Lisa Lam is one of my favorite entrepreneurs. She has been both a creative and business inspiration to me as I’ve watched her grow her passion for sewing bags into a full-blown eCommerce business.
While her business of making handbags and selling handbag hardware and fabric at U-Handbag might not be of interest to everyone, the way she runs her business should be of interest to anyone who wants to pursue a dream of working for yourself. Lisa is one smart business woman, and I’ve only built up more respect for her as I’ve gotten to know her better.
Q: Lisa, you’ve mentioned to me in the past that you have run a business before—can you tell us a little bit about that first business and what you learned from it?
A: I ran a small Chinese restaurant for two and three-fourths years. I was very fortunate in that the restaurant belonged to my parents. I officially leased the restaurant from them, paid them rent, and took all profits. My lovely Dad initially worked for me in the restaurant as paid member of staff for the first eight months until I fully knew the ropes. I feel I learned so many transferable skills and it gave me a real taste for being my own boss despite the fact that it can be very stressful and seriously hard work! With my father’s expert help I learned all aspects of running the business: from stock control to dealing with suppliers, and customer service to managing staff.
I think one of the most important things that I learned from the restaurant is that if you give value for money and you make your customers feel special they’ll will come back to you again and again. The restaurant business is so competitive, yet my modest (and shy) Dad was so well liked in our town and had lots of loyal customers whom he knew on first name terms. Because of him, I try my best to be friendly and helpful to all of my customers.
Q: How did that first business prepare you for U-Handbag?
A: I think it has helped me a lot in all sorts of ways. Besides giving me a grounding in business (as explained above). I think (importantly) running the restaurant helped prepare me mentally for running my own business; it helped psyche me up for what (possibly) laid ahead in terms of the sheer amount of work and worry. From the start, I was aiming for U-Handbag to be my sole source of income; that meant a lot of planning and a narrow margin for error. Whilst running the restaurant I saw that hard work and good product are only part of the equation, I learned you need to be very driven and passionate—I think the passion of the management/owner is what sets businesses apart. With drive and passion you will (somehow) bring your dream to life, you will put the hours in, do the research, you will learn what you need to learn, you’ll pick yourself up when you trip, and you will pay for expertise you don’t have—you’ll just do it or you won’t be able to sleep! Another important thing I learned from running the restaurant is that you have to be nice to your suppliers, but never ever hesitate to be firm if needs be.
