BY GWENDOLINE WYNER NYANGUN
A beauty shop manager who originated from Papar, Sabah, has been operating a beauty salon in Mukah since 2018. She explained that she did so to assist others, particularly by making her clients look better and she enjoys the transformations she sees in the clients before and after.
Noor Yana, better known as Kak Yana at her Sister Beauty salon, said that her road to success is not simple and that her journey has many ups and downs. Her only experience before kickstarting her career as a beauty store manager was as a shampoo girl in Sabah in 2010.
In 2016, Yana started everything from scratch, putting into practice her experiences and all of the information that she had gained by creating a little business. She started by focusing on hairstyling and offering house service to attract more clients. The number of clients grew over time, and she was overwhelmed by the response. She had to work extra hours because of the many requests, as she was working alone at the time and hadn’t thought about hiring workers.
Due to time constraints as she had to go from house to house, she changed her modus operandi and operated the business from her own home. Yana said that her home-based business continued for two years.
“Risks are inevitable in business. It is like food for people in the business industry. We also have to consider the economic ups and downs. Sometimes we have a lot of customers, and some days we don’t,” she said. However, Yana believes one should not give up easily and that being strong-minded is necessary to make things work.
“I plan on hiring many workers, but of course it will be a challenge for me due to the state of the economy right now. So I switched my idea from employing a large workforce to training to develop solutions.
“Even though I cannot hire many workers, there’s always a way for me to improve my employees, especially the younger ones. I believe that, as beauty is the foundation of my business, beauty-related knowledge and abilities are the main focus. So I train my employees whenever I can.”
Now operating from a physical store, Yana said that she does not feel comfortable sitting in the shop waiting for customers to come in and that she always moves around in her free time to look for clients.
Currently, besides hairstyling, Sister Beauty Salon, which is based in Mukah, also branches out to eyelashes and eyebrows, hennas, facials and makeups. Yana also said that if there is a strong demand from the general public, she and her employees will go out to meet clients in the surrounding areas, such as Dalat.
The 35-year-old Yana said that the biggest challenge in business is competition. In the beauty industry, the services offered are almost similar, and companies often compete to boost their name in the market. Despite Mukah being a tiny area, competition is fierce in the beauty industry.
However, for her, it is beneficial since it makes it more vibrant, “I like having competitions, as I need to constantly maintain quality, keep up with the trends, and keep finding unique ways to attract my clients.”
She also added that problem-solving is also part of their work. “For example, if there is an issue with hair damage caused by us, we will have to be responsible for solving the problem. However, if we can’t repair the damage ourselves, we will recommend you go to another store that can handle it better.”
Asked about the driving force behind the business, the hairstylist explained that the idea originated from herself, with the support of her parents, who gave their full support to Yana. She is also fuelled by the support of her husband, who is also a barber, and one of her biggest motivators in business is her teacher.
According to Yana, in the business world, no matter how big or small, we must also be strong and turn a deaf ear to the mockery that comes from toxic people who only want to see us fail: “There are always people that don’t like it when they see us doing better than them. Just ignore them and focus on the things you are trying to build.”
**This article was written by a student from the Strategic Communication Programme at the Faculty of Education, Language and Communication, UNIMAS.
