International Friendship Day: Celebrating A Friendship (& Business Partnership)!

Reika and Simone have been balancing their friendship with their business partnership for close to a decade. Here are some of their tips and insights for a successful partnership:

1. Communicate regularly and clearly

Simone: “This is an obvious one, but can be often hard to execute effectively! Working in different offices, we’ve learnt to prioritise our catch ups and utilise technology to do so. Zoom is great as we get to see each other and we love staying connected, Covid-19 has created this connection for may others, however our business had been effectively zooming for quite some time now”.

2. Strong leadership that stands by core values

Reika: “We’ve always been firm believers in practicing what we preach, so we’re proud to lead Team derma by example.”

Simone: “We needed to ensure our values aligned before the big leap into forming a partnership. Why… well I believe if you don’t have a very similar moral compass as your partner, things will never work. Each of us took time to write out our values and also a deep dive into our strengths and weaknesses not only as a business person but also our personal values that we live by each and every day. This too was an important part in our initial setting up our successful partnership”.

“Each of us took time to write out our values and also a deep dive into our strengths and weaknesses not only as a business person but also our personal values that we live by each and every day.  This too was an important part in our initial setting up our successful partnership”.

3. Understanding and revisiting long-term goals

4. Not being afraid to depend on each other’s skills

Simone: “We both bring equal importance to the table, my main role in derma aesthetics is as the Visionary, my ability to be able to see business opportunities in places that others may not, then be able to bring them to market and make them profitable, a gift I guess I was born with and fostered by my entrepreneurial parents. All of my skill sets supported Reika’s unique skills that she has brought to our partnership”.

5. Define explicitly and carve out each individual role

Reika: “Being friends first, we knew each other’s strengths & weaknesses and our responsibilities formed naturally around these. We revisit the breakdown of responsibilities regularly, to see if there are ways we can improve our scope of work.”

6. Be courageous and believe you can do it together

Reika: “To partner in business or go it alone: hmmm this was such a deliberation – on one hand an opportunity to take something and have sole discretion but on the other an opportunity to collaborate and share a vision with an industry expert. Taking risks can be so hard, but weighing these up with a partner that has your back makes it a lot less scary!”

7. Identifying strengths and weaknesses which complement each other

Simone: “It’s also important to work on our weaknesses (and even our strengths) – we’re not about resting on our laurels! So cut and dry, black and white, yin and yang…. making it just perfect as it helped us very quickly set us up for success, as we both knew we could concentrate on our strengths while knowing and trusting the other partner picked up and looked after our weaknesses”.

8. Ensure to gain each others approval for business decisions

Simone: “Never, ever assume! This is a surefire way to create tension and mistrust.”

Reika: “From the dining room table many a plan was hatched as to how we could build the brand of dermaviduals and add value for our clients. Fast forward 10 years and I’m so grateful for our partnership and to have the high level of trust that it takes to lean on. We have over time developed and trained teams of specialists to deliver and add value and shape derma aesthetics into the market leader that it is today”.

9. Teaching staff to understand the importance to the companies culture

Reika: “Our culture is our competitive advantage. Our advertising, marketing, training and techniques can all be copied (and they have been!) but a great culture is very hard to achieve and cannot be copied. It is unique to us and is our biggest selling point.”

“We were certainly focused on building our client base but once that gained traction it turned to our team. My priority has never changed – having the best people in place and keeping them engaged & motivated with a chance to up skill was my original goal and one that stands firmly in place today. I have always wanted a business where I can provide meaningful, focussed jobs with great opportunities to elevate people in their profession, this helps build on our culture”.

 

10. Stick to your vision and share it with the broader team

Simone: “Our team at derma Aesthetics know exactly what we as a company are working towards, they even help to shape our vision and define our goals.”

Reika: “We’re so fortunate to be on this journey together! It’s pretty amazing to have someone that shares your passion and vision. One thing that’s very clear to me, is that in business, you can’t be good at everything. My over-riding message is, find a partner to compliment areas you’re not an expert in. To be successful one needs to identify both strengths and shortcomings. Simone is everything I am not, and I’d like to think that I bring strengths to the table that she wouldn’t identify as her strengths. It’s win/win: yin and yang!”

Simone: “Absolutely, we’re different in so many ways, but we are in sync when it counts!”

 

     

 

 

Want to know how these two started their skinship? Listen to our dermaviduals podcast in the series, “The Business Of Skin” here: