The Yegi Project
The Yegi Project
How to Stand Out in a Saturated Market in 2022 - No More Room for YOU in your Industry? | Solo Episode
In this episode, Yegi goes over five ways you can stand out in a saturated market. Being in the beauty industry, Yegi has encountered her own personal struggles in trying to keep up with an industry that gets more and more saturated every year. However, by using these strategies intentionally, she has been able to and continues to have success in what she does. There is room for you in the industry you want to be a part of - if others can do it, so can you!
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Disclaimer: The information provided in this episode does not constitute business, legal, or accounting advice, and is designed to provide general information relating to business and commerce. The Yegi Project’s content, information, products and services are not a substitute for obtaining the advice of a competent professional. Any advice given for personal development is not meant to substitute therapy, psychiatry or diagnose listeners.
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[intro] Hey beauty lovers and fellow entrepreneurs. I'm Yegi, the owner and founder of Yegi Beauty. Within five years of being my own boss, I was able to grow Yegi Beauty into a multi-million dollar company. This podcast is where I share what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur in the beauty industry.[How to Stand Out in A Saturated Market] Hello hello hello welcome back to the yegi project today we're going to talk about how you can stand out in an oversaturated industry. So I currently am in the beauty industry and more specifically in the eyelash extensions niche market but even in such a niche market it feels like it is over saturated right now. There are new businesses and competition popping up left and right and I know that I'm not the only one feeling this within my industry. I wanted to do this topic for a while but what really triggered me to go for it was a lot of my customers or students were asking me, well is it still a good time to get into the lash business or industry because it feels so saturated or there's too much competition, am I gonna have clients, am I gonna be able to make it? And my answer to that was yes but then I thought about it some more I was like wait let me really think about this is this really - is there really a way to stand out in an oversaturated industry? Even if you're just starting out or even you're just getting into that industry. And the more I thought about it the more I reflected and kind of looked back on how how I did it in the beginning and how I've adjusted throughout the years as competition got more and more, I was like oh there's a system there is a way - in fact there is about five main ways how you can stand out in an oversaturated industry and that's what we're gonna cover in our podcast today.[How Can You Add Value] The first thing and the most important thing you want to do is you want to add value. Now that's kind of easy to hear or easy to understand okay add value right okay I get it but how do you actually add value? What are the different ways you can add value in order for you to stand out in the oversaturated industry that you are in? So one way it will be by keeping up with the trends. So a lot of times as we go on and on within our day-to-day business world and whatever work we're doing, it gets repetitive or we stick to our original way of doing things - like what we've learned in the beginning and what's been working we just kind of go at it, but we forget that keeping up with the trends and there's new things and new products and new developments and new styles within our industry that keeps evolving no matter what industry you're in. So it is very important to keep up with that and talk about that with your audience and with your customers in order for you to add value to - to them and that's one way that you're going to be able to stand out is that you always know what's happening, what's new and you can always answer the questions of your customers and clients if they do ask about a new trend. So make sure you're taking classes, you're educating yourself, you're doing research, you are um also learning always so then you can go ahead and provide that value for your customers. When I was doing eyelash extensions the style of eyelashes that were really popular were the wispy volume look and not many lash artists were doing that in the beginning but I was really really booked with clients back to back for this service. And then as the market got more saturated there were more and more lash artists offering the same look and some of them might have started offering it for way cheaper or they had more availability so that's when I started kind of losing customers or feeling like hey the market is kind of getting saturated in this area right, so how can I stand out? And the example of keeping up with the trends is really what happened to me. So then after that trend was kind of like a normal thing right the wispy volume, new trends started coming along. For example the L Curl eyelashes so you don't have to know what that is but just know a different style came to be popular but the reason why I gained my customers back or I was able to get new customers is because I was able to keep up with that trend and be able to offer that service to the new customers or my old customers that wanted to try that look. So that is one way that you can really make sure you're educating yourself you're keeping up, you know what's going on in your industry and you will be able to stand out even if you have even if you're in a saturated market. So going back to adding value - so we said one way is keeping up with the trends and the second way is educating yourself and also your customers, so the more you know the more you can teach and the more you can teach your audience and your customers, the more they're going to be able to trust you and the more you're going to be able to stand out. So I cannot stress that enough keep up with your education I really think that things change every day and if you're not gonna keep up with it you're really gonna miss out and you're not gonna be able to stand out, but if you know what's going on in your industry and you're gonna be able to talk about it and not only educate yourself but your customers, they're gonna know that you really are a master of your craft. Another way that you can add value and we did kind of touch on that is by offering new services or products. So if you are offering products and there's a lot of competition out there and you feel like it's saturated you can offer additional products in order to gain new customer base that would want those products, so that's another way you can add value to your company and your customers. So another way you can add value to your audience in order for you to send that in a saturated market is to give them free upgrades and this is definitely going to give them value because they're getting more for their book so if I'm teaching a class and I can throw in another class for free that is one way I can stand out and that's actually something that I'm going to try to do in the next couple of months to see if that helps our business in our academy.[Build a Human Connection] So moving on to the second way for you to stand out in a saturated market. So this one is kind of obvious when you hear about it but we all fail to do it. I actually recently had to remind myself to kind of pay attention to this area which is actually connecting as a person to your customers or your audience. So a lot of times we let the business kind of be a business or your product or your service represent itself but we forget that as humans we want human connections right. So if you forget to give that human connection in your business you're not going to be able to stand out in a saturated market. So what you want to do is you want to make sure that you are present as a person within your business. So you want to explain and you want to make your customers know why you're special, what makes you different from your competitors, what makes you different from even the person next door to you, right. So you want to make sure you know what your competitive edge is and even if it's something like your warm smile every time you see a client, that could be something that helps you stand out and give you that connection piece. So make sure that you sit down and spend some time and write down what makes you unique as a person. Another way you can connect as a person is really having your story down. Saying it over and over and practicing your story that's related to your business is a way you're going to be able to connect with your customers and your audience. For example my story was when I initially started my company I was actually really pissed off because I didn't get a job opportunity that I applied for. My doors were slammed closed within the corporate world for me to get a promotion and that's something that really pushed me along the edge to saying you know what I don't need anybody else to believe in me to be a leader, I'm gonna start my own business and be able to give myself whatever title I want. So that's a very short version of my story but that's one way that I can connect with my audience who really want to maybe take the same path but they're scared right so that's the story that works for me um so you need to find your story and obviously it needs to be true and authentic but you need to practice it and see it in order for you to connect to your audience. So another example can be that if from when you were a kid you've always always loved computers but you never got a chance to really get your hands on one and really I don't know build it from inside out. As you became an adult you're able to take a workshop and finally accomplish that skill and it was like a dream come true right. So if that's your business that could really connect to your that story can really have you connect to your audience, so make sure that you are working on your presence um within your business so you connect as a person. The next thing is your branding so what is your brand. Even if you're a service provider and it's just you and your company you are still a brand, so you want to make sure that you're very clear on what that is. So if you're all about clean products or very efficient services so whatever your branding is you really want to make sure you know it and it's clear and that's what you're putting out there. For example for me when I was doing eyelash extensions as a service, my brand really was almost like your girlfriend, your therapist when you would come in and get your services done. So they knew I wasn't only about doing eyelash extensions I was really about being their girlfriend and helping them maneuver through whatever problems they had in life, like as they were getting their eyelashes done. So that was kind of big on my brand and I knew that I can also use that as my competitive edge with making friends with my clients and that's like really uh a thing that took I don't know that took me to the next level I want to say or help me stand out by connecting to my customers with having that kind of as my brand right. So if you're not really like that type of a person you need to find something else. So for example your brand could be um you offer a free champagne for your customers that could be part of your branding, that luxury feel. You make them feel like as they step in they're gonna get this I don't know super service and it's gonna start off by that glass of champagne right so um it really like every single thing that you do and you put out there is going to be part of your brand so pay attention and see - be authentic to what you want that to be or who you want to be as far as brand. And then that's how you're going to be able to connect to your audience and be able to stand out in the saturated market and another point with that I think the easiest way to do that is to be true to yourself and listen to really like who you are and fine-tune that to be your brand and not don't try to be somebody who you're not you know. We hear that all the time but really like the people that do well is really when they're being authentically who they are and they're proud and happy with who they are - so accept it run with it. Just clarify it for yourself so you know what you're selling as your brand. All right the last note I that I want to add about connecting to your audience or connecting as a person in order for you to stand out in the saturated market is to really care about your customers and engaged with them. So that's one thing that I want to say that it took me um a trial and error and for me to learn from that and I think I'm still working on that because for me when I get really busy it's hard for me to engage with my customers or followers or or yeah back then customers and now followers is because I think I'm too busy or I have more more important things to do I really should focus on things that are going to grow the business but I forget that the core of our business is our customers, is our followers, so we really need to take some time to connect and care and engaged with them. Nowadays that is a lot of that is done through social media or email and if you have customers that you have their phone numbers and it's a service base, you even want to take the minute to call them or send them a text message to follow up and just see how they're doing after the service they got right. So this is going to take a little extra time out of your day and sometimes it feels like it's irrelevant or you might not have the time in order to do this, but trust me it is very very important to cater to your current customer base and make sure that they're happy and taken care of and they feel that you care about them and that you're there engaging with them in person. Well you know through media but still one-on-one in person and you don't just service them or sell them something and then you forget about them. So I think that's really important and I used to be really really really great at this and recently I was reminded that oh well I realized that by growing so much I've kind of lost that piece of it that human touch that personal touch that I give to my my business. So that's one thing that I want to I'm working on myself right now again is to have my presence and engaged and connect with my customers or followers and that's one thing that I can tell you that really helped me stand out or really grow to where I did back in the day - I really cared for my customers and I really took my time to really follow up with everybody and um and reply to them. But after I grew so much I felt like oh there's so much to do I don't have time to do that I can have employees help me with that but anytime that your faces or your face or your heart I guess in a way too is not um personally involved in what you're doing it really shows and over time it does take a toll or effect on your business. So make sure that even if it's setting aside 15 minutes a day to really like stop and connect, even with one or two of your customers or or clients you you do that because that's really what's going to build your your genuine um customer base and that's really what's going to help help you stand out in the saturated market compared to 100 other people who are doing the same service but not taking the time to check on their customers and be like hey how's it going. So yes so that's the second thing so first thing was add value, second thing is have a human connection and we went over a lot of ways of how you can do that.[Genuinely Work on Your Customer Service] So the third thing is customer service. I know it kind of sounds cliche and with everybody kind of knows how important customer service is but a lot of times we don't realize that we're not providing the absolute best world class customer service um unless somebody points it out. So make sure you pay attention and you put in extra effort into your customer service for you to stand out in your saturated market or whatever saturated market it is or if you're just getting into a saturated market, make sure that your customer service is going to be absolutely outstanding and this is how you're going to be able to stand out. I want to say 50 percent of your business probably has to do with you and your customer service compared to your actual service or product so that's how important it is for you to pay attention to it and make sure that you are absolutely providing great customer service. And this is a whole other topic of its own and one way kind of goes hand in hand of what we were talking about about connecting to our customers like doing the follow-up, seeing how they're doing after a service or after buying a product but um literally there's so many things for you to do to be able to provide better customer service and another simple one would be is taking the time to really like care and listen to your customers feedback, give them the opportunity to speak and you know solve their issues and don't just ignore customer complaints. Another way that you can really stand out with your customer service is for you to be consistent and be repetitive, so whatever procedures you have in place be consistent with every customer. Make sure you're giving your hundred percent to every single person and not when you feel like it. Okay um and another thing that we want to do with customer service is again I'm going to keep repeating this is the the human touch and connection and the follow-ups to make sure that all your customers are taken care of. And again that could be via phone call text messages email social media - whichever you think will be fit with your current business.[Dive Into Your Niche] The fourth thing is to really find your niche. Now I'm already in a niche business which is eyelash extensions for example right. So how do I even find a smaller niche for eyelash extensions? So one way I was able to do that back in the day was again finding my style right. The style of eyelash extensions I did was those wispy volume sets and that was like my really super niche of what I got to be known for. So that's something that you can do. So whatever business you're in you can get to be known to do that one specific style - almost I feel like even lawyers and doctors really use this too and I mean they have to because sometimes like their jobs are so complicated you can't be a master at every single area. They just pick like one little area to really really specialize in and that's what they push and market um for. So that's exactly what you can do and apply to your business no matter what industry you're in and that's how you can stand out and that's how you can spread the word that okay I'm the best at this one little part of my business so everybody that needs that one little thing they know you're the first person they're going to contact and that's how you can kind of stand out in the in your market. Another thing that falls in your kind of niche is actually your price point as well. So a pricing of your service or your products is something that you need to kind of look at and really consider if you want to either keep it at where it is, if you want to increase your prices or if you want to decrease your prices. So if you feel like there's a lot of competition right now and you're kind of like stuck in a way of where you were within your business that's one thing that you can consider is adjusting your price because as competition grows, people are either gonna start to shop for better pricing on the same or very similar product or they're gonna wanna have the best luxury and pay more for the best of that product. So that's something strategically you need to decide of what approach you want to take and how you want to kind of re-value or re - price your services and products in order for you to stand out.[Quality vs. Quantity] Okay so the fifth and final thing you can do in order for you to stand out in a saturated market is to really focus on quality versus quantity. You have to remember that now that the market is saturated and there is a lot of people that are competing with you and probably have similar skills to you, you need to find a way to stand out with quality. So in order for you to do that is you need to really make sure you're mastering your skill or your product is one of the best, but in order for you to do that you need to actually slow down and not even worry about the competition and just really focus on quality. Honestly that's one thing I've done all the time and it has worked for me is I would not even look at um competitors as kind of where I'm gonna grade myself as. Instead I would just look at my own stuff separately and try to compete within myself. You want to give it your all and give the best possible quality you can if it's a product or a service and not worry about the competition. Honestly even though we're talking about how to stand out in a saturated market I'm a big believer of everybody has room in this world for them to be successful to whatever level they choose to be right. We all have enough customers or enough people who will be naturally more attracted to our products and services compared to other brands. So you want to make sure that you're not really getting intimidated and worrying about your competition. Instead you're focusing on giving your best ultimate quality and using that as your starting point and building off of that. I think that's truly the way you're going to be able to stand out and I think even just having that mindset of being at ease of not worrying about competition and just constantly getting better and better yourself, you're going to be attracting more customers towards your way because you're not going to be sitting and stressed and worried that oh my god am I good enough or oh this person is better, but I need to make sure like I pretend I'm better. No don't worry about the competition do your best and always work on getting better from where you're at and not where anybody else is. And another thing too since this is also a motivation podcast is that we all have our own paths and our own journeys and we will all end up where we want to end up um in wherever we want in this world regardless of our competition or other people around us. So like I said don't worry about others worry about yourself and do your best for the quality and only work um to make it better.[Closing Thoughts - Thank you for listening!] With that said I want to close off by saying that there is enough success and ideas for all of us to have a place, so make sure that you are working on ways to stand out but also don't be so hard on yourself. Ask me questions I'll be more than happy to help and be part of your journey. I do want to say I am also myself continuously working on these five ways of always trying to stay relevant in my industry because competition or um yeah the market is always going to get more and more saturated especially if it's something that people see that is doing well right. We all want to be part of something that's doing well so sooner or later almost everything or anything you do is going to be saturated so might as well stay on top of it from the beginning and follow these guidelines. All right have a great day, bye! 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