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- W I N T E R
Imagine having to close the
doors on your business for six
months. Would it recover? Would
you have to start from scratch?
Would your clients come back?
Those were the questions fac-
ing beauty therapist Jessica Dunn
after a back condition forced her
to shut her Muswellbrook salon
just 18 months after it opened.
Hunter Skin & Beauty opened
in late 2011. Jessica, who was 26
at the time, says she had worked at
a number of salons, but had never
planned to open her own. “Run-
ning a business wasn’t something
I had really considered,” she says.
Jessica credits her mum and
husband (then-fiance) for en-
couraging her to take the plunge.
“Mum said ‘just do it!’ It hap-
pened so quickly, I didn’t have
time to think about it.”
Jessica had previously under-
gone routine surgery for buldged
discs, and the condition had re-
turned. She had also developed
epidural fibrosis, which meant
scar tissue had grown around her
sciatic nerve.
“I was at home the whole time,
really bored and lonely,” she says.
“I couldn’t sit, stand or lay with-
out pain. It was a really horrible
and difficult time. I don’t know
how I would have gotten through
it without my husband and my
mum. It was extremely depress-
ing to be stuck inside four walls.
There wasn’t much stimulation
apart from Dr Phil and Oprah
and they don’t help the situation!
“I had put so much work, time
and effort into building it up,”
she recalls. “It was all I thought
about while I was away. I thought
there was no way I would be as
successful as before, but literally
the opposite happened. I feel very
lucky.”
A lot of Jessica’s clients stayed
in contact and she was touched
by the effort people made to see
how she was. “And some very spe-
cial people in the hair and beauty
industry took on my clients and
also supported me emotionally
through what was a really difficult
time. And when I came back to
work, they didn’t try to keep my
clients, they said ‘Jess is back’.
That was amazing.
“This industry can be quite
competitive, especially in a small
area, but everyone was wonderful.
Now if people come to me and
ask about a treatment I don’t offer,
or we aren’t able to accommodate
them, I refer them to other salons.
I think it is important to pay it
forward and remember how I was
supported. And I think this town
is big enough that there is enough
business for everyone.”
Beauty therapist Jessica Dunn says passion, hard
work and a good business plan are among the
keys to success.
Jessica’s advice for
women thinking about
starting a business.
1.
It has to be your passion.
If it is, then you have a better
chance of being success-
ful, and it will also be more
fulfilling for you personally.
2
.
Make a business plan. I
am very lucky that I have
fallen on my feet, but I think
I could have been more suc-
cessful initially if I had a solid
business plan.
3
.
Build networks, reach out
to the experts. Find a men-
tor, build industry contacts,
engage people who are good
at what they do.
4
.
Work hard. A lot of people
have no idea how much un-
paid work you do when you
own your own business. But
if you put in the hours, grow
and learn, you’ll have a great
chance of being successful.
- W I N T E R
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