BUSINESS - What it takes to be your own boss

Opening a spa or salon is many women’s dream, but only a few dare to actually do it. We take a look at what it takes to be a #bosslady.

Are you a business owner? If so, congratulations, you’ve taken the daunting step into selfemployment with all its risks, hard work, and independence. If not, you may be one of thousands of Australians thinking about founding their own business, but not having acted on it yet. In fact, new research released by CGU Insurance has found more than half (53%) of all Australians have self-employment ambitions, and we can only imagine how many of those are beauty business related (we’re guessing a lot).

According to the CGU’s survey of 2,000 Australians in August 2018, more than two thirds of Australians (68%), and even more small business owners (75%) believe Australia has a culture of negativity toward those with ambition, and nearly half (44%) say they worry too much about failure to act on their ambitions, with women (48%) and Millennials (54%) are more likely to feel this way.

So what exactly is holding us back? The answer is Tall Poppy Syndrome, which describes the feeling of being resented for one’s success as a consequence of being classified as a superior. What sounds a bit silly and like it should only apply to teenagers wanting to fit in with their friends, is actually a feeling many of us can’t shake even deep into adulthood. The survey found that 70% of us don’t like to talk about our ambitions or successes for fear of being labelled a ‘bragger’.

This feeling can actually get stronger the older we get, along with the sheer fear of failing, which is why often success stories of business owners include fairly young people, who might have had just the right amount of naiveté and courage when deciding to be their own bosses. Such is the case with Natalie Papadopoulos, founder and owner of beauty salon The Parlour Room in Sydney’s Clovelly.

Natalie opened the salon when she was only 24, and doesn’t regret her decision.

“It honestly feels like a lifetime ago. I don’t know if looking back I was ready but I just jumped head first straight into it and learnt how to go as I went,“ she admits.

24 may seem young, but The Parlour Room was actually her second business.

“Previously I had hired a room inside a gym in Melbourne and started to do my own clients out of this tiny space. I called it Lilamaya, I don’t even know what that means now to be honest! It had a bed, reception desk and a tanning machine all in the one space. I had no idea what I was doing at the time and I found it really lonely working for myself at such a young age (I was 21 years old) but at the same time I was so passionate about trying to build something of my own.” Natalie admits that she wasn’t quite prepared for the first business as she didn’t know anyone in Melbourne (she’s from Sydney), and might have rushed into it, however that didn’t stop her from giving it another shot, this time better prepared and surrounded by family and friends who helped her.

“For me it was never a big decision to open my own business, I was brought up in a family where you studied a skill as much as possible to start your own business. When I was studying I kept a note pad and I wrote down all my ideas and concepts for the dream business I wanted to create. When I went into working at salons I did the same thing and kept track of what worked and what didn’t work,” she explains.

The Parlour Room was a success from the start, something that Natalie credits her focus on customer service to.

“I was brought up in a family all about customer service and I think that made the salon successful from the start. Everyone forgets how far kind gestures can take you. Our industry is so much more than just providing a great treatment, it's about listening to what the clients want and making them feel comfortable from the second they walk in the door. The reputation of my salon has always been more important to me than anything else. I am very detail orientated as well so I think that definitely helps too.”

That doesn’t mean it was easy. While many people want to run their own business in order to have more flexibility, they often underestimate the workload and the difficulty to take a break or go on a holiday.

“I think sometimes people that don’t know you look from the outside and think you have it very easy but they don’t know all the hours you spend working in and out of the business. You never switch off even if you’re on holiday on the other side of the world. I’m also not someone that talks about my struggles or how tired I am either so maybe people from the outside think it’s easier,” says Natalie.

One of the biggest challenges for Natalie was managing staff. “You want to be everyone’s friend and it can make it hard when it comes to being the boss. Now that I am older I’m definitely better at this. It's a balance you have to find because you need to have a good relationship with your staff so that they are comfortable to talk to you and want to work hard for your business,” she explains.

“To someone thinking about starting their own business I would say: ‘travel the world as much as possible first!’ I always wanted to travel and live overseas and never did as I was always working and now I can’t just pack up and explore the world.”

“But more seriously, go for it! Just don’t expect not to fail. I can’t tell you how many ideas I’ve had that have been absolute failures but you just have to keep going till one of them works. Just make sure that you learn from them and don’t repeat the same mistakes over and over. Have a great support system behind you and invest time in your staff as they will be responsible for your name, your reputation and make your business a success or not.”

Natalie has recently renovated her salon and now has a team of eight women working at The Parlour Room, which won Best Beauty Salon 2017 in the Randwick City Council Business awards. When asked about her plans for the future, she says she likes not knowing what’s ahead.

“I like the idea that maybe I will do something entirely different one day. But I love my salon and I’m really enjoying working on it every day at the moment.” In the end, that’s all that counts.