UNDER THE RADAR:ANYONE LOOKING for a young Irish entrepreneur taking advantage of the recession to build up a fledging business need look no further than Marissa Carter (25), founder of Carter Beauty.
This time four years ago, Carter was wondering how she would find the cash to start her own business; today Carter Beauty is about to open its second Dublin clinic and her Carter Beauty Skincare range has been on the Irish market since January 2007.
Not alone that but, much to her surprise, Carter herself has been given beauty industry awards – topped last year by the prize for entrepreneurial spirit at the Shell Livewire Young Entrepreneur of the Year awards.
“I tick pretty well all the boxes when it comes to cliches about young blonde women working in the beauty industry,” she laughs, “but as Marilyn Monroe said: ‘I don’t mind living in a man’s world, as long as I can be a woman in it’.”
Blonde she may be, but Carter is no cliche, as the opening of her new premises in Blackrock attests.
“We’re already based in Dún Laoghaire, but I would never have imagined being able to open a second clinic in Blackrock if it wasn’t for the recession – it would have been well out of my price range.
“But because of the way the economy is, I found a premises available and was able to negotiate an extremely good lease.
“Twelve months ago, every landlord in the area would have laughed at me, but I can be a good negotiator.”
The growth of Carter Beauty over the past three years has, in fact, been based on just that sort of unassuming entrepreneurial “true grit”.
The eldest of eight children, she decided she wanted to open her own business after spending a year studying management and marketing at DIT.
She took a secretarial job at a Dublin beauty salon after convincing them to allow her to pursue a beauty qualification by night in part-payment.
“What I wanted most of all was to be successful,” she says.
“I suppose most girls dream at some stage of being a beauty therapist, but once I’d started it I wanted to be as good as possible, to make the services I offered as cutting-edge as possible and to run my own business.”
Carter Beauty started in Carter’s own home in 2006. Typically, without any expertise, she built her own website, which she maintains today. After saving €3,000, she rented her first premises on Kilmacud Road and employed her first assistant.
Then, after saving another €10,000 and matching it with a €10,000 bank loan, she opened in Dún Laoghaire.
Carter Beauty now employs three full-time and two part-time staff. It had a turnover in 2007 of about €250,000 and roughly double that last year.
“For the first two years of the business, I managed on a €400 overdraft and never exceeded it,” she recalls.
“I only bought what I could afford because I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night if I was overdrawn. I’m still very conscious of controlling costs in the business.”
What has made Carter Beauty different from other beauty clinics is that it specialises in paramedical treatments for difficult skin conditions – such as acne, eczema, psoriasis and rosacea – and is the first in Ireland to use light therapy technology, originally developed by Nasa to kill harmful bacteria.
In business terms, she sees the Carter Beauty skincare range, manufactured by Bomar Limited in Co Wicklow, as the key to the future development of the company – which is why she is now on the lookout for a business mentor.
“I suppose I need my own Dragon,” she says.
“I don’t need their investment, but I need an hour a week with someone in the retail or manufacturing sector, perhaps, who’s been successful bringing products to major markets. That’s the next step.”
petercluskey@yahoo.fr
ON THE RECORD
Name: Marissa Carter.
Company: Carter Beauty.
www.carterbeauty.com
Job:Founder and managing director.
Age: 25.
Background:Studied management and marketing at DIT Aungier Street. Studied beauty therapy with the Galligan Beauty Group. Set up Carter Beauty at home in 2006. Moved to Dún Laoghaire in June 2007 and plans to open a second clinic in Blackrock at the end of April. Launched the Carter Beauty Skincare range in January 2007. Won Facial Therapist of the Year award, 2007. One of Image magazine's six young rising stars in 2008. Took the entrepreneurial spirit award at the Shell Livewire Entrepreneur of the Year awards in 2008.
Inspired by: "I'm inspired by anyone who loves running a business, which means anyone from Norah Casey and Duncan Bannatyne to most of the people I meet every week at the Dublin City Enterprise Network for Women. . . their example keeps me trying to do better."
Challenges:Promoting the Carter Beauty Skincare range, opening her second clinic and making the best of the recession. "Nine months ago, we started to notice that, while average spend was staying more or less the same, customers were starting to look for more for their money and we've been adapting to that."
Most important thing learned so far:"My parents gave me a great work ethic and now I know how important that is. And in terms of dealing with all those cliches about women in business, I've learned that the best strategy is to be true to myself – that's what matters."
