After spending some time speaking with the owners of a few of Richmond’s most iconic small businesses to learn how technology has affected their operations over the years, I decided to turn my focus to a few of Richmond’s newer small business owners to see how technology plays a part in their enterprises.
I sat down with Jennifer Mantura, one of Richmond’s leading makeup artists and hair stylists, who, after gaining over 17 years of experience working in the beauty industry, recently decided to launch her own full-time small business, Jennifro.
I was first introduced to Jennifer when I was searching for a new hair stylist, and decided, on a random whim, to try a new salon. When I arrived at the salon, the front desk receptionist immediately greeted me with the disappointing news that the stylist that I had my appointment scheduled with was suddenly unavailable. I frowned. With her pearly whites glistening, she asked if I minded having another stylist. Instantly I thought, “Yes”—yes, I did mind. Tremendously. It was hard enough to convince myself to walk into this place, and now the curveball was officially thrown. Instead of turning on my heel and walking out the door, which was what I would have normally done, I decided, already overcome with uncomfortable remorse at choosing my new salon, to lighten up and give it a try. After all, I had never met my new “new” stylist, so, with Bob Ross’s words about “happy little accidents” being my mantra for the day, I soothed my hackles back down.
An hour later, I was praising old Bob’s timeless wisdom as I smiled with pleasure at Jennifer’s expertise. I was absolutely delighted with my experience and end result, and knew that I had found my new stylist. When asked as I paid how the appointment went, I could only reply, “Fantastic. Truly wonderful.”
Months later, pulling the cutting cape away from me and handing me a mirror at the end of another appointment, she said, “So, I wanted to let you know something. I handed in my resignation.” My heart fell. I had been through this so many times in Richmond. I was being dumped by another stylist. Stylists come and go--they move, they quit, and the great ones end up getting so disgruntled by the corporate machinations of the industry that they just leave the profession altogether. She pressed a business card into my hand and said, as her eyes twinkled and she grinned, “I’ve finally decided to start my own business.”
The confidence and energy needed to start a small business leaves many people drained, and many more flailing as they realize how deep the waters of business birth really are. What starts as a great idea so often dead-ends into small business burnout. New owners get exhausted and throw in the towel prematurely, and never allow their dream to come to fruition. They carry their business to term, but end up freaking out on delivery day. So many times when I ask new small business owners how it’s going, they mumble, frowning, “I’m absolutely exhausted.” Jennifer, on the other hand, always replies, “It’s fabulous! I’m loving it!”
“I just keep it as simple as possible,” she told me, as she swiped my credit card through her iPhone to take my payment.
“What is that?” I asked, referring to the technology that allowed her to charge a credit card with an iPhone, which I later learned was called Square.
“Simplicity,” she replied. And with that, we began a discussion of the newest invention in payment technology, as well as the latest in technological conveniences that she discovered along the way.
Jaime Turko: How did you find out about the Square technology?
Jennifer Mantura: A friend of mine owns Inedible Jewelry out of Charlottesville. She was one of my first clients when I decided to start my small business and go out on my own. I did a wedding for her, and did a makeup class for her and her friends, and she was the one who told me about Square, because she does all of her selling at craft shows. It was fantastic. I’m seeing it used more and more in home-grown businesses where owners don’t have the basic structure of a small business such as having a cash register—businesses where you are taking your craft to a remote location and there has to be an easy way for customers to pay you.
JT: How do your clients feel about it?
JM: They think it’s the coolest thing ever. They’re really excited about it. It’s funny how excited they get about watching me swipe their credit card on my phone—they just can’t believe it!
What’s nice about Square is the security—it’s very secure. We [as merchants] can’t see any personal information, only the last four digits of their credit card number, so it’s great as far as security goes.
I was perfectly happy with Square from the start, due to its portability. I didn’t think that anything a traditional bank would have would be as convenient. After I discussed the credit card payment options with the merchant services company that my bank suggested, I found that the salesman actually agreed in the end that Square suited my needs better. Chances are banks will evolve their credit card systems faster now that Square is available. I am able to avoid the equipment rental costs, and have the money directly deposited into my bank account within just a few days. It’s always the same fee, no matter what type of card, and I know exactly what’s coming out. Plus, from an environmental standpoint, it’s great to just email clients their receipts.
JT: From a new business standpoint, do you feel that advancements in technology are more encouraging for people to start their own small businesses due to the ease of use and accessibility?
JM: It definitely takes away one more headache. I was worried that I would have to have a landline, have an old school credit card machine, have register paper on hand, and worry about hidden fees. New technology like this keeps me totally portable.
JT: When you were in the startup phase of your business, did you find the technology of setting up to take payments and get the word out easy, or was it daunting, a stumbling block?
JM: It was pretty smooth. I’m usually behind the technology curve; I don’t grasp onto new technology unless I find that I have a need for it. Then I’m all over it, and an I-Phone was something that I needed. Knowing that I was starting my own business and that I could accept credit card payments on it was the main reason that I purchased the smart phone. It’s helped me tremendously when I am traveling to weddings for my clients. I have the GPS integration, and the 1” x 1” piece of plastic that allows me to accept payments. Plus I have my calendar so that I can book my clients on the go. I prefer to use my computer at home mostly, but it’s nice to have the capability to do those things on the go.
JT: How has technology affected the hair and fashion industry the most?
JM: Other than using web media as marketing and using Square for credit cards, it’s an industry that stays separate from technology. I do think there are stylists who utilize the web to learn more styles, but I've always been a hands-on stylist.
I do use the web to research ingredients. But when it comes to choosing products, like makeup, I still want to touch it, smell it, read the back of the bottle and test it out—it’s still very hands-on for me. It’s the same with virtual haircutting or makeup classes—I’d rather drive to another state to experience a class in person, so that I can ask questions.
The biggest change is mainly on the marketing and development side, as we don’t utilize it so much in what we actually do behind the chair. Using Facebook and Twitter and the blog sites to get your word out there for free is great. In our industry, word of mouth has always been the best way to market. Placing an ad in a magazine does not give the same result, because people always want an honest opinion from someone that they trust to refer them to a makeup artist or hair stylist. Word of mouth now has become so much easier with social media. When someone is happy with my work, they will tag me in a post and then I’ll find their friends calling me to get their hair done. That word of mouth just blows me away—it’s so easy now.
It used to be impossible for your clients to find you once you separated from a salon, but now all your clients have to do is punch your name into google.com and search to find you. I had a few clients from my last job that used google to search for me and find me, which was such an honor. They found my website, sent me an email, and got back in contact with me.
The salon that I left was very gracious as far allowing my clients to contact me, whereas most salons would just tell clients that the stylist moved to Wyoming or something, and would not give a forwarding number.
JT: How do you see technology moving your business forward?
JM: I’ve been really getting my head around this new technology and how it helps me with my business. I’m now seeing Pinterest.com being used regularly among my clients, especially for weddings. It’s like a virtual corkboard. So if they like a picture online, they are able to pin it and it posts to their Pinterest.com account. I’m able to see picture after picture of what my client is interested in. In my last wedding, seeing what the bride wanted for her accessories, colors, and general images made designing her hair and makeup a piece of cake.
JT: Is Pinterest.com used in other media?
JM: Oh, absolutely! Artists and photographers are using it frequently. I found out about it from a photographer. It’s great to collect all of those images in one place without having to spend lots of time online going from site to site.
JT: So, has the simplicity been liberating?
JM: Absolutely. I have set my business up to be exactly that—to allow myself to be creative and free. For years, I pictured my business as being an actual salon, with employees and a front desk and hours, and ultimately my view changed after I read Rework [by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson, from 37signals.com].
After years of being a manager, I realized that that is not what I want to do right now—I want to be creative. I set my entire business up to keep administrative and bookkeeping work to a minimum and to not be tied to any particular hours so that I’m flexible and free, which works out great for my clients as well. Now most of my time is spent being creative with my clients, and very little of it is spent crunching numbers or anything that goes with managing a business. I didn’t want to find myself not being able to spend time with my clients. Square is one small part of that bigger picture so that I can go be free... and make people pretty.
JT: Any words of advice for people considering starting their own business?
JM: I would definitely suggest reading Rework—it’s a great place to start. It was definitely a turning point for me. If you go to ask someone about starting a new business, they are going to ask you to have the facts and figures ironed out, in that traditional business sense. I think that the common conventional idea of how business has to go has evolved. I feel like you can start a business in a new way, but the people training others on how to start a new business haven’t realized that yet.
Rework set me free because it made me think of what I absolutely had to have, and when I got those things, it was like, “Okay, now go.” It was refreshing. For years and years I kept putting off being a business owner because I felt like I had to know everything, and had to have everything perfect, and have a certain amount of money. And that was debilitating, and I could never move past it. Then I found this book, and realized that it could be easy. From there, you grow, and you make things perfect as you go, instead of trying to make things perfect before you start, which is absolutely impossible.
