Learn from your business setbacks
Welcome to our third and final post in our three part International Women’s Day (IWD) blog series.
It's absolutely incredible to see that in 2019 alone, Australia saw an 80% increase in female business owners, as opposed to 40% growth in male owned businesses*. All of us here at Original Mineral are cheering you on! We know from chatting with Jose that running your own business isn’t always easy.
We have had our own fair share of setbacks along the Original Mineral journey. “A LOT of setbacks!” Jose shares, “I’ve had so many failures. But failures are also epic learning curbs. I always think: the more you fail, the more you learn”.
“The company has almost gone under on multiple occasions. But having a strong vision has kept me going”. Jose has always, and still so passionately believes that hair care will become a health choice, much like food and makeup. Through all the difficult times she has remained true to her vision to make this a reality. The process of taking some of the chemicals out of haircare without compromising on the performance was not always successful,
“I really believe that when failure happens, the universe is just sending you a message telling you to re-strategise."
"This may mean changing suppliers or ingredients. It’s all a matter of trial and error, you just need the determination to keep pushing through even when it sometimes feels as though the world is against you".
In our first IWD post, we talked about ensuring you build the right team, one that complements your business endeavours. It has been tough at times, but Jose admits, “spending too long with people who don’t share the same vision or values as your brand can lead to business setbacks and delays. You really have to interview people you’re going to work with almost as though you’re interviewing a spouse. A business partnership is like a marriage, it takes commitment, compromise and passion. Make sure you’ve done your due diligence and dated, really gotten to know your team before you get ‘married’ because this can help mitigate team misalignments”.
Overall, Jose’s key message to new business owners is to “learn from your failures! Embrace them as lessons and guidance for your future business decisions”. Perhaps most importantly, when you learn these lessons, share them. Let’s build each other up and help each other out, let’s see what women can really do when we work together!
Jose's 4 key factors to business success:
- Always back yourself.
- Build a strong team of like-minded but individually skilled people.
- Set clear business goals and make regular time to reflect.
- Growth mindset – embrace business failures as lessons.
Jose started the Original Mineral journey in 2008 and has had the fortune of working with some exceptionally talented people along the way who have helped her grow the business to where it is today; sold in over 15 countries through salons and luxury retailers such as Adore Beauty and Net-a-Porter.
We hope you have gleamed some practical tips and tricks from our International Women’s Day blog series to help you kick-start or continue to grow your own business. Let’s continue to support each other as women in business, closing the gender gap in business ownership, and challenge out-dated gender bias. Most importantly, we hope we have provided you some positive encouragement and support to help back and empower you in your journey. All the best, we're cheering you on! Keep chasing your passion and never give up.
Written by Madeleine Steele, team Original Mineral
