When businesses are starting up, many business owners often find themselves wishing for more sales and faster growth. But not all growth is created equally.
Jenna Meek and Jess Hunt are the co-founders of REFY, a cosmetics company that is on a mission to redefine beauty. The global beauty industry is one of the most competitive markets out there, projected to be worth $390 billion in the next three years.
Jess Hunt and Jenna Meek
During what was a turbulent time for many brands, the pair founded the innovative beauty brand in November 2020. As beauty lovers the world over were stripping back their makeup routines during national lockdowns in favour of a more natural, subtle look, REFY came onto the scene offering a uniquely simple way to achieve the ‘no makeup makeup’ look, and consumers responded, buying over 100,000 units of their now best-selling Brow Sculpt product in the first six weeks and ensuring an entire stock sell-out for the brand more than once.
Within a month of the self-funded business’s launch, REFY was approached by senior buyers at Sephora after buying the products themselves. Now Sephora is carrying the REFY product. You can purchase the product online or in Sephora stores across Canada and the USA.
When businesses grow quickly if it’s not navigated carefully it can cause a huge risk to the financial fabric of the business. Quick growth can be just as dangerous as no growth at all, so managing the growing pains with expertise is essential. Thankfully Jenna Meek had that expertise and experience to help grow REFY and keep up with customer demand without putting the business through financial hardship.
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REFY shares its top tips for navigating high growth spurts with ease:
Track your finances
Ensure that you are continually checking in on your business finances and managing the costs that are associated with growth. Controlling costs and profit margins is key to ensuring you are managing the growth of the business and that cost overruns do not occur.
Project your cash flow 6-8 weeks ahead
Keeping a close eye on cash is key to ensuring that cash levels are keeping up with increased production costs. More costs are at the outset of production and the revenue comes in after the sales, so it is important to manage cash well during growth spurts.
Maintaining good relationships with manufacturers
There is often an excess strain on manufacturers and suppliers during growth spurts, and it can be challenging to keep in pace with production demands. Having strong relationships with manufacturers can help when production deadlines are tight and you need favors.
Hiring the right people
During a growth phase you will need to hire additional people to help you with the business. You need to let go of the control, delegate, and trust employees. When new hires don’t work out you need to let them go quickly before it becomes problematic.
Learn from mistakes
Business mistakes are bound to happen, just don’t let them define you. Learn from them and apply that experience, and move on from mistakes quickly. Nothing will go perfectly as planned and being resilient is a key characteristic.
The bottom line is quick growth in a business is exciting but needs to be managed with care and expertise. Keeping an eye on your business finances and ensuring you are controlling costs during this period and managing finances so that you don’t experience a cash shortage is key during this phase.
