Updated: Wednesday, 7th April, 2010 4:47pm

Comments () | Print | Email |

Looking good never goes out of fashion

by Jimmy Geoghegan

Brought up in London with Athboy connections, Laura McClorey has taken the bull by the horns and set up her own beauty business in Navan despite the current difficult business environment

"Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work," is one of the more quotable quotes from the former Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Newt Gingrich.

Laura McClorey is only 23, yet she is acutely aware of the value of hard work and perseverance. And she fully intends to bring these values to the new business she has set up in Navan.

In the same week as the Government announced that it will cost at least €25 billion to save the nation's banks, McClorey was putting the finishing touches to her new beauty saloon - 'Beauty by Laura' - at Brews Hill. Unlike AIB and Anglo, McClorey will have to make her plans without any hope of a bailout should she make the wrong choices.

She intends to employ two people initially with plans to increase that in the years to come. It's her contribution to fighting the recession and fulfilling a personal ambition of running her own enterprise.

Despite her relative youth, Laura McClorey already has a few years' experience as a health therapy and spa manager in Trim's Knightsbrook Hotel. She loved the work there the challenge that went with it.

When she first took over as manager, the hotel's health and spa sector employed three people; when she left, there were 21 on the staff. It's a simple figure that indicates how big the whole area of spa and beauty treatments has become in recent years.

McClorey is quick to point out that she doesn't deserve all the credit for the upsurge yet she would like to think she made a significant contribution. "Some people think I'm mad," she says with a laugh in reference to her decision to plough a significant sum of her money into getting her new business up and running in the current economic climate.

Taking a risk

"If I don't take a risk, then I will never know. I think people are still spending money, I've seen it myself and, with beauty and hair, there are repeat clients, a lot depends on word of mouth," she adds.

McClorey is under no illusions about the challenges that lie ahead and points out that there are already 21 beauty outlets in Navan. But she is prepared for the hard graft required to earn her business a niche in an already busy marketplace. A range of services are offered by her from 'art deco make-up' to St Tropez spray tan.

McClorey has also applied to a bank for a "small loan" and, at the time of writing, was optimistic that she would get the green light. A business plan has been been drawn up and budget projections put in place.

Experience has thought her that, these days, applicants for bank loans have to be prepared to wait a considerable amount of time before getting a response. Young people without a history of credit could find it particularly difficult, she feels. "It would be a real shame if young people, with their head screwed on, who have prepared properly, didn't get the help they needed to start a business," she believes.

McClorey's accent indicates that she was brought up far from the borders of Meath. The daughter of Irish parents, she spent her childhood in London before moving to Ireland five years ago.

Her mother, Olive, is originally from Athboy and, like many Irish people, she moved to live and work in the English capital. Now the wheel has turned full circle with McClorey back in the Emerald Isle. She originally came over for a short visit, liked what she saw, met her partner and decided to stay. Many of her relatives are still to be found living around Athboy.

At home

McClorey says she now feels at home in Ireland and is determined to push ahead with her entrepreneurial plans. "I'm still young, why not take a risk?" is her view.

She firmly believes there's money out there and, presented with the right product in the right way, people are still prepared to splash the cash.

"They are just a little more cautious and want value for money," she adds. "I wouldn't say starting my business was a hard decision. I've always wanted to own my own business, I'm prepared to take that risk. I just didn't think that it would be this soon," she says, as took a break from some last-minute adjustments ahead of last Thursday's launch.

Optimism and a desire to succeed have encouraged her to take that extra step. "I would rather look back in a few years' time and think that I have really done something in business. I'd prefer that than working in a job, earning a wage. I think if you're ambitious, if you're driven, you can do anything."

She feels it is vital to attract customers with what she calls "very reasonable prices". Give value, don't charge too much, deal with people in a courteous and friendly way are, she feels, among the fundamentals of any concern, especially in her sector. Many in upper echelons of Irish business could learn from such an approach.

It was more by accident than design that Laura McClorey found out that she had a liking for business and all that went with it. She has worked from the age of 13, combining jobs with studying for her A-Levels. She asserts that growing up in a single-parent family with one brother made her appreciate the value of hard work. As her mother worked as a beautician, she was also drawn to that sector.

Over the past few weeks, McClorey has discovered that there are many hurdles to be crossed when setting up a business. But her firm conviction is that people still want to feel good and look good no matter what is going on in the general economy. Launching herself into the new venture, she admits that she was feeling a little nervous yet also excited that she was about to start out in a new direction and kick off a new phase in her life.

"I'm really looking forward to it. I'm aware that it may not be really busy to begin, but if we can get by at first, put my name out there as someone offering a good product, that word will spread. I'd like to think I'm here for the long run."

If there is one thing Laura McClorey is prepared to do, it is to persevere.