Cosmetologist urges colleagues to find opportunities to grow despite COVID-19 crisis
KINGSTON, Jamaica — Despite the fact that her movements are now restricted by the current lockdown, cosmetologist of 20, Treacha Reid McCalla, says the turbulence of this COVID era could drive Jamaican beauticians and barbers towards stronger growth rather than downright disaster.
This is because the 2008 financial meltdown was the defining moment that grew her business from a single salon in her home parish of St Catherine to the two-spa, two-parish operation that it is today in Kingston and St. Catherine.
More than a mere recap of her success, however, she wants her story to serve as a blueprint for her peers to capture a more profitable slice of the beauty industry in the post COVID-19 world.
Treacha is therefore encouraging fellow hairdressers, barbers and beauticians to take the following three steps now that COVID-19 has given them some downtime.
These steps are; re-evaluate the business, fill the gaps identified and formalize their affairs.
Practicing any aspect of cosmetology is a gruelling effort that demands long days and nights and weekends. “Typically, we are working when most when people are taking a break,” sighs Treacha, “but, for once we can take a break with everyone else”.
RE-EVALUATE THE BUSINESS
She recommends that they start by answering the following questions: Is this the area of cosmetology that you wish to practice? Is your business developing the way you want it to? Where will you be in five years?
It was this process of self-interrogation that moved her from behind the hairdressing chair and into the world of cosmetology. Her first eight years in her salon, saw Treacha focused exclusively on hairstyling but thanks to the forced pause in 2008, she re-evaluated her professional interests and discovered a passion for trichology and cosmetology.
FILL THE GAPS
Next, plan and build a team to help achieve it. “I knew, I did not have the knowledge or experience to take me where I needed to go and so I reached out to the Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC),” stated Reid Mc Calla matter-of-factly, “they provided me with the business training that I needed to build on what I had started”.
“The JBDC is one avenue. Nowadays you can go online, look at the TV, you can learn for free” she added. The important thing is to identify the gaps, determine what skills you need, explore the avenues open for skills development and learning and follow through,” emphasizes the entrepreneur.
FORMALIZE YOUR BUSINESS
Lastly, she recommends formalizing the business.
“I was afraid of registering my business. I thought I would lose the little money that I was earning to the government,” Treacha confessed, “however, it was one of the best moves I ever made.”
As a result, Reid Mc Calla who won the Scotia entrepreneurship challenge; secured a grant for one million dollars of equipment from Heart NHT and with the help of the Women Entrepreneurs Network of the Caribbean (WENC) was able to apply for support from the current stimulus package.
She is quick to share that without making those changes she would not have been able to access all that support. The award-winning beautician hopes that as hard as it may be now, her peers take heed and make the adjustments themselves. Seize the moment and not let the lockdown shut down their business.
“The beauty business is a multibillion-dollar industry. After COVID-19 life will change, but people will always want to look their best. We just have to gear up and get ready to grow,” she said with a smile.