I remember first meeting with Marie to discuss her business idea of selling hair extensions. Wanting to know a little more about Marie’s expectations for her business, Riri Hair, I asked about her turnover and where she wanted to be in 3-4 years’ time with her company.
Some of the “accountancy” speech I used was not familiar to Marie, with not having previous experience in the field, but on explaining the terminology and discussing her revenue, we estimated a figure of £200K net profit in 3-4 years’ time.
During our conversation Marie’s iPhone buzzed; she apologised and explained that she was receiving Instagram messages from her followers and other enquiries that needed an immediate response. I had to admit I was about as familiar with Instagram as Marie was with accounting at the time, so she showed me how important social media is to her business, both for visually advertising her products and communicating with potential customers.
Marie was making around £3,000 per month 12 months ago. Today her monthly sales are just below £30,000 a month, and her online sales have gone up from £300-£500 per month, to almost £10,000 per month! Personally, I think I am looking at a future Michelle Georgina Mone phenomenon in the hair business.
Marie hates computers and now deals with all of her business transactions and emails from her iPhone, using apps such as Receipt Bank and Xero. I suspect that as her company expands she will invest in more iPhones for the brand ambassadors of Riri Hair.
Muson & Hills have made sure using cloud-based software like Xero, Receipt Bank and the Good Till Co. that Marie has her business information at her finger tips. Her suppliers can talk to us, and through the cloud we can deliver weekly and monthly accounting information.