How to Start an Aromatherapy Home Based Business

A home based business in aromatherapy takes a lot of hard work to start.

Aromatherapy has become a popular therapy as people dealing with stress, mood problems, and illness have sought alternative medicine options to make themselves feel better. Start an aromatherapy home based business to use the therapeutic aspects of essential oils to help people heal and feel better. Below you'll find some of the practical as well as the creative steps you'll need to take to start an aromatherapy home based business.

Things You'll Need

• Aromatherapy classes and books
• Website domain
• Website hosting service
• Cash or a loan
• Aromatherapy ingredients
• Aromatherapy bottling and packaging supplies
• Business checking account
• Website designer
• Web content writer
• Logo artist
• Product labels
• Business cards
• Advertising
• Alternative medicine network of suppliers

Instructions

1. 

   Learn about aromatherapy. You'll need to have a nose for the business - pun intended! But you'll also need to take classes and read up. There are even distance learning opportunities to help you get acquainted with the essential oils of herbs and plants and their curative properties. Research anatomy and physiology of the human body and the effects of scents on the olfactory system, the psyche, and overall health and wellness.

2. Start your aromatherapy home based business as an online enterprise. As an aromatherapist, you can operate a small retail business on the Internet selling aromatherapy products to your customers.

3. Study other aromatherapy home based businesses on the Internet. Get a sense of the competition and learn what you want to emulate and what you want to do differently.

4. 

   Reserve cash on hand to start up your business, or apply for a small business loan with a lending institution. $5,000-$10,000 may be enough to start, depending on your goals.

5. 

   Purchase ingredient supplies such as essential oils and carrier oils and fillers and any necessary preservatives from an aromatherapy supplier, herbalist, or bulk essential oil distributor. Make your purchases online if there is no wholesale local retailer.

6. Decide what aromatherapy products you'll be creating, such as lotions, massage oils, balms, and soaps. Purchase appropriate bottling, labeling, and packaging supplies. Don't forget basic office supplies like shipping supplies and computer supplies.

7. Open a separate business checking account. Save all your receipts and payment records. Learn what expenses you might be able to deduct from your income taxes and keep good records of all your expenditures. Consider getting bookkeeping software.

8. Decide how you'll manage your storefront. If you don't have web designing experience, hire a website designer. Hire a web content writer with excellent SEO (search engine opitmization) skills to design your online aromatherapy store to attract customers. Figure out how you want to arrange your shopping cart and payment options for your customers.

9. Decide on a name for your business that has flair, is simple, and is memorable as well as symbolic of healing. Register a domain name as close to the name as possible. Find a website hosting service.

10. Design a logo or hire an artist to design your logo. Consider a logo that blends elegance with the appeal of nature to represent the character of the aromatherapy products you'll be marketing.

11. Develop an advertising and promotional plan to spread the word about your aromatherapy products. Advertise on the Internet, but don't neglect promotion in the "real" world.

12. When your store is ready to go live, register the URL with the search engines. After several months and making sure the store is as you want it, register your website with the Open Directory to increase website traffic.

13. 

    Work up aromatherapy blends and prepare your different products. Spend the time to brainstorm how to give your products a character that is more than just a blend of essential oils. Your customers will need to believe in your products.

14. Get product labels printed, as well as business cards. Give out free samples of your aromatherapy products to local contacts and obtain testimonials to use on your website store.

15. Take out a business license in your state, and if applicable in your city and county. Check with the local authorities about any license fees and current tax laws for collecting and reporting sales tax.

16. Live, eat, and breathe your aromatherapy business for at least a year. Devote yourself to making the best aromatherapy products out there, promoting the business, and gaining a loyal customer base.

Tips & Warnings

• An aromatherapy home based business takes a good amount of time to build up.

• Network with other complementary alternative medicine practitioners, such as massage therapists and reflexologists, to develop reciprocal referral systems.