Beauty Business Founder Shares Entrepreneurial Lessons

Marcia Kilgore, the founder of Beauty Pie, has shared insights into building successful businesses, emphasizing the importance of personality, hard work, and adaptability. Kilgore, who left university to pursue her entrepreneurial ambitions, highlighted that becoming "someone that people look forward to being around" is crucial. She advises aspiring business owners to be polite, punctual, and pleasant to foster loyalty.

Kilgore described her approach as being "the sunniest, hardest working and most diligent person" when providing a service. She noted that delivering excellent work can lead to customer recommendations, which in turn helped her first small beauty salon become fully booked months in advance.

Success in business, according to Kilgore, requires a willingness to make significant sacrifices, including a substantial reduction in free time. Entrepreneurs must remain aware of evolving customer behaviors, emerging competitors, and broader market trends. This often necessitates continuous reading, research, and synthesis of information outside of regular working hours.

Kilgore suggested that a sense of curiosity can make the demanding workload feel more manageable, as it serves as a primary motivator. Despite the demands of running multiple businesses, she has maintained certain non-negotiables, making an effort to attend important family events such as school plays and holidays while raising her children. Mara Kilgore founded her first beauty business after dropping out of university. She went on to establish five beauty companies. IMAGE6: Marcia Kilgore with cropped short brown hair smiling at the camera with a blurred background wearing a nude coloured round neck top "caption"