Meet Donna O’Donoghue, the small business owner of “Eclipse Hair Academy International” business based in Melbourne, VIC.
Meet Donna O’Donoghue, the small business owner of “Eclipse Hair Academy International” based in Melbourne, Victoria. At her hair academy, Donna offers a variety of services such as colour professionals, wedding specialists, education programs, apprenticeship attraction, photoshoot preparation and editorial pathway.
“Gina, my business coach from Many Rivers has given me the courage and the motivation to keep going with the plan. The major plan was split my business into two sections. First was the hairdressing – because I knew that hairdressing would bring in a revenue. Second was the training resources that I’ve been working on – and that has kept me focussed when things get a bit scary.”
Read more about Donna’s business journey so far:
Donna’s Business
I run my own business, “Eclipse Hair Academy International”, where we provide various services including hair colouring, wedding styling, educational programs, apprenticeship opportunities, photoshoot preparation, and editorial pathways.
I began discussing my business idea with my Many Rivers business coach, Gina, during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Those times were tough because we couldn’t do much for about two years. As we came out of COVID, Gina still had been keeping in regular contact with me and we spoke about another business idea that I had in my mind due to my experience in teaching. This would take the form of a teaching resource to assist in employability and transferable skills.
During this time, the opportunity of the collaborative working space presented itself and Gina was, as ever, there ready with contractual advice and guidance. Gina assisted in the creation and completion of a business plan from inception to completion of first quarter where we achieved higher than projected revenue.
What were you doing before you made contact with Many Rivers?
Before I reached out to Many Rivers, I felt a bit lost. I had just moved back to Australia, my birthplace, after living in the UK for quite some time. Unfortunately, I found out that my teaching qualifications didn’t apply here. In the UK, I taught apprenticeships for hairdressing and barbering, as well as courses on customer service
Why did you want to go into business?
I decided to start a business because I had experience running one in the UK. Moving back to Australia meant adapting to a new set of rules, taxes, and regulations. I needed to support myself financially and manage life in this new country.
Working with Many Rivers
I found out about Many Rivers when an ad popped up on Facebook.
My business coach, Gina was a constant source of optimism, support and new ideas. She first suggested that maybe I could run a mobile hairdressing service for a while, but then because of Covid, we decided not to pursue that option because going into people’s homes wasn’t the safest because of the risk of infection. Then I researched different opportunities and found a contract at a local hospital for a residential hairdresser for an aging care facility. Gina made sure that everything was ok with the contract, and I’m still doing it years later.
Gina was on top of all the compliance issues around the different types of business models which helped me decide on the path I wanted to take. I took a risk and took a space in a collaborative working business – where I have a small bijou one-on-one salon environment.
Did you get a loan from MR? How did you use the loan?
No, I didn’t get a loan.
Do you have any current employees? If so, how many employees? Are they full-time or part-time?
I don’t have any employees, just myself.
Biggest Challenge
The biggest challenge I face is money. While I’m confident in my skills, managing finances requires a different set of abilities. For instance, we projected earnings of around $3900 for my first quarter, but we actually made $12,000, which is great. However, with significant living and business expenses, it’s a constant worry when earnings don’t exceed spending.
Biggest Success
My biggest success has been Gina’s support and encouragement to stick to the plan. The plan had two main parts: focusing on hairdressing to generate revenue and developing training resources. This approach kept me on track, especially during challenging times, and helped me stay focused on my goals.
Biggest Change
Running my own business means that I just need to look after myself. Physically not having to run a team has been a gift. Originally, I was scared about having a physical salon because I have one son lives in the UK with my granddaughter and I have another son here in Melbourne. But being my own boss gives me the flexibility to be an international flying grandma! It allows me to do what I love, alongside visiting the little lady that I love!
Future Goals
I like working in teams and things like that, and because I’m now older, I know that I’m physically not able to do the amount of work that is necessary to make this hairdressing business a success – because you have to have a certain number of clients a week to hit the target that I want to earn. So that’s where the training part comes in. I want to take the business international, and I want to utilise what I know about now being a trainer and assessor here in Australia and also in the UK and develop a global training product.
Thank you, Donna, for sharing your business journey with us. We wish you the best of luck with your future endeavours and business success.
If you would like to stay updated with Donna and her small business, follow “Eclipse Hair International” through the following links:
Website: https://www.eclipsehairinternational.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eclipsehairacademy
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