Kaye Ure has over 25 years of experience in fashion, design and style. She helps people discover what makes them really attractive, distinct and individual, and shows them how to capture and express that in their appearance.
At 22, Kaye was took a course called Image Impact with Michael Ponté. Over the day-long course, the students learned the power of image. Through playing games where they changed their clothes and cut their hair, Kaye saw her classmates transform before her eyes.
That day, she knew she’d found her calling.
From there, she worked to get her degree in Fashion Design, and started working as a designer and pattern cutter. A decade later, she moved to central London to work with a leading British image consultancy. In 2014, she moved back to Melbourne and founded her own consulting business, Kaye Ure – Styling Individuals, which she still operates today.
Kaye’s advice to someone who’s thinking about starting their own business:
“Follow your heart. Pursue what you’re passionate about and then look how you can turn it into a business. Interview your ideal clients – ask what they really want related to your passion, and listen for how you can provide that. Do some research and find out what already exists in the area, and see how you could differentiate yourself.”
Skills that Kaye recommends new business owners get acquainted with quickly
- Social media – find out which platform relates to your target market. Pick two or three and do them well.
- Accounting – get someone to create a simple accounting/bookkeeping program for you so you can track the numbers.
- Time management – everything takes longer than you anticipate when you first start. If you track how long it takes to complete various tasks, you will get better at scheduling your time.
Three pieces of advice Kaye wishes she’d been given before she started
- Make friends with the numbers in your business – annual costs, fixed and discretionary expenses, sales and profit
- Marketing is essential. How are you going to do this?
- Build a network around yourself of people who have the skills that you lack. Call on these people when you need to. You can’t do it all yourself.
On becoming a herBusiness Premium Member, Kaye says:
“Being a member of herBusiness solves the problem of, ‘Where do I go to resolve XX in my business?’ HerBusiness is a resource of people with essential skills who can answer my questions. Being a member also solves the problem of feeling like I’m alone and doing it on my own. There are other people I can reach out to if I want to.”
