Not sure which area of marketing to focus on when you’re starting out? This entrepreneur chose SEO and it sure paid off.
Meet Leanne King
Having worked in the cosmetics industry, Leanne decided to user her knowledge and experience to create her own business, Beauty Favours. Here’s her story.
1. Why did you start Beauty Favours and what were you doing before?
I started Beauty Favours after being made redundant when I was pregnant with our first baby. I decided I didn’t want to go back to working full time.
It was just before he was born that we all went into lockdown and I decided now was the time to focus on staying at home with the baby but also wanted to generate an income for us.
Developing my own range of beauty products was something I’d always wanted to do anyway and now was the time. Our products launched just four months after my second baby was born, so they are still very young and I work around them. I previously had a career in the skincare science research innovation team for a large global cosmetics company, developing new patented technologies around clinically proven healthy skin products.
2. What were the biggest sources of inspiration and support when you were starting out?
I have noticed lots of other small brands and businesses in different sectors popping up since lockdown which is really inspirational because everybody I speak to has a story to tell and a talent that they have explored.
Everybody I have spoken to wants nothing but the best for each other and is keen to share what has worked for them and also what hasn’t which is really good to learn from.
There are also lots of good free sources of information available with great content on how to build as a business or brand.
3. What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned since starting the business?
There have been times when some of our techniques for growth just didn’t work and it can be really disheartening, so it’s important that we stay positive and generate other potential options with a good strategy in place.
4. What has been your proudest moment/biggest achievement so far?
So many moments! But my proudest moment was when we first had an order and then a repeat order.
For me it was really pleasing to know that somebody came back because they liked the product. I’ve had lots of good feedback so far and it keeps us going
5. What piece of advice would you give to anyone starting out?
Try to get support where possible. There’s so much to think about and do that it can easily become overwhelming, so having somebody to take care of certain aspects of the business can really help ease the load.
Really listen to other people’s ideas too and bounce your own ideas off other people to see how they can come to life
6. What piece of investment did you make in the business that was worth every penny?
SEO tools. It’s really interesting to learn about this and the tools provide us with data to help grow our business and see what works and how we’re progressing forward.
Again, not only that but it’s a positive feeling to see how we’re moving up.
7. Which element of marketing has made the biggest impact on your business?
I regularly get in touch with online bloggers and journalists and as a consequence we have been featured in different gift guides and blogs which has helped to open us up to new consumers which we may not have otherwise reached. It’s great to help each other in this way.
8. What do the next 12 months look like for you?
We have a pipeline of products coming up which is really exciting and we are continuing to learn about business and growth and then integrating them into our strategy which is constantly evolving. A lot of work goes on behind the scenes so there is a lot to think about and manage.
Do you have an interesting story to tell about how your business got started? Tell us about it.
