Entrepreneur of the Week: How a Side Hobby Became a Multi-Location Business

Falicia Fracassi’s entrepreneurial journey started with a dream. “I always knew I had a greater purpose than my regular 8-5 job,” said  Fracassi. At the time, I was working a corporate job as a senior customer service representative. I would take escalations and calm upset customers down. I did it happily. I was excellent at what I did. I had elevated to the highest level within my department, but something kept calling me to the beauty field.

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“Ladies would stop me on my break and they would talk to me about beauty ideas. I discovered that small changes in a woman’s beauty routine made them happier. I knew it was time for me to go at this full-time. I didn’t see anything past that but my own business–specifically eyelashes. I had always seen it as a side hobby, but it began to take over my life. People began to know me as the eyelash lady ‘Fracassi.'”

With that in mind, Fracassi breathed life into Fracassi Lashes, an eyelash and beauty business with several locations in New York.

In addition to her success as an entrepreneur, she has created her own makeup line and has provided jobs for people.”With a staff of

over 15, it makes me happy to know that my idea has been able to successfully create jobs and provide a source of income in households, ” said Fracassi. I actually had a dream when I was 17 years old, that my entire family was on my payroll. Fast forward several years later, and I see my family on my payroll receiving a paycheck. I also knew I wanted my own product line. My aunt, a plastic surgeon with her own skincare line, really pushed me to create my own makeup and lash line. I spent time in the lab, studying colors that were missing for darker shaded women such as myself. Now we have a makeup line and a successful lash line.”

BlackEnterprise.com caught up with Fracassi to learn a few tips for successfully launching a business.

BlackEnterprise.com: What makes your business stand out?
Fracassi: I realized a lot of people were applying eyelashes wrong. There are a lot of businesses that do eyelash extensions as an afterthought. They focus more on hair, nails or other services. At Fracassi Lashes, we specialize in providing meticulous eyelash extension application. Our lashes accentuate the eyes, but

they always look natural. I spent a lot of time developing lash adhesives that would keep lashes in place without causing damage to the natural eyelashes. Our lashes are applied hygienically in an aesthetically-pleasing environment.

What is your best marketing tool for building your brand and attracting customers?
We use email and social media marketing and in-store promotions of course, but our strongest tool for building our brand is consistent customer service. We make it a point to make people feel welcome when they come into our lash parlors. Before we apply eyelashes we always provide consultation and find out about their lifestyle and lash preference.

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What are your best 3 tips to stand out in a saturated market?

1. Recognize who your target market is, and who it isn’t. Don’t try to be everything to everybody.
2. Be an expert at your business. You should know your product or service inside and out. Take the time to do your research and hone your skills before adding a new product or service to your business. If you own a hair salon and you aren’t highly skilled at applying makeup, don’t offer makeup applications until you are, or you’ve hired someone who is.
3. Don’t be afraid to be different. A lot of times, businesses try to compete with other business by trying to be just like them. You can’t stand out if you’re just like
   everyone else. Look at what competitors aren’t offering and find a way to offer that. Consider what other options customers might want. If all the shoe stores offer multiple black shoes, but nothing in brown, be the store that offers shoes in black and brown.

What was your biggest challenge in business? How did you overcome it?
Mastering balance. Having multiple locations, someone always needs something. Something always needs to be done: a new product we’re launching, new lash development, training new employees, or retraining current employees, or polishing up the brand.

Over the years, I’ve learned to delegate and set boundaries so I don’t bring work home. It can be very tempting, but I’ve learned to create layers within the company’s structure so this does not happen. If this isn’t implemented, you will get burnt out.

I recommend reading E-Myth Revisted: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It by Michael Gerber. It’s a great book for entrepreneurs who are trying to organize their company. I always go back to the book when I feel myself becoming unbalanced. Also, I use prayer…ha-ha, lots of prayers.

What have you discovered you would do your own way?
Everyone told me that I couldn’t have more than one store. They told me to

focus on one store, but I have always thought big, and felt, ‘Why limit myself to just one store?’ There were ladies that were coming to Fracassi Lashes from other cities–just to experience the brand. So I kept hearing these ladies say that they wanted me to open one in their city, so I did. It’s very important to listen to the customers and not just the people around you, who can’t see or think big. Your vision is your vision. Do what works for you, and what you feel comfortable and capable of doing.

The traditional career or business rule you’re glad you didn’t follow:
The traditional career or business rule I’m glad I didn’t follow was attempting to do too many services in our beauty lounge. Over the past several years, we have had so many people tell us we should add this service or that service. But I stayed true to what I originally felt Fracassi Lashes was about: All things for the face. Eyelashes are such a small niche. No one thought we would survive for 6 months, let alone one year. But we have been in business since 2009; mainly doing lashes and other light services. We have always devoted our services to mastering eyelashes.