In May, in honor of Small Business Month, Klarna invited small businesses to apply to receive one free year of payment services and $40,000 worth of free media services. One hundred small businesses were selected from the applicant pool, focusing on those most impacted by the pandemic, including minority and female-led businesses. In mid-July, Klarna announced the first group of recipients and is excited to share a bit more about these entrepreneurs and their businesses.
Meet Kim Roxie, founder and CEO of LAMIK Beauty, who is on a mission “to give women of color access to safe, natural beauty products that fit their skin tone.”
What inspired you to start your business?
I am a black woman who felt left out by the beauty market, and when I researched the ingredients inside those products, I found 75% of beauty products marketed to women of color are toxic; so it became my mission to give women of color access to safe, natural beauty products that fit their skin tone. Our main differentiator is no one leaves our website without a matching tone for their skin, assuring they feel seen and taken care of by the beauty market.
What are some challenges facing your business as a result of the pandemic?
When the pandemic hit last year, things got really slow on our website and the future seemed so uncertain. Not being able to be in contact with people, wearing masks, and staying six feet apart from each other completely changed the makeup experience. Since people were not able to visit physical stores or trade shows to try on products, they were insecure about buying makeup online. Fortunately, we secured a partnership with an augmented reality company to launch a tech-enabled website allowing consumers to digitally try on cosmetics and also implemented tools like “The Brow Quiz” to help customers find the perfect shades for them.
How will Klarna’s Small Business Impact Initiative grant help?
While we are still recovering from those lost sales, receiving this grant from Klarna gives us, and the customer, a break. The buy-now-pay-later feature allows us the flexibility to stay competitive in our customer’s eyes, leveling up our business. At the same time, we will be able to see that boost in the conversion rate and average order value, helping our business grow. We are very grateful for this initiative and more than excited about what this will bring!
How do you learn about who your customers are and what’s important to them? How does that impact how you run your business?
Even though we have a defined target, we are aware it can be constantly evolving. We learn from surveys; analyze social media and communicate with them on a constant basis through different channels, this has helped us gain insights about their needs and improve our products and communication methods.
What have you recently read or listened to that has been an inspiration for your work?
I listen to different podcasts throughout my week and get inspired by trailblazer women, but a month ago I read a news thread on LinkedIn confirming that we are doing things right by compromising to deliver non-toxic products.
What lesson would you go back and teach yourself before starting your business?
I can’t get enough from this one: always look at your balance sheet, P&L and make decisions based on that!! We sometimes focus on sales or marketing, forgetting finance is a fundamental area in any business, so that is something I would have definitely would have recommended to my young self and to every small business owner out there!
To learn more about the Small Business Impact Initiative winners and their signature products, click here.