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Melinda Coss | Business Mentor

@melindacoss

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Mentor for game changing, ambitious skincare entrepreneurs
💄 Skincare Business Mentor
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7 months ago

If you are preparing to invest in product development, branding, or manufacturing for a skincare business, this is the point where commercial mistakes become very expensive.

What I see far too often is not bad products, but founders building on assumptions that were never really tested.

About the customer. About the problem. About what will actually make this business work.

I created a free Pre-Production Strategy Scorecard to help you step back and look at that thinking before money is committed.

If you are standing on the edge of a big decision, this will help you slow it down in the right way.
You can download it here: www.melindacoss.com/scorecard (link in bio see @MelindaCoss)

#IndieBeauty #GreenBeauty #NaturalSkincareBusiness by @melindacoss

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8 months ago

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a year ago

When I started making jumpers, I couldn't really knit well enough to make them myself. Which might seem a rather poor start for a knitwear business...

But I could see how the jumper might work. I could find people who knew how to make it. And I could write a letter that got it in front of the right people.

I think we sometimes rule ourselves out of an idea because we can't do every part of it. Perhaps you don't need to. What do you already know how to do, and who could help with the rest?

I certainly didn't have the whole thing worked out when I sent those jumpers to the Daily Express.

I'll tell you what happened next in Part 2. Comment "Jumper" and I'll DM you the link as soon as it's live, so you don't miss it! by @melindacoss

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3 days ago

I seem to have reinvented myself rather a lot over the years... Not always because I had some grand plan. Sometimes life changed first and I simply had to work out what on earth I was going to do next.

Over the next few days I’m going to tell you some of those stories. Some are quite funny, some were rather terrifying at the time, and all of them taught me something about starting again.

Because changing direction doesn’t mean throwing away everything you already know. Your experience, skills and knowledge come with you. The interesting bit is working out what else you might do with them.

So if you’ve reached a point where you know you want something different, but you’re not quite sure what that different thing is yet... Keep watching.

I suspect you may recognise yourself in a few of these stories. by @melindacoss

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8 days ago

The best ideas rarely arrive when I’m sitting at my desk trying to force an answer.

Mine are far more likely to appear while I’m walking the dogs, wandering around a French market or sitting in the garden with a coffee.

Be My Guest began in much the same way.

Robert and Hana Tisserand came to France to spend a few days working through a business idea with me. There was no programme then. No carefully designed format.

We simply talked.

We questioned things. Stripped away what wasn’t important. Followed ideas far enough to discover whether they had any real substance.

Hana later told me that getting out of their office and into the French countryside was exactly what they needed.

That sentence stayed with me.

It reminded me that good strategy is not always about pushing harder for the answer. Sometimes you need to step away from the place where you have been trying so desperately to find it.

The full story went to my subscribers earlier. DM me if you’d like to be added to my mailing list as well.

Where do your best ideas tend to find you?

#EntrepreneurialLifestyle #BusinessOwner #ScalingMyBusiness #BusinessMentor #EntrepreneurialTips #Entrepreneurs by @melindacoss

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19 days ago

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a month ago

We place rather a lot of importance on originality in business. Everyone seems to be searching for the product nobody has created before.

The clever concept.
The untouched market.
The idea so brilliant that customers will immediately understand it and queue politely to hand over their money.

After more than twenty-five years of working with entrepreneurs, I’m not convinced originality is the quality that matters most.

A worthwhile idea is important, of course. But ideas are usually the easy part.

The real work begins when the excitement wears off...
🧐 When the first launch is quieter than expected.
🧐 When a supplier lets you down.
🧐 When marketing feels repetitive.
🧐 When progress is measured in small decisions rather than dramatic breakthroughs.

That is the point where a promising idea either becomes a business or remains something you once felt very excited about.

A mentor can help you question the strategy, make better decisions and avoid a few unnecessary detours.

But nobody can implement the plan on your behalf.

I wrote more about resilience, execution and the kind of entrepreneurs who have what it takes to succeed in one of my recent newsletters: “Letters from my kitchen table in rural France”. Those entrepreneurs also happen to be the ones that I most enjoy working with.

DM me your email address if you would like to read it and receive future ‘Letters from my kitchen table in rural France;.

What have you continued doing long after the initial excitement disappeared? by @melindacoss

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a month ago

There is a part of private mentoring that is rather difficult to explain in words.

When I agree to work with someone, one to one, for sixteen weeks, I do not simply turn up for the calls, offer a few sensible suggestions and then forget about the business until the following week.

I become invested.

I think about the decisions we have discussed. I notice opportunities. I worry when something is not working and become possibly rather overexcited when it finally does.
For a few months, their business becomes partly mine too.
But that only works when the commitment travels in both directions.

I do not expect someone to arrive with every answer, a perfect plan or an endless supply of confidence. That would rather defeat the point of working together.

I do need them to be willing to act.
To test the idea.
Make the uncomfortable decision.
Return to the plan after a disappointing week.
And continue doing the work long after the first burst of excitement has disappeared.

Rosemary’s story reminded me that mentoring cannot manufacture resilience or determination. What it CAN do is give those qualities direction. It can help a capable entrepreneur make better decisions, avoid unnecessary detours and turn a long-term vision into something real.

I have space for two new clients on my sixteen-week VIP mentoring programme this year. I am looking for entrepreneurs with a worthwhile business, or the beginnings of one, who are ready to match ambition with consistent action.
If that sounds like you, perhaps we should have a conversation. You can book a complimentary Discovery Call through the link in my bio: @MelindaCoss.

When the initial excitement fades, what keeps you moving forward with your business? by @melindacoss

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2 months ago

Got the dye pots out. These were dyed in Logwood, Chlorophyll, Tansy and two kinds of Lichen. The Tansy is a lot yellower than it looks here.

#naturaldyedyarn #dyedyarn #knittingismyyoga #knittersgonnaknit by @melindacoss

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7 months ago

I can't seem to get out of "making mode". Yesterday I was going through some old files and came across these drawings I did back in 1999. At the time I was thinking of doing a book on soft toy making but I never got round to it. But....I just love these characters and am tempted to make big toys out of them using tights and old jeans and stuff from my huge fabric and wool stash.... then again I could turn them into ceramics.

What do you think.

May I present "Sardinia", "Boy Toy" and "Harvey Krishna" ....But of course, in the back of my mind I'm thinking: How can I monetise these so I can actually get paid for spending hours of time playing 😁 ?

I mean honestly, I don't know anyone, except for me who would want a huge mermaid sitting on their couch! by @melindacoss

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7 months ago

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7 months ago