Narelle Chenery, Miessence, certified organic skincare

Green guru Narelle Chenery, 37, has revolutionised the beauty industry by creating and producing the world’s first certified organic skincare range, Miessence. Narelle shares her business advice below.

The Gold Coast mother of three is internationally renowned and respected for devising skincare products with absolutely no synthetic chemicals — not even chemical emulsifiers.

“Cosmetic shelves are flooded with products that claim to be organic or natural, but I see many instances of eco-marketing and ‘green’ labeling that disguises the reality of the potentially toxic chemical ingredients in the product. Unfortunately, most consumers don’t know how to tell the difference between green-washed products and those that are truly natural,” says Narelle.

Narelle named the range Miessence to reflect her love and intent that goes into each product. The website www.miessence.com was set up to allow the products to be bought on line, and the products were repackaged with a beautiful leaf design to mirror their natural origins.

Today the once homegrown kitchen business now turns over around $15m a year and employs 60 people, but Narelle says she has a much bigger vision for her company.

“I see this as being a billion dollar company and the best thing about the success of a company like ours is that it proves we can profit by doing good for people and the planet,” she comments.

Just go for it! Start small, then test and measure the response, then adjust, then test and measure, and adjust, and keep repeating these steps. Don’t talk about your idea to everyone you come across, just get busy and do it. Don’t expect approval from your peers and relatives, just let your success inspire them.

Trust your intuition
Know your own strengths and weaknesses
Recruit people to compensate for your weaknesses
Only work with people you are aligned with
Know your product/service and what sets you apart from the rest
Don’t ever sign a contract without reading the fine print

Put your money where your mouth is… if you don’t believe in your idea, no one else will. Start small and build from cash flow. Don’t borrow at the beginning… only borrow if you’re profitable with cashflow.