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BUSINESS
BUILDING A RESILIENT BUSINESS By Kara Lehmann, The Beauty Boss VA
Over the last 2 years, small businesses in Australia have gone through some of the biggest challenges they have ever faced, especially in the beauty industry. If you have navigated through these times and are still standing strong, I want you to pause for a moment and just congratulate yourself on this achievement. You’ve been on the business battlefield. Many of us have been living in a constant state of fight or flight during this time and that in itself can have a huge impact on our business and wellbeing. It’s important to take some time to reflect on the challenges and the triumphs of the last two years and give ourselves time to breathe and nurture our souls. For many beauty business owners, you have had to fight for your business just to stay open. You have pivoted, reinvented the wheel and dived deep to find ways to stay open and generate new revenue streams. You may have used this time to re-evaluate what’s important to you, to rest and grow into a new version of yourself. Taking the opportunity to learn, dive deep into personal development and look for new opportunities to thrive, not just in business but life too! Some of you may be thinking, but Kara, I can’t do that! I am so busy trying to stay afloat right now, taking time to pause and care for myself is impossible. And you know what? I completely understand, because I have been there too! Business can often feel like a rollercoaster, one minute you’re on your highest of highs 64
Beauty Biz Year 15 Issue 2
and next, you are in the lowest of lows. I recently had a beautiful reminder of my 22-year-old self and the determination I had to grow my business during the 2007/2008 Global Financial Crisis (GFC). I am sure you all remember the GFC if you were in business or even working during this time. The world as we knew it was crashing around us. There was panic, fear and so much uncertainty. I started my salon in 2007, just before the GFC hit. I was 20 turning 21 and I had so much ambition and drive. Nothing was going to stop me from reaching my goals and dreams of a successful business. Everywhere I looked and turned, there was negative talk about the economy and business. I was constantly told I needed to prepare for the worst. After all, I was only 21. How was I going to get my business through this tough time? Here’s what I did. I chose to believe in myself and my business’s success. I had no doubt whatsoever in my mind that we were going to struggle. In fact, I was the polar opposite. I’m sure many thought I was crazy at the time. I knew that even though times were tough,
people wanted and craved connection and selfcare. I knew that if it was important to them, they would find a way to prioritise it in their budget. I had energetically committed to the belief that my business was going to grow and succeed during this time, and we did! We began to grow faster at an outstanding rate. We hired more employees when everyone else was laying them off. We were selling out products and booking out services well in advance. We had people raving about us to their friends and family. That year we won 3 business achievement awards. We smashed our financial goals, and I was only 12-18months into my business. I was interviewed by the local newspaper and invited to networking events. The town was talking about the new kid on the block who was making a mark on the business world. As I sit and reflect on this time now as my 35-year-old self, I can see why I was so successful during such an expected hard time. I chose that the only option was going to be success and I didn’t stop learning and reinventing my strategies until I got it right.
