Today, when we think of Rihanna, we don’t only think “international pop star”. The words that also comes to mind are “serial entrepreneur” and “fashion mogul”.
“Dropping the mic for a fashion studio and sales trends”
After dropping the mic for a minute, the Grammy award winner finally followed her passion for beauty and fashion – on full time.
She first started with Fenty Beauty, a cosmetic line for various skin types. Then, Rihanna got even busier with the launch of Savage X Fenty, a lingerie line.
But, what really proved that she’s a force to be reckoned with on and off the mic, was the launch of her luxury fashion house, Fenty.
A luxury fashion line which manages everything from casual street outfits, dresses, sunglasses, jewelry to shoes.
With all these successes, the CEO of Fenty has shown her deep knowledge and skills for business – and she shows no signs of stopping.
Rihanna did an interview with T Magazine a while ago, talking about what inspired her entrepreneurial journey, her passion, drive and life as an entrepreneur. Here are some lessons from that interview.
1. you need the right stuff to be an entrepreneur
Not everyone is cut out to be an entrepreneur, but Rihanna showed that she had the passion and mindset of a true entrepreneur all along.
She’s always thinking about the next thing and branching out into different creative outlets that challenges her and make her happy.
She knew she could do more than just wearing luxury brands as a celebrity and collaborating with top fashion brands as a creative director and a model.
She also wanted to be recognized for her unique fashion style. And to achieve that, she had to run her own fashion brand – and not just own it.
She said “I never just wanted to put my name on something and sell my license. I’m very hands-on, so I wanted to take it slowly and gain respect as a designer”.
2. you shouldn’t only be motivated by money
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with being motivated by money. But that alone, won’t take your business far.
Rihanna explained that she’s not being driven by money but by her independence to work on what she loves to do and passionate about.
“Money is happening along the way” she said. “Work will change when my life changes but an amount of money is not going to stop that.”
Sure, most successful entrepreneurs do make huge money. But they’re also motivated by their vision, independence, creativity, innovation, growth, etc. And cash won’t happen without any of that.
3. always be disruptive
You’re not in business to be like every other business out there.
To succeed, you have to be disruptive by being different, unique, or better – with new ways of doing things or changing how things are done.
In building her luxury fashion line, Rihanna was aware she needed a new and better way of marketing her products to her target market – different from what’s normally done.
This is how she put it, “Yeah! So with this, you see it, you love it, you can it. I want to be as disruptive as possible. The brand is not traditional. There is no runway show. It’s a new way of doing things because I believe that this is where fashion is going to go eventually.”
4. if possible, don’t go in alone
Businesses are not the same. Some will drain you physically and financially; some just demand a lot of skills and experience; and others demand everything.
However, there’s no law that says you have to do it alone.
It’s definitely Ok to partner or consult with people who can help take some of the headaches and errors away – with their experience, resources and skills.
Before she launched her Fenty Beauty, Rihanna realized she needed help to succeed in the highly competitive cosmetic industry.
So, what did she do?
She partnered with LVMH (the world’s largest luxury goods company) for their resources; and then, she hired her stylist Jahleel Weaver, as the creative director.
Citing her lack of expertise in the luxury fashion market, Rihanna did it again.
But this time, she went into business with Renard Arnault, the chief executive of LVMH – to launch the Fenty luxury fashion line.
5. always deliver something better
The best way to satisfy your customers is not by selling them products or services but by providing solutions to their problems.
However, that’s only possible if you the entrepreneur, is personally challenging yourself to deliver something better.
She was called a one hit wonder after the success of her debut single “Pon de Replay”. But Rihanna turned that comment into a fuel and it has never stopped working – challenging herself every time.
Since that time, Rihanna knew she can never rest on her laurels; and that, the best way to achieve her dream (either as a music superstar or an entrepreneur) was to always deliver something better.
6. have a passion for learning
As your business changes and grows, you need to change and grow with it too. You have to learn what works and what doesn’t; especially, new ways of doing things.
Even after wearing and buying luxury brands for years; and with her experience as a creative director, Rihanna knew she has a lot to learn as her business changes and grows.
She knew adding the Fenty line will take her business into a new world; a world that already has a blueprint – and to succeed, she had to keep on learn everything.
In her own words, she said “I’m learning so much; about the tailoring, the fabric – I’m seeing fabrics that I’ve never seen before in my life.”
7. don’t try to scale your business alone
It’ll take more than yourself or with a co-founder to successfully open new store locations, or sell in different locations, or add new target markets or product lines.
It doesn’t really matter how confident you’re in yourself; no one knows everything and you can only do enough by yourself – after all, you’re human.
Rihanna realized this as her business was scaling and saw the value of inviting others to the table.
“I like to think of my establishment at the Fenty house as a hub” she said. “I’m welcoming everyone’s vision here, because that’s what it’s gonna take. I can’t just think I know everything. I’m very smart with my control freak – a smart control freak. I welcome the people’s expertise. I love new, young talent.
8. “Never a failure. Always a lesson”
The journey of any successful entrepreneur is an unchartered one – you’re always doing something that hasn’t been done before and going places that no one has ever been.
Mistakes will be made and you’ll fail in some areas. And the only thing can do, is to learn from them.
Besides, you will never know your weaknesses until you fail.
Rihanna has the phrase “Never a failure. Always a lesson” tattooed backwards so she can read it in the mirror whenever she’s feeling any doubts or fears about her journey.
She’s aware that those failures will come but she also know that she has to learn from them. “How are you gonna learn without making mistakes?” she asked in her interview.
9. treat your staff as family
I don’t care what anyone says; it’s impossible to successfully work together as a team without first seeing each other as a friend or family.
Your team is your second family.
After all, you spend most of your day ‘fighting in the trenches’ with them – and it’s the same experience Rihanna had.
She shared, “I see them more than my family and spend most of my life with them. It becomes friendship first, and then it leads into family because we lean on each other. I’m sure it’s really different from any other boss-employee relationship.”
It might sound cheap and overemotional, but it’s true. You’ll only have a well-oiled-team when each team member feels that he or she is part of a family.
10. don’t scale up too fast
Things can get out of hand, it’s very important to always ask the question, ‘how fast is too fast?’ – before you decide to grow your business.
This tip isn’t about success; it’s rather one of those failures that Rihanna knew will happen and ready to learn from.
This is what happened.
Less than two years after its launch, Rihanna and her partners at LVMH agreed to end the Fenty clothing line; amid poor sales performance.
According to reports, most of the Fenty clothing merch wasn’t that distinctive, the shoe line didn’t appear to evolve and most styles didn’t change since the May 2019 launch.
What’s more, the average luxury consumer didn’t see the brand as attractive as the tried-and-true names like Dior, Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Hermes.
All signs of a business which has scaled up too fast.
Wrapping it up
I don’t know about you, but Rihanna has really taught and inspired me a lot as an entrepreneur.
Just like her music career, she keeps on pushing the envelope showing us what is possible if you have the right stuff, the right mindset and the right approach.
What more success lessons do you think we can learn from this incredible entrepreneur?
Small To Sprout 