BUSINESS PROFILE: TRICIA BLAKE OF DIVA CHOICE

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