Episode 328: The Apprentice and Business Success with Dr. Leah Totton

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To become a successful entrepreneur in the aesthetics industry, it’s essential to have a concoction of resilience, determination, and the pursuit of excellence. For Dr. Leah Totton, winning the Apprentice isn’t enough, it’s just a start.

Dr. Leah Totton, winner of The Apprentice in 2013, shares her journey of building a successful aesthetics business. She discusses the challenges she faced, including negative press and criticism, and how she overcame them. Dr. Totton emphasizes the importance of work ethic and making personal sacrifices for the success of the business. She also highlights the role of mentorship and the lessons she learned from Lord Sugar.

Dr. Totton’s story serves as an inspiration to aspiring entrepreneurs, reminding them that success requires hard work, sacrifice, and the willingness to learn and adapt. With her determination and passion, there is no doubt that Dr. Leah Totton will continue to make a significant impact in the aesthetics industry and beyond.

Show Highlights:

• Work ethic and willingness to make personal sacrifices are essential for business success
• Having a mentor who believes in your potential can instill confidence and drive
• It’s important to overcome resistance to change and embrace new ideas and strategies
• Marketing is crucial for scaling a business and acquiring new customers
• Becoming a mother can increase motivation and drive to succeed

Links Mentioned:

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Transcript:

Please note this is a verbatim transcription from the original audio and therefore may include some minor grammatical errors.

[00:00:00] Adam Stott: Uh, today’s, uh, special guest, who I’m, I’m really excited to, to bring on, um, achieve some amazing things in business, uh, somebody who has, uh, won The Apprentice in 2013, since winning The Apprentice, partnered with, uh, Lord Sugar, uh, went on to create Her first business, uh, which was incredibly successful, it’s been one of the most successful businesses, uh, that Lord Sugar’s invested in, then went on to expand that business to multiple locations, uh, uh, across London, um, which is, uh, been really, really successful.

[00:00:36] I think one of the reasons that I, I, I really wanted to bring this person to Gold Circle, is because many, many years ago I, I interviewed her. in, uh, her establishment in Essex. Really felt like she was a great business owner, uh, created some amazing results for her business and grown it significantly. Uh, she’s recently had a, uh, a baby that’s just one year old, so took a bit of, uh, time out of business and been juggling managing a business with motherhood, which I think is great for many people in the room, so we’ll certainly potentially ask some questions around that.

[00:01:08] and, uh, really excited to welcome to the stage, if we can give a, uh, level 20. I wonder if you could stand actually, that’d be nice if we could stand, and give a level 20 round of applause to Dr Leah Totten.

[00:01:28] How you doing? Welcome. Hello. Welcome. Good to see you

[00:01:32] Dr. Leah Totton: again. Grab a seat, grab a seat.

[00:01:37] So welcome.

[00:01:38] Adam Stott: Thank you. Welcome. I think I was saying to you outside and when we were speaking that we’ve got a number Businesses actually that work in the field that you work in and you’ve achieved some amazing success in that field Which is another one of the reasons that I really wanted to bring you here many many years ago.

[00:01:56] I think maybe 2017 we did an interview in your clinic. And, uh, got to, got to know you there, which was awesome and wanted to bring you back for quite some time. So, why don’t we talk a little bit about your journey. Yep. Starting out, getting into business, going on that journey of building the business and tell us kinda where it all started from.

[00:02:16] Perhaps even go back prior to The Apprentice. Where were you? Uh, what were you undertaking? What did business look like and and how did you get started?

[00:02:25] Dr. Leah Totton: So, I came from Northern Ireland, as you can probably hear from the accent. I was working, I trained as a doctor in the UK in Norwich and then I was just working as a doctor in A& E in East London and I started doing aesthetics on the, basically on the side of working in NHS.

[00:02:47] It was actually after one of my aunts had a, a very negative outcome from an aesthetic procedure in Northern Ireland. At this time the industry was completely unregulated. It still is. Um, and when she tried to essentially make a compensation claim for the injury she, she had, um, the person wasn’t insured.

[00:03:09] They were a non medic and any costs, um, In relation to treating the scarring that she had, she had to pay for herself. So I was quite intrigued in how an industry can exist where that can be. There’s no regulation, no medical influence at all. So I trained in aesthetics, I started doing bits around the industry.

[00:03:28] I was working out of salons at the time. And I then applied for The Apprentice, didn’t in a million years think I would even get on because I had no business experience at all. Um, but I got on and then I, I don’t know how, but I won and I Then, you know, it was sort of a moment where you’re like, oh, this is so great that I’ve won.

[00:03:49] And then the reality of, oh my God, I’ve actually got to create a business and make it successful, hit. So, yeah. Who’s

[00:03:57] Adam Stott: had a moment like that? Raise your hands if you have, right? Not necessarily on The Apprentice, but I think a lot of the time, I was actually talking about that earlier. How business just come in and, and all of a sudden you realize.

[00:04:09] Dr. Leah Totton: Honestly, and I feel like at that point there was the, I don’t know if any of you can remember at the time that I won the apprentice. It was obviously 10 years ago now, but there was a massive backlash in the press when I won. Um, I think partly related to me and also the industry. So there was a lot around Alan Sugar investing in a Botox business.

[00:04:32] Um, you’re butchering women, you’re pushing on realistic beauty ideals. There was a real lot of negative stigma around cosmetic procedures. And it was seen as sort of the Wild West, and it was the Wild West at that time. It was done fairly badly, um, by a lot of non medical professionals. And also at the time, I was very young.

[00:04:52] There was a lot of Dr. Barbie, um, connotations in the Daily Mail around my appearance, et cetera. Um, yeah, it was a very interesting time. I think a lot of the stuff, there was a bit of misogyny probably. Um, and how did that

[00:05:06] Adam Stott: feel when you saw those critics coming out and Oh, yeah. And especially if you’ve not been in business.

[00:05:12] Yeah. And you get thrown into the limelight and then the limelight almost turns against you. Yeah. Really hard. What moments did you have?

[00:05:19] Dr. Leah Totton: I, I, I think a lot of it was because the, the transition for me, I really struggled actually. I, and my business partner is a completely different personality to me and he just, he was actually very supportive.

[00:05:32] I’ll tell you in a bit what he, how he addressed it, but I had come from an NHS environment. I was working as a doctor for a few years at that time and the NHS is a very nurturing environment. You get a lot of Pre is you’re very, you know, your, your consultant who you work under as a junior is very supportive.

[00:05:49] You’re not really criticized or ridiculed and you’d obviously don’t have a public profile. And so to be thrust into the public eye and you’ve got people on Twitter making really, you know, really shocking stuff and also other doctors because aesthetics, anyone who’s working in aesthetics or advanced beauty will know it’s a.

[00:06:06] very, um, competitive industry. There were a lot of people who work in that industry who were extremely hostile towards me. I remember doing a panel in the early days and being booed off the stage at an aesthetics conference. We won’t do that here, will we? Um, but really, and you’re sort of, you can’t believe, it’s, it’s, I find it really difficult.

[00:06:26] And I remember speaking to Alan Sugar about it. And the Daily Mail, there was a period they went through after I won the show, um, where they ran an article every single day and it was just getting worse and worse and worse and there were articles about I was, I was with someone who played professional sport at the time.

[00:06:42] Um, there was lots of stuff about Dr. Wag, Dr. Barbie, they were. I mean, I’m still practicing in A& E at that time. Is this woman, they sent people to my work. She’s not a real doctor. I mean, I’m literally in A& E working. Um, it was really bad and in the end he, he contacted them and said, like, this has to stop or, like, I’m going to sue you on behalf of her.

[00:07:04] I didn’t have money at the time to do that, but it was really bad. So, it was a really difficult time. But, We got through it and his attitude was just, you know, you gotta get a thicker skin. And I think he’s right, you know. He just said, Leah, this is, you know, not everyone is gonna be your friend. Not everyone is gonna praise you.

[00:07:26] You’re gonna have to take some criticism. And, you know, just get on with it. And actually, that sort of tough love, if you like, and that sort of You know, this is a situation. It is what it is. You know, get on with it. Actually, I think it, it was right, you know, I did need to get a, a thicker skin and I don’t take everything so personally, but that took me yeah, quite a while to be okay with negative press and Okay.

[00:07:53] With criticism on social media. Um, and then also just dealing with business. So coming from the NHS where. You know, everyone is who they say they are, and they’re, they’re honest, and for the most part, in my experience, anyway, I remember when I opened my first clinic, there was a practice next door, a dental practice, and I, the guy befriended me, who was the owner of that company, a businessman.

[00:08:16] I thought he was being helpful. He, you know, we were discussing treatments I was going to offer, prices of things I was going to do. And then as we were about to launch, literally three days before the press launch, which was the national press launch, all media arriving, he rebranded the dental surgery as an aesthetics clinic.

[00:08:35] We literally share an entrance and undercut me on every single pry. It was, and I can remember ringing Alan Sugar again, it was honestly 72 hours before because Danny the IT guy, um, who Lee will know if he’s in the room, he’s been Alan Sugar’s IT man for the decades. What did you learn from that? I literally remember just calling him on the phone and crying and saying I can’t believe he’s done that and him saying in his I won’t go through the exact language, but You need to pull yourself together and I said I’m hysterical to be honest at this point I can’t believe it.

[00:09:09] I’m so hurt blah blah blah. Um, this isn’t gonna work everyone’s gonna go to him go to me and his the underlying sentiment of what he said was You need to forget about him. I don’t want to hear about him again. They’re not going to go to him. They’re going to go to you. You need to believe that they’re going to come to you.

[00:09:24] Not him. You’re better. They’re going to come to us. And they did. And a few years later, he re he went back to his original offering, which was dentistry. So it was, again, the right advice, but a hard lesson to learn and just being mindful of the fact that, you know, be a little bit, I think it’s a bit, it was like a baptism of fire, the world of business for me, and just knowing that, yeah, just be a little bit more private about your business stuff and also have confidence in yourself because someone can open offering the exact same thing next door.

[00:10:00] But if your service offering, um, is, is good and it should be. They will come to you and you’ll be successful regardless of what the competition does. But I think as a young entrepreneur it’s really hard to have that confidence and it took someone more, much more experienced than me to see that potential in me and in the business to instill that confidence in

[00:10:22] Adam Stott: me.

[00:10:24] Absolutely, I think there’s some really good lessons there and that competition is something that a lot of people get hooked on. And it takes them a long while actually to drop that mentality. But I think, really understand that it’s not the lowest price, it’s the best marketed, the best products, the best service.

[00:10:41] Best branded that wins, not necessarily the lowest price. So absolutely. So what happened next? You, you, you’ve obviously expanded a lot. So you got that first, first

[00:10:50] Dr. Leah Totton: up and running. Yeah, that was, that was again, hard year, first year, like any business. Um, but we got there and What were the biggest

[00:10:58] Adam Stott: lessons in that first year?

[00:10:59] Apart from those ones that you gave, were there some other lessons that you learned and and actually were there some things that You know, some advice that you, you were given that really helped you. I think you’ve given a couple of examples of that, but I’d love to hear

[00:11:11] Dr. Leah Totton: more. Yeah, I think for me, sector expertise came in really handy.

[00:11:15] Because in that first year, you can’t afford To you, I was administering the majority of the treatments and actually that really saved us on cost because even though we’ve got the apprentice and I actually take my hat off to anyone who starts a business with fight the PR and the launch, the apprentice gives you, it’s hard even with that.

[00:11:36] So to do that completely organically without that, I honestly salute. anyone who does that because it’s bloody difficult even with that. But in that, so when we opened the doors there wasn’t an influx of hundreds of patients dying for me to Botox and that’s not how it went. You’ve still got to graft, you’ve still got to go out into offices, pitch to them, go to every networking event, go literally stand outside press, leafleting in the rain.

[00:11:59] These are things that you just, you have to get people through the door. And what really helped us during that time was being able to keep costs low and we were able to do that because I had sector expertise, I could perform the service offering. And to be honest, probably for the first nine months, that’s what kept us open.

[00:12:17] And that was with a massive machine behind us in terms of publicity, profile, all of that. So I think that’s really important. Very, very difficult. If I had have been having to hire in doctors and pay their Salary to do those treatments. Also, I think when it’s you, you really, you’ve better control over, and I’m obsessed as, as well, anyone who’s probably got a service based business and yours, particularly if it’s medical or beauty related.

[00:12:42] I’m really obsessed with the level of the service offering, and I think making sure that that is can be done best by you, unless you’ve got someone that you can really, really, really trust. But even now, I still treat, I still do a lot of the treatments, not as much as, as what I did in the first days. But really making sure every single client in that first year was having a 10 out of 10 experience.

[00:13:07] And I would have botoxed them at 10 at night, 11 at night, if they had wanted it, whatever had to be done to get that revenue coming in and then building that relationship, ensuring it was 10 so that they’re telling their friends, they’re telling their cousin, they’re talking to Mary and HR from work and she’s then coming in, doing everything that it takes.

[00:13:27] Adam Stott: I love what you just said there, I would have botoxed them at 10pm at night. I did. Yeah. Literally. The reason I love that is because, you know, a lot of people when they start a business often feel, you know, some people start a business to get more free time, right? And it often doesn’t quite work out that way, right?

[00:13:45] The fact that you, you were willing to do that and bring that work ethic, how important do you think that was in those early days for

[00:13:53] Dr. Leah Totton: you? Essential. It’s still essential now. And I think as the business grows, I do think it gets easier for sure. So still to this day, my hardest year was the first year. And I don’t know if that’s the sentiment of the room, but that first year, wow.

[00:14:09] And the hours that I put in that year, I don’t know if I’ve ever had to do them again. I mean, if someone asked for an appointment at 10 now, I would book them with someone else. But it’s, you know, that’s a, that’s a luxury of having a business 10 years. There wouldn’t be a business that had lasted 10 years if I wasn’t willing to put in that type of work in the first year.

[00:14:30] And I think that, you’ve low staff numbers, my sister, I flew my sister over from Northern Ireland, gave up a dental career to come over and do it, worked on the desk, so I knew that she was, she was obviously very bought into the business, she worked for lower than the She lived with me so she had less to pay in terms of overheads and she worked for less money than what I had to pay for a clinic manager in London.

[00:14:51] Um, I worked for much less in the, in the first year, barely took a salary and we, and worked every single hour. Mark, you’re everything, you know, you’re the marketeer, you’re the, you’re the medical director, you’re administering the treatments, you’re the cleaner if you have to be. Whatever saved on costs you have to do.

[00:15:11] Adam Stott: During that period, did you ever want to quit? Did you ever feel, why am I doing this? Did you have doubts? Did you have fears? How did you overcome them if you did?

[00:15:21] Dr. Leah Totton: No, because there was such a glare on me because of The Apprentice, but I can’t say. That I wouldn’t have had that if no one had have been watching.

[00:15:33] And that’s why I think doing it without the, the public, I mean the press report, my figures still lie every year. As soon as we’re on Companies House, they’ll go to print in the next. And that pressure, in a way, is something that I’m quite responsive to. So I would never have given the Daily Mail the satisfaction of me failing in that business.

[00:15:53] I would have done whatever. It took to keep that business open and make it profitable. And I think that’s where my drive, I’m not particularly financially motivated, I never have been, I wouldn’t have become a doctor if I was, but that motivated me, that gave me that. And then once you have staff, because I think they’re, they’re reliant on that.

[00:16:13] I

[00:16:14] Adam Stott: love turning the fear into a motivator, right? Which is what it sounds like you did. That, that fear of the judgement, the fear of it actually being a motivator to get up and take action. And did you use that regularly when you were in the moments that you were struggling?

[00:16:28] Dr. Leah Totton: Yeah, I think that, and I also think you, I really actually believed in the, in the principle, and I think you’ve got to if you, if you’re willing to um, start a business at all.

[00:16:40] You have to really believe in what you’re doing, and I actually felt This is really a business that, that is work, you know, I really believed in the ethos of what we were doing, we were trying to bring in somewhere into the middle market of the aesthetic space, so when we started it was sort of plastic surgeons offering Botox, dermal filler at ridiculous prices on Harley Street, or you’d sort of back straight, and, Lay people offering it in salons and tanning shops.

[00:17:03] And I really thought there is, there is a genuine opportunity for somewhere in the middle market offering medical grade treatments but at affordable pricing. And I thought, yeah, this is actually something that is needed and will work, but even with a great idea, and I think that is a great idea, I mean, it won me that show.

[00:17:21] I think, and it was more the idea than me, I’m sure of that, because I had no business experience. You can’t have been all up bowled over with my performance. So, I think it was the idea. of the business and what that would, could be and what that, you know, could become and has become. That really, he could see the potential in that and so could I and I think that kept me going as well.

[00:17:40] Um, there probably, you have to believe in your business and I think you have to have a little bit of a fear of failure. Be it financial or because it’s in the public eye or whatever it is for you that makes you afraid, terrified of failing. Cause otherwise, you know, you’re leaving the house maybe 7 in the morning, you’re coming home.

[00:17:57] 9, 10 at night routinely, you’re in on a Saturday, you’re in on a Sunday, you know, even if you’re not in, you’re on email, you’re dealing with, there’s a leak, you know, the security alarm’s going off, you know, just stuff that comes with, with business, you’ve got an unhappy client.

[00:18:12] Adam Stott: I forgot about that, when you have the premises.

[00:18:14] Yeah, I

[00:18:15] Dr. Leah Totton: know. The security alarms. You’re the person on call for, for the security alarm, so what am I going to do if there’s an intruder? But anyway, there, it’s a very um, Yeah, I think you have to have that, that hunger for it to succeed. Wherever that comes from, you’ve got to believe in what you’re doing.

[00:18:32] Adam Stott: So in terms of the skills that you had to build up to, to scale, because you, you’ve got the one premises going, you then scaled that out, you’ve got locations in London, uh, you’ve had to become a multiple business owner. To achieve what you’ve achieved now, because fast forward 10 years, you’ve built a really successful business, and you’ve done very well in that space.

[00:18:53] So your, your initial vision has pretty much come to fruition, right? And you’ve, obviously there’s work ethic in that. But what skills for you as a business owner do you feel that you’ve had to cultivate? What’s been really important for you to learn? What challenged you? What skills do you think you’ve had to grow to get there?

[00:19:10] I think

[00:19:11] Dr. Leah Totton: work ethic, honestly, is number one. I really do. I think you can, there are a lot of really skilled, really capable people, but are they willing to take that call at 10 at night? Are they willing to come in on the Saturday morning? Are they willing to respond to DMs? On a Sunday afternoon, because you’ve got someone who’s inquiring about a treatment that week.

[00:19:29] Are you willing to make the personal sacrifices that unfortunately come with that? And that I think, the one thing I would say that I think I benefited from was my young age. Although it was a massive point of criticism. Um, for me and, and how I experienced I was to be performing treatments or to be running a business even.

[00:19:49] I think also it helped because I was at a phase of my life where, you know, I was really willing to give up everything else, and I really did. I gave up everything else to focus on that business until, probably until it got to two sites. After a few years, once I knew Essex was turning a profit, my second site, then I was much more open to To have incapacity in other areas of my life, and I’m not, I mean, obviously there are different people in different phases of their life when they start a business.

[00:20:18] I know, for example, I’ve got a partner, I’ve got a child. You know, could I do that again? I’d like to think I could, but I mean, I don’t know how long my relationship would last, but it’s, I think it’s, I did benefit from, work ethic is one thing, but you have to also make sacrifices, and the people around you have to make sacrifices as well, so I think that was something that I, that I was willing to do and that I did do.

[00:20:45] A great mentor for me was really important, Alan Sugar. Honestly, for me, I’ve been, I’ve been in business with a man 10 years. He’s taught me everything I know about business because I knew, knew obviously very little coming in. So my whole, um, my whole view in business is shaped by him and he’s been really great.

[00:21:02] And I think when someone can see your potential, it’s It makes you believe in yourself because that is something that I struggled with and especially when you’re hearing criticism and you’ve got competitors that are saying bad things, negative things and you’re seeing in press, but even if it’s not on press, I feel like that’s something that I really benefited from having that mentor figure who actually said you’re going to make this, we’re going to make this, your idea is good, I back you, you know, you can do it and that gives you then that confidence and then I think over time as you see It’s very, very easy to be confident when you’re successful.

[00:21:40] It’s not so easy when you’re starting out.

[00:21:43] Adam Stott: Yeah, absolutely. And those lessons from him in terms of mentorship, what were some of the lessons you resisted?

[00:21:52] Dr. Leah Totton: We’re very different. Um, our personalities are very different. He’s very direct. And he’s very confident. And he will just say, like, Leah, this is what you’ve got to do.

[00:22:05] And I, my approach to things is very different. So an example, we’ve just done a skincare line in the last year. Um, so he wanted to do this. He told me the night that I won The Apprentice before you appear on the show because you really do just find out that day. So, I’d only just find out it was, he called me to tell me and then I’d seen him a few hours later at the, the studio.

[00:22:24] Um, and he said to me, we’re going to do the clinics. And we’re going to do a skin, we’re going to do a product line as well. He loves, anyone who knows him, he loves products. He’s always loved um, cosmetic products as a business. I don’t know if he loves, he doesn’t love them as an individual, but he loves them as a business.

[00:22:40] So he said to me on that day, and it took me years, I mean nine years to get round to actually doing that. And his approach to product was very much Get something, slap your name on it, and people will buy it. My approach, that’s literally his approach. He, and he’s honest, and he’s open about that. He said just put it on, tell them it works.

[00:23:01] If you tell them it works, it’s gonna work for them. But my, obviously, my approach is more science based. I wanted to formulate. We literally reformulated the products, probably about honestly, ten times over the years. I changed pharmacy twice, pharmacy. pharmacist twice, chemist twice, to get the range high I wanted.

[00:23:20] I’m quite perfectionist, whereas he’s a lot more commercially minded. So the same thing with scale. So I won’t scale. I didn’t want to go to the second clinic. I didn’t want, I, he, he, truthfully, he’s a driving force around the scale and the growth of our business because I like things to be very good and I don’t like to I like to have control of everything and I don’t like to delegate that much and he has a different approach And I think actually having that balance and someone saying just put the product line out is is the right thing But I mean the product line I’ve spent so much money formulating I don’t know how we’ll ever make it back, but I really wanted the it is doing very well But he really wanted He’s much more commercial than I am.

[00:24:06] And I think I’m much more standards based. I want everything to be perfect. But what I’ve learned through the years, in all honesty, is that it’s never going to be perfect. And actually sometimes you just need to step off the ledge. You just need to open the site. You just need to put the line out. You just need to do it.

[00:24:23] And it, it is what it is. I don’t know, maybe again, that’s a confidence thing, but I think had I have listened to him, we probably would have had 20 clinics by now and 200 SKUs of the product, but I don’t know, again, I think that’s experience and that’s, you know, it takes you a while to. To know that what your mentor is saying is right, because those of you who have mentors, even mine’s Alan Sugar, I mean, I should have just said, Okay, let’s do it.

[00:24:49] But when you have your own views, and you’re as an entrepreneur, you are inbuilt

[00:24:54] Adam Stott: habits, right? Yeah, habits have been installed. And it takes a long time. They’ve been instilled in you for 20 years. You know, it does take a little while for you to change and, and to overcome that fear to take the action, right?

[00:25:05] Dr. Leah Totton: For sure. So, I think that’s, take action, is his, is what he always says. And watch your bottom line. He always talks. He’s so, I’ve never seen him use a calculator in ten years. His mental arithmetic is I mean, mine is pretty good, but his is better. He’s very, very quick on numbers. Sharp, sharp, sharp. What’s the bottom line?

[00:25:24] What’s the bottom line? What’s the bottom line? And trying to get myself into that mentality, because I’m not thinking so much about the figures, I’m thinking about The standards. Yeah.

[00:25:35] Adam Stott: Yeah. But I think it’s really good. I think actually it resonates a lot, because of the transparency you’re saying. There’s actually a lot of people on that similar journey.

[00:25:45] Can you see that thing, yeah? Because, you know, we’re mentoring in some capacity, everybody in this room, you know, with the coaches that we have, and sometimes there is resistance, there is things like, you know, I’ve got to try this, and it’s against what I’ve done, but how you change is how you succeed, right?

[00:25:59] You know, and it does, and the fact that you’ve had that long term, um, you know, is undoubtedly really helpful. Now you’ve got three sites, you’ve got a skin care range, um, we were speaking outside about marketing. Um, you’ve really embraced marketing now to, to, to fill those clinics. Um, I’ve, I’ve personally looked at the marketing that you’ve done and, you know, what should be in the interview, I think it was 2017 when I first interviewed you.

[00:26:24] And actually I’ve seen how far, uh, that business has come personally and, and you’ve done really, really well. Do you want to mention about the marketing? Has that been a journey for you? Because that’s not what you did, right? You, you, you leveraged PR a lot, you leveraged branding a lot, that was part of it.

[00:26:40] Now you’re in that marketing world, learning those skill sets. What’s that been like for you? Did you find it challenging?

[00:26:47] Dr. Leah Totton: Yeah, I think, um, I don’t like to spend that much. I don’t know if other entrepreneurs feel the same, but marketing to me just always felt so expensive. And I just couldn’t get my mind around.

[00:27:00] Handed over that sort of money. Honestly, I couldn’t again was forced to do that by Alan sugar in the summer And I just I don’t know I think Marketing that I did in the early days because we just didn’t have the budget for it You went 250 when you and the apprentice that’s what you get to start the business But you’ve got to pay a six month rent deposit in central London.

[00:27:19] You’ve got a But the place I’d as a cosmetic like there’s very little change from that it doesn’t sound like yeah And then you’re trying to get income so you can start paying yourself some sort of living wage Um, so we just didn’t have a marketing budget So all of the initial marketing I did we had PR as well Which we leveraged as you said and then I literally went office to office HR department HR department coffee shop to coffee shop station to station leafleting, chatting, giving out free SPF that I’d had to try and get off Heliocare, one of the brands.

[00:27:49] So, I have never really sat down with a marketing provider and said, okay, I’m going to give you four grand a month to do Google ads. That’s just something I couldn’t get my head around. Um, because by the time it came that we had enough money to do that in the business, we were doing fine and I never wanted.

[00:28:06] a lot of scale I wanted just to fill the one clinic and once that was full eventually agreed to do the second and then once that was full agreed to do the third now the third was full and then I was then COVID happened um and then actually the aesthetics industry boomed after COVID I don’t know for every business it was the same but for ours we couldn’t meet the demand we literally couldn’t it was insane we were honestly I was botox and dawn to dusk it was literally so busy I’ve never known anything like it And then that lasted a long time for me, so I wasn’t doing any market in that time.

[00:28:39] And it’s only really been, I think, with the economic downturn that’s a reality in the UK at the minute that we’ve seen since the summer. We, we do need to be doing that extra push. We’ve got same volume of clients coming in, but spend is lower, so it’s to entice that new clientele in and just trying to, we actually employed a marketing director to come in and make those marketing decisions because now we can afford a marketing director, um, and she’s more generous with the budget spend than I am, but I think it’s, It’s something that businesses have to be alive to, in the economic climate.

[00:29:15] The last thing you want to do is spend more money as a business, me anyway. It’s the thing you very much do,

[00:29:20] Adam Stott: right? Exactly. Yeah.

[00:29:21] Dr. Leah Totton: Exactly. That’s hard. I don’t know if you find that hard. I find that hard. Because I’m looking, thinking.

[00:29:29] Adam Stott: I love it.

[00:29:31] Dr. Leah Totton: Yeah, I love it. I think, Oh God, I want some more. But you’re right.

[00:29:36] It is. And Alan Sugar says the same thing as you like. If we need 50 new clients a month, this is what it’s going to cost to acquire 50 new clients. You’ve got to pay it. And that is the reality and I am on board with that, but that was a journey for me. It really was and even now Who

[00:29:51] Adam Stott: else has found that to be a journey?

[00:29:54] Dr. Leah Totton: It’s hard. hard, but it does work. And we have much, you know, you get the new clients in and it’s that fresh weave of, of revenue to your business. Cause a lot of my business, a lot of repeat custom and when you’re, because we’re not doing that, we weren’t doing active marketing for such a long time. So when you’re repeat custom, the amount that spend per head decreases, you have to bring in.

[00:30:18] Hi, new, new custom essentially and you have to spend to do that. They’re not just going to show up. So especially at the minute though, I think, I just think the disposable income for everyone is lower and the cost of, I think it’s costing more to market now than it would have cost three, four or five years ago, which is make even harder to get your head around.

[00:30:38] But something that we’ve had to do and it has worked for our business.

[00:30:41] Adam Stott: And it’s interesting. You said the spend per head, which is, uh, you know, a great number to, to actually be looking at average invoice value. Um, what other numbers do you, do you now analyze yourself that you’ve, uh,

[00:30:54] Dr. Leah Totton: That I wouldn’t have done before.

[00:30:55] Um, the, I think for me, the most, we always look at room occupancy, but actually what we’ve found, only in, only, really honestly, only in 2023, because I haven’t traded through a recession before. I, we were post reset. I didn’t open until 2000 until 2014, 2014. So we were sort of out of the, the 09 crash. And for us, this is the first time we’ve really traded through an economic downturn.

[00:31:22] Obviously we were closed for COVID, but actually we were so busy after COVID that it was sort of, it worked out more than what we would have even made in a normal year when you balanced over the two years for my industry anyway. So, and actually in the 09 recession, the recession that followed the 09. Um, Crash, we, the aesthetics industry was recession proof.

[00:31:40] We knew, we knew that from the data, the revenue data from that industry. So even in the lead up to this, there was a lot of talk about economic downturn. I wasn’t really particularly thinking about it. People will always need Botox. Women will always spend on appearance. My clientele’s 96 percent female.

[00:31:55] That’s not the case this time around. We saw by in the third quarter to end the second quarter that actually while our room occupancy, which is the what we normally go by in terms of how well we’re trading and it’s pretty, it’s pretty other than a big boom post COVID, it’s pretty static. And once you get each clinic to maximum occupancy, you’ll normally open another.

[00:32:16] So we’re due to open a fourth at the minute. Normally takes two years, two and a half years in aesthetics to get to that point, I find anyway. Um, we. We’re looking, room occupancy is looking good, we’re looking good, there’s no problem. And then you’re looking at revenue, your turnover per month, and you’re down, you know, a good chunk.

[00:32:34] Then you’re looking at profitability each month, because Alan Sugar is obsessed with bottom line, and your cost for everything has, has went through the roof. So your revenue is down, your costs are up, so your profits way down. But your room occupancy is looking better than ever. And then you start, look, diving a little deeper.

[00:32:50] And that’s when you find that even though you’re seeing the same amount of people, they’re spending much less. And that’s just a reflection on their own level of disposable income. So that’s when we realized this level of room occupancy, we can’t increase price because there isn’t enough demand to do so at the minute because people don’t have disposable income.

[00:33:06] So we have to look at bringing in new revenue. We’ve got to push the room occupancy up 5 percent across all sites to end up with the same bottom line as we would have done. this time last

[00:33:15] Adam Stott: year. And that, that’s a great conversation around the numbers there, right, in terms of how you should analyze the numbers and how you should diagnose, uh, the problems that, that are occurring with the business.

[00:33:25] And it’s always about diving deeper, you know, I absolutely loved that. I enjoyed that. So yeah, look, and what’s, what’s next? You’ve had a,

[00:33:33] Dr. Leah Totton: had a baby. Yeah, I’ve had a baby. She’s one. She’s great. Um, I think that affected

[00:33:38] Adam Stott: the business and how do you feel? What was that like for you?

[00:33:41] Dr. Leah Totton: Again, I think, weirdly, our revenue didn’t dip, which I was quite shocked.

[00:33:48] Our turnover was the same. Um, our profitability was a bit lower because we had to pay a medical director to come in, one of our doctors, to, to perform the treatments that I was in. So profit was down, but ever so slightly, and Excuse me, revenue remained the same, which obviously did my board down sugar is great because he’s thinking.

[00:34:04] So it’s not about you. We can definitely scale the 20. But the again, he’s probably right about that. At this point, I think we probably needed to see that. Yeah. I think I did, actually. And also there’s a weird thing that I probably have to be honest with myself about because that’s obviously what you want is an entrepreneur is you want a business that is scalable without you.

[00:34:27] It’s not built around you, but there’s a little bit of ego, maybe involved as well, where when we had the board meeting after I’d come back, I was off for five months with Lila and I when I came back, I um, I Almost felt a little bit. Oh, okay. So you’ve all been fine. You’re all making money. You’re all doing well.

[00:34:44] And maybe there’s an element of you feel you’re so centric to the business and it’s it’s almost a bit Your ego is built around being so pinnacle to this business. Maybe this is just me My ego is and I almost felt a little bit like oh, okay Not that important to the business. So whilst it was what I was aspiring towards as a business owner, right from the start I wanted to scale the brand.

[00:35:05] Um, but I’ve never really been able to get myself to do it. And maybe a part of that is linked to me not wanting to relinquish control or You know, I think as an entrepreneur, a lot of your identity is tied up in your business. For me, anyway, and mine is called my name, which, which plays into that further.

[00:35:22] Um, so yeah, it was really, it was a mix of emotions. Um, but I think being back at work, I’m doing a four day week now, and it’s been, it’s been really interesting. I think your perspective changes, and anyone who’s got kids in the room will probably. Um, agree. I feel like I don’t think it’s made my work ethic any, any different.

[00:35:42] I still feel I’m as motivated as ever. I feel like I’m doing it more for her now. Um, whereas before, I think I was doing it out of belief in the business and fear of failure essentially. But now I feel you almost. You almost want the success even more because you want her, her to see you achieve that and you also want to build legacy and to build a stable financial future for her.

[00:36:06] So, yeah, I actually think it’s probably made me more motivated becoming a mom. Affected

[00:36:11] Adam Stott: you in a positive way, yeah, for sure. No, which is which is awesome. So what’s next? Are you going to 20

[00:36:17] Dr. Leah Totton: clinics? I think we’re supposed to open one We’re supposed to open one in 2024. I Yes, we probably will do more At my pace, which will be what every two and a half years.

[00:36:29] I think we’ll do one more building costs are very high at the minute But I’ve looked at some sites recently. So I think we’ll do one more. We’ll scale the product line further Um, and that seems to be doing really well there. That’s a very different business for me. So product service based obviously is my core offering.

[00:36:47] Um, and that, but that has, I’m quite enjoying that as a new business for me and that’s very easy actually versus service based. It’s, it’s mainly e commerce. We sell the products in clinic, but they’re mainly online as well. Um, so I’m quite enjoying that. So we’ll scale that. And I think that the golden number for me now is five clinics.

[00:37:08] And I’ve got my head around that. Um, so I think that’s where we’re going to aim to get to in the coming years.

[00:37:13] Adam Stott: Brilliant stuff. That’s a little bit amazing, everybody. Yeah. Should we give her a big, big round of applause?