© Business Insider Contributed by LaTonya Turnage of Elite Secrets Bridal . hair photography- LaTonya Turnage owns a full-service bridal boutique in Baltimore, Maryland, which she opened in 2015.
- 15 years in marketing and started with my savings.
- He says networking and focusing on good branding has helped him win customers.
This essay is based on an interview with Latoni Turnage, a 48 year old bridal entrepreneur, about her work. Insiders have documented their company's earnings. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
I am a bridal beauty expert and stylist, as well as the owner of Elite Secrets Bridal and The Elite Design House. Before entering the wedding industry, I worked in sales and marketing for a radiology company for 15 years.
© Shair Photography LaTonya Turnage. Shair Photography Elite Secrets Bridal offers a full range of luxury bridal services, from styling and hair to hair and makeup. Elite Design House brides customize and create the wedding dress of their dreams. I work with designers across the country to help brides find their one of a kind dress. Both brands are featured in my store in the trendy Mount Vernon area of Baltimore.We start the process with an introduction and an interview to find out more about the bride and her vision of the wedding day. When we meet on the day of the meeting, we will begin suggesting bridal gown styles based on her vision and silhouettes that complement her body type.
I have two full-time employees and three part-time employees. In 2021, my company made $365,000. My expenses were $118,000, so I took home $247,000.
I have always been drawn to beauty, so I started working as a freelance bridal makeup artist while working for a radiology company.
I have always found time to make each bride feel special. I would even stay the entire wedding day to make sure they are touched.
As my journey progressed, I wanted to do more and try everything. I knew makeup was part of the whole package, but styling, photography and more make up the final look.
In 2015, with the help of my husband and our new savings, I opened Elite Secrets Bridal. I still offer luxury VIP services when I stay for the entire wedding day to further enhance my makeup if needed for a shoot, photo or reception.
The first years were hard
I spent many hours trying to get the right client. My passion drove me then and to this day. I have always wanted to serve people.
After my first few years in business, I started focusing on my branding and how to find the right audience online. Having experience in marketing, I knew that this would be a good investment and I would see a return.
Cartier and Tiffany & Co. I researched luxury brands and read articles about them and their messages to customers. I knew it was important to be consistent with my branding and message.
I also knew that the voice of our brand is important, for example. B. what fonts we will use for the website, texts, color palette, and how we speak and address our customers in emails. At first I tried to do it myself, but at some point I realized that I needed outside help.
I hired a PR and marketing team to help create the branding, copywriting and strategy, including hiring a graphic designer to design a new website, a site that resonated with clients that I wanted to proudly showcase and apply.
I have developed profiles for three different clients and described each of them in detail. It was important to understand who we were talking to and what content to post on social media.
I also knew that if my clients didn't come to me, I should go where they were and make friends. Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook are all I need. I created a social media calendar and scheduled posts. New messages came every day, and I repeated them every week. My social media managers and assistants now help me with this.
I used the Internet as part of my marketing plan so that people could buy from me as an individual and not just a business.
© Jess Palatucci Elite Secret Bride. Jess PalatucciIt is important to contact professionals in the sector such as wedding planners, location managers and photographers. However, I was and still am afraid to test these relationships to make sure their clients are the right fit for our target audience.
Social media helps you make friends, and building trust with those friends turns them into paying customers. When someone made an appointment, I literally said to myself: they agreed three times before the dress entered our door. And it was true: they said yes when they heard about our site on social media or maybe saw an ad in a local magazine. When they arranged to meet with us, they said yes. And then they said yes when they actually walked in the door.
This mindset helped me grow and also set my team up for success.
One day a bride came from Utah and said she came because she wanted to help black businesses.
His mother traveled with him. This bride found our boutique on Instagram and followed us. When he realized that we were the blackest, he was very intrigued.
They were both very happy to see the store in person and to have the opportunity to work with me in person. We offered to have a virtual video call with his grandmother and they were both on cloud nine. I expected this to be a problem given her grandmother's age, but hell, I was wrong. Realizing what was happening, she wept with joy when she saw her niece walking down the aisle in her dress.
When I see applause and three generations of women celebrating this happy moment. Her grandmother told me that I was now part of the family and asked me to attend the wedding.
It was one of those moments where I knew I was in the right place to live my passion and serve our brides. The icing on the cake was the distance he went to support a small black business. It was definitely one of those unforgettable moments.
We were closed for 4 months during the pandemic . I learned a lot about my back office and the financial side of my business.
It was a very dark time as many businesses were closed. In the wedding dress retail industry, online sales are difficult because they are very emotional purchases, so we had to get creative.
I knew that I had goals, but now I had more time to develop a specific plan to achieve them. I was forced to take a close look at my expenses, that is, accounts receivable and accounts payable. I create forecasts, growth plans and exit strategies to secure the future of my company until retirement.
We are also starting to roll out one of our most popular meeting types to date: VIP meeting, private and friendly COVID-19 meeting for brides, and their wedding party for nine guests. This is the perfect experience and time for the bride to take care of herself while keeping everyone safe. We also increased our income by charging $250 for this booking.
If you're an entrepreneur and don't know where to start, invest in a coach or mentor to help you lay the groundwork and set business goals. Build a network of like-minded entrepreneurs and attend networking events. Register with your local chamber of commerce and small business association. It is also important to build relationships with the bank and local banker and focus on the customer experience. This puts you one step ahead of the competition.
