By Théa Dumont, Year 11
Lara Suleiman, Year 12, has been at LGB for three years and is originally from Lebanon. For the past year, she has been running a small business, Loulou’s Beads, which sells phone straps and jewelry. The LGB Express interviewed Lara about life as an IB student with her own business.
How did you come up with this idea of small business at such a young age?
To be very honest, the idea of having a small business came to me overnight. The very first time I made a phone strap was in the Middle East and all the beads I used were mostly leftover beads from DIYs my brother was doing and I had no idea what I was doing. I think I tied the rope only twice. So to my luck, the phone strap broke within 3 weeks because I didn’t use the correct kind of rope and didn’t close it properly. When it broke I was really upset because phone straps were very “in”. That’s when I thought to just order loads of beads and ropes and make my own. Right after, the idea to sell them seemed accessible, logical, and fun, I thought to myself, why not?
Did you get any help from your family, relatives, or friends before beginning your own company?
So to start Loulou’s beads I used all my allowance money on the material and the packaging, about a month after I started, that’s when the orders piled up and I was running very low on material and realized I needed to bulk buy, so my parents gave me some help, which I insisted on reimbursing 2 months later.
How much time do you usually dedicate to your small business per week?
Last year, in Year 11, I would take 2-3 hours per week to create phone straps, to address orders, to ship orders, to work on Instagram. However, in Year 12, I don’t always have the time or the effort to prioritize Loulous’ Beads (due to the work of the IB). So what I do now is I choose one weekend per month where I have enough time to work on social media and to make loads of phone straps, this way they are just ready to go.
Loulous’ beads started as a phone strap business, why/how did this lead to bracelets and necklaces as well?
The truth is, a lot of it was trial and error. I remember the first attempt at making a bracelet was because I had a medium-sized piece of rope that I didn’t want to waste (it wasn’t long enough for a phone strap). After that, I thought why not try to make a necklace. During the summer I also get lots of ankle bracelet requests, it’s pretty cool to be able to change the concept of Loulou’s beads.
Where do you find the inspiration for your products?
This is actually a very good question because I don’t have an answer. I’m kidding, I would say, my Middle Eastern side is always shown through my designs. For example, I use a lot of evil eyes and I mean the evil eye is practically a trademark now for Loulou’s beads but other than this I would say my customers have influenced me a lot because I offer to customize phone straps. I’ve grown to understand what people like and the kinds of color combinations and designs they like to see. I mean obviously, everybody has different tastes but this definitely inspired some of my work.
Do you use social media a lot in the development of your business?
Yes, because I think it’s a great way to grow a business because everyone these days can easily access social media and there are a lot of creator tools and marketing techniques that can be acquired from social media.
Are you planning on pursuing your small business in the future?
To be honest, I don’t think I will ever be doing Loulou’s beads as a full-time thing but I see it as my passion, I hope to keep it going for at least another year and who knows, maybe things will have changed by then!
Do you have any advice for someone that wants to start their own business?
Honestly, just do it. The truth is, even if the idea arises spontaneously, the business won’t necessarily take off overnight, but that’s completely normal. So don’t lose patience, don’t lose hope and keep it real, do something you’re passionate about and make mistakes, you’ll learn and you’ll have funny stories to tell.
Where can we find your products (in Geneva or online)?
In Geneva! You can find Loulou’s beads at boutique la Muse, Opale Institut and you can also DM me on Instagram @loulousbeads or send me an email at loulousbeads900@gmail.com.
