Sharmadean Reid’s 8 golden rules on creating a successful business
Entrepreneur and founder of beauty platform Beautystack SHARMADEAN REID shares the tips and tricks she’s learned on her journey to success – from overcoming her biggest challenges to staying connected with the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip phone
Focus on what makes you feel proud
“I feel proud every single day when I get an email from someone who says that they were inspired by seeing my work. I am proud that we proved you can create a space and a culture for yourself that wasn’t served by the mainstream. I’m also proud that, with Beautystack, I’m a visible Black woman, building technology.”
Stay connected
“Sharing support, ideas and advice is crucial, and especially in the current climate when it is easy to feel separated from other people. I like to be in touch with my team and support network all the time – the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip design is ideal for super convenient hands-free conversations (and the Z Flip 5G is ultra-speedy for video chats, which I’m doing lots of now!)”
Create spaces for yourself and for fellow female entrepreneurs
“Our journeys are different and our history means that we are existing in a world that actually wasn’t designed for us – and so we need to be sensitive to how it is affecting us. I’d love those spaces to actually redesign the world of work. Start with a peer group of like-minded women who meet once a month to talk about their business issues.”
“The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip’s Flex Mode is really convenient for sharing what you’re working on – and the Enhanced Multitasking is brilliant for busy days
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Identify your battles and how to overcome them
“My biggest challenge is me. The only person holding me back is me, and it’s what I work on every single day. While I am a confident, optimistic and can-do person, just like any human, self-doubt and fear can creep in. The work is swatting those irritants away and focusing on knowing what is possible and what I can achieve… Knowing that I am capable and smart and that I have all the opportunities I need to make a change to this world.”
Think about issues that you can work towards solving
“Beautystack is still so exciting to me, as I see a vision for a future where we create an economy of women-to-women services based on trust, loyalty and recommendations. Our social mission remains the same, which is to economically empower women across the world and give them the tools to start and run their own business online. This came from my own experience of using pictures and a social network to run my nail salon, but the transaction piece and the intelligent use of data was missing.”
Choose the right technology to support you
“I know how technology makes people’s lives easier – at home and at work. The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip’s Flex Mode is really convenient for sharing what you’re working on and the Enhanced Multitasking is brilliant for busy days.”
“Everything is so cyclical, which is why I find history so inspiring. I love reading anything old and looking at it through a lens of now and the future. I also find street culture inspiring.”
Streamline your goals
“Pick one customer, one channel and nail it before moving on to the next thing.”
View success as a work in progress
“I would not say that I am successful yet – it is always a work in progress. The factors that have enabled me to get this far include: a wonderful, warm and supportive family; a lot of daydreaming and planning and self-belief; my friends and lovers, who have been my hype team; my ability to see patterns in the world; my curiosity and desperate need for information; and, finally, my ability (mainly through nosiness) to curate a room of amazing people and ask them the right questions to improve my knowledge.”