new start-up due to an established brand image.
2) Training and support
Another benefit is being able to receive ongoing support from the franchisor in the early months with things like legal documentation, financial funding admin and capital. Taylor affirms: “I would say it’s easier than starting a business from the beginning and having the support, education and continued mentorship from the franchisor is a plus. You are not left alone because the priority of the franchisor is to make sure the franchisee is successful from online to offline marketing strategies that businesses typically don’t have a budget for or lack in this area.” This means little business/industry experience is needed when starting as a franchisor.
3) Established systems in place
With franchising, it’s almost like a packaged business already in place with tested systems that work. You don’t have to worry about spending time and resources on implementing efficient systems.
4) Risk reduction
With tested strategies and systems in place, the initial risks that new business owners would assume are significantly reduced. As a result, franchises are more likely to succeed than the average start-up due to a proven business model already in place.
5) Loyal customer base
This ties back to reduced costs on marketing and advertising. An existing brand awareness brings an existing customer base who is loyal to the brand thus this saves the new entrepreneur time and money in trying to attract customers.
Although Taylor says she didn’t have any pitfalls in franchising her company, she affirms this is due to the five years of data she had to make that decision. “ I had the documentation such as yearly profit and loss statements, financial forecasts, employee handbook, privacy policy, trademarks, website, HR documents and more…If I didn’t have these processes in place it would have taken longer or there may have been some bumps in the road. Not every business is franchisable but I already made business mistakes before franchising so I learned everything through the ups and downs of building my business in the beginning. When franchising you avoid these pitfalls,” she says.
Taylor shares the key things to know before going into franchising: “Research the company first, see if their mission and values align with you then reach out to speak with them. Some other things you need to know are territory locations and the legal aspect of the franchise. What you can and cannot do under the brand name. The company will have this documentation for you and a lawyer to review. So it’s imperative not to gloss over any legal information.”
Taylor hopes that articles like this can help inform black people that franchising is a great way for us to enter the market share, build our communities up and create a legacy. “Right now we are the only race of people who own less than 6% of this market while our counterparts own 94% which is scary. We don’t have to build alone,” she says.
To learn more about Kechia’s work in the beauty franchising industry, connect with her on:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kechiataylor/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kechiataylor/
Website: https://browsandcompany.com/
