Tricia Blake, was an exhibitor at the Ladie's day event in august with her company Diva choice. At the event she exhibited her range which showcased her skincare range, her lingerie line was also showcased in the fashion show on the day.
Tricia's journey in business is remarkable, despite the passing of her brother and having to close down her first business as a result , she illustrates great strength and courage as she fights on. Read our feature below to find out more about Tricia and the birth of her new business Diva Choice.
Please
tell us what is a typical business day for you?
A typical
business day for me at the moment consists of promoting my company. It is very new and it takes a lot more than
building a nice looking website to attract customers to my business. I spend
allot of time speaking to other business owners that my business can compliment
to see how we can partnership work together.
I research the Internet for various platforms that can help me promote
my business. I also
process orders that I receive making sure that the customers that I do have are
kept happy and will return.
At this
moment I am working on an agents catalogue so that women (or men ) can start up
their own business within my business. I
just had a promotional photo-shoot for
the catalogue and I am now working on the layout and wording for it, it is very
exciting.
What
made you start the business and what steps did you take to start operating as a
business?
For as
long as I can remember I have wanted to own my own business. For me it represents freedom! I think that
when you work for someone it provides security but it also shackles your
ability because you become so dependent on a pay cheque you shut off faith in
your own ability to create abundance for yourself. When you are an employee
your potential earnings are capped, however once working for yourself there is
no cap on the amount you can earn the only thing standing in your way is self
doubt. This is
not the first business that I have attempted, I have had a women's clothing
store that was based in Brixton but had to close due to my brother passing away
and me not being in the correct head space to deal with it, however I gained
various skills from that experience and have brought them into this business
with me. As the saying goes, if at first
you don't succeed brush yourself off and try again, I am a true believer in
this Moto!
The steps
that I took to start this business was as follows
1) Writing down ideas that came
to me and developing feasible ones
2) I took the time to decide what
I wanted my company to stand for and developed an ethos around my ideal.
3) I wrote down all of the names
that came to me and picked the one that stood out the most
4) I researched the Internet for
months to find products that are of great quality to sell and complimented my
business
5) I got help to build my website
but learned how to do most of it as it is better that way, it saves money! There are easy templates that you can use
such as Wordpress that work with the same principles as Microsoft Word so if
you are familiar with Word you can work with this programme.
6) I registered my business with
companies house
7) Found a good accountant
8) Visualised how I want my
company to look
9) Printed some literature
10) Got promoting
What
would you say has been your greatest accomplishment in the business world to
date?
My
greatest accomplishment is when customers are happy with products and services
that I provide. I recently provided a pamper party for a
client, this is a service where we go to the house of the client and provide
beauty services to them and their party such as manicures, pedicures, massages
etc we also play games and have a well deserved laugh! It was a
group of 27 women who were very skeptical about the party as a whole as it is a
new concept and most of the time when you go to a friends house to celebrate
their birthday you go eat and drink, have a chat and go home, but playing games
and getting pampered is not your usual night out so they were not that
receptive in the beginning but once they had their treatments they started to
warm up and by the end of the evening I had at least 4 more booking based on
the great time that the clients had, that is a great accomplishment for me!
What
has been your biggest challenge in business so far?
I am in
the first year of my business and would say I am spending more than I am making
so cash flow is the biggest challenge at the moment, but I have belief that
this factor will change.
What
are your future plans for the business?
My future
plans for the business is to .......
1) Open a shop
2) Branch into women's clothing
3) Look into franchising my
company
If you
had to do it all over again, what would you do differently?
Nothing
What’s the best compliment you could receive in business?
Repeat
business
What
advice would you give to somebody who wants to start a business in your
industry?
Go for
it, rise to the challenges and believe in yourself.
What or
who inspires you in business and why?
Alan
Sugar. I think he is brilliant, from his
dry personality to his ability to hustle.
He grew up around the corner from my mums house where I grew up and I
think because he grew up in such tough circumstances and had to build from
scratch he is smart, is street wise and has a substance that is not easily
broken. He is a testament that you can
work your way out of what ever circumstance you inherited if your mindset is
right!
What
is your favourite inspirational quote?
It is
hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed
Theodore
Roosevelt
For more information on Divachoice:
Facebook: Facebook.com/divachoice2012
Twitter: @divachoice
Website: www.divachoice.co.uk
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