Leveling up with Lindsey Martin: The beauty of starting your own business

For Lindsey, “going for it” meant turning her sacred morning skincare routine into her full-time passion project, her beauty and cosmetic brand, Kiramoon.

Soon after launching and seeing her sales the first week, and with the encouragement of her founder network, Lindsey decided to leave her corporate job and go all in on Kiramoon. Success is never guaranteed in business, but since going all in, her business has gone from strength-to-strength, generating six-figure online sales within its first year and securing an in-store listing with Nordstrom.

To set herself up for success, here are some steps Lindsey took:

• Building the right community: Through Instagram, Lindsey connected with fellow beauty-brand business owners to build a founder network of mentors that share ideas, provide encouragement, and let her know she’s not alone.
• Making time for her health and happiness: Running a business isn't easy. While business owners may be focused on the balance sheet, they run the risk of missing a more critical type of balance, the one between the business and the personal. In fact, the biggest thing most small business owners overlook, is the most important part of their business – themselves. Even at the start when times were tight, Lindsey set aside money to pay for her gym membership and an occasional meal out with friends.
• Working with partners that make your life easier and help you reach your goals: By teaming up with PayPal, Lindsey was able to give customer’s payment options with a name they trust – which directly correlated to an increase in her online sales. 34% of Kiramoon’s online transactions take place via PayPal. Lindsey has also turned to PayPal Payouts to simplify Kiramoon’s new referral program, an initiative she hopes will generate significant revenue in 2022.

But nobody's perfect. As a business owner it's easy to compare or feel bad about yourself. “So, every time I make a mistake, I try to take a moment, take a deep breath and say OK, now you know, you've learned, you just leveled up.” And leveling up is something Lindsey continues to do.

As the only full-time employee of Kiramoon, Lindsey relies on PayPal to pay everyone from her content creators and freelancers to other business owners. And no matter what kind of transaction Lindsey is making, whether it's an overseas supplier, or a manufacturer, she, along with her freelance employees, find PayPal to be the most convenient.

Since starting Kiramoon, Lindsey says she values kindness, inclusivity and joy. “In the modern world there's so many things that distract us from just pure joy, whether it's work, social media, or something else. With Kiramoon, that's one of our core values, putting some joy in those five minutes you take for your skin care routine each day.”

So, whether you’re looking to start your own business or just grow the one you have, prepare yourself as much as you can by reading Lindsey’s checklist.