Building A Resilient Business By Kara Lehmann

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 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.

Now business wasn’t always rainbows and sunshine, we still had our days of challenges, however we never let them interfere with the end goal. We had a few good years and then in 2011 our local community was hit with the worst flooding in 100years. Our business shopping centre was flooded, and we couldn’t trade for a week. Thankfully we didn’t have the salon flooded, but it still was a challenging time. When we did open back up after it was safe to operate again, we felt guilty for doing so. How could we trade when everyone had lost everything? But as each day passed, we started to hear how our salon was a sanctuary amongst the heartache. It was a place people could go to feel a sense of joy when the world felt heavy. We banded together and put on a free pampering day for flood victims in our community. Our team donated their skills and time to people who had lost everything, and it was such a beautiful thing to experience. It was our way to give back to a community that gave so much to us.

So today I want to share with you some of my top tips and tools that I have found helpful in navigating tough times in business, both in my past salon business and in my current business too!

1. Mindset

Your mindset is everything. One thing I know for sure is that when your mindset and energetic state is in a negative place, your business and life will be too. I know it sounds cliche, but every time I have been through challenges in my business, I have had one common theme. I had stopped taking care of myself. I stopped prioritising self-care and nurturing my mindset.

2. Connection & Community

When you are faced with challenges, one thing that I have witnessed and experienced firsthand is that you will always have the ability to strengthen your connection with your local community. Business is built on relationships and when people are going through tough times, having someone reach out to them just to show they care, can be one of the strongest things you can do. Genuinely caring about your community and the people who support your business can be so powerful. Even after 5 years have passed since I sold my business, people stop me in the streets to tell me that they miss the personal connection & relationships I had when I owned the salon. I think this speaks so much about the impact you can have on someone’s life just through your business.

3. Evaluate

When was the last time you took a step back and really evaluated how you do business? Now I’m not just talking about your finances and yes, those are extremely important and need to be top of the priority list, but it’s also important to evaluate everything you do in business. From your recruitment processes to your marketing strategy, there’s always something that can be tweaked, improved or removed to enhance your business. From the products and services to the salon equipment and furnishing, what is working well and what can be improved on?

4. Get your team involved

One of the most important things I did when we found ourselves in challenging times in my salon was to come together as a team and brainstorm ideas. When you involve your team and ask for their ideas and input, it can have a positive impact on your business. They can bring new ideas and perspectives to the table which may not have been thought of without their experience.

5. Don’t be afraid to ask for help

There’s no shame in asking for help when you need it. Sometimes I think we feel we have to struggle and hide in shame, when in fact, sometimes one of the best things we can do is ask for help. Whether that be through a mentor, government agency, peers, friends or industry leaders, there’s always a safe place to find the support you need. I have failed and struggled in many ways through both of my business journeys. It’s what we do in those times of discomfort that will ultimately determine our success.

Our business will always go through seasons of change. How we show up and work through those seasons are what ultimately determines our success and the legacy we leave. How we treat our customers, our staff and ourselves will leave a long-lasting impression on this world. My goal is to always lead with a good heart and work hard to build strong, resilient men and women in and surrounding my business. I hope by sharing some of my story, I have inspired you to not feel alone in your challenges. I am always here to be an ear for anyone who needs it. May this be the inspiration you need to go within and work towards reaching your goals and dreams.

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Kara Lehmann, The Beauty Boss