The late Anita Roddick continues to be a leader who inspires me. Her commitment to social and environmental change as well as her business nous for me makes her the most remarkable case study. She started with one shop with an aspiration to provide for her 2 daughters while her husband Gordon fulfilled a life-long ambition to riding a horse across America (it was the 60’s!).
When she started her first shop there are four key things she was influenced by that helped set her up for success. Here’s a summary of them:
1. Business is not financial science
Buy and sell or create a product so good that people will want to pay for it.
People like to overcomplicate business, but really it’s nothing more than trading. If you have a product or service to sell to a target market who can and want to buy it at a price where you are both happy – then you’re in business! (My on-line small business development course is built on this mantra)
2. Be passionate about what you do
Passion persuades. And when you start your own business it’s something that you could be working on day-in and day-out for years, so you need to make sure you enjoy what you do. Measure your success according to fun and creativity.
3. Listen to your mother – Every dollar counts
Anita fashioned her business by adopting the frugality her mother had taught her from living through the Second World War. It made her challenge the current conventions of retail and the over packaged beauty industry
When she first opened the store she asked her customers to bring their bottles back for refilling to save her and them money. She painted the walls green because the paint was cheap and covered the mold on the walls of her shop. She and her friend wrote the labels by hand.
You don’t need fancy stationery or unnecessary items when you start you business
4. You don’t need to aspire to be big
“I don’t think you need to grow too big to be successful. You can honour [the idea] of a livelihood and run an honourable enterprise. Don’t take up the traditional business model. Look at the work. Shape your business in a way that matches your needs and your values.”
Of course her ‘small business’ turned into a multi-national business and she became one of the richest and most influential women in the world – sound like you?
