My name is Evan Carmichael and I believe that the fastest and most effective way to build a business is to model the strategies of people who have already done what you’re trying to do. I call it Modeling the Masters. My last post with over 50 comments was 60 Inspirational Quotes for 2012.

Today we're going to look at how a mother of two was forced to start a business when her husband left her to travel the Americas. Having no formal training, her survival instinct kicked in and she built one of the most trusted brands in the world. This is the story of the Body Shop's Anita Roddick and the top 3 lessons that you can learn from her success.

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"Whatever you do, be different... If you're different, you will stand out." - Anita Roddick

Anita Roddick (born Anita Perella, 23 October 1942 – 10 September 2007) was a British businesswoman, human rights activist and environmental campaigner, best known as the founder of The Body Shop, a cosmetics company producing and retailing beauty products that shaped ethical consumerism. She was born into a hard-working immigrant family and her mother ran a successful cafe which kept the young Roddick occupied for most of her childhood. In addition to a strong work ethic, her mother also taught her the concept of recycling and how valuable it could be for businesses. After graduating school she took a trip around the world and eventually wound up in Johannesburg, South Africa where she disobeyed the laws of apartheid by attending a jazz club on ‘black night’ and was sent back to England. Upon arriving back home she met Gordon Roddick and felt she had an "instant bond" with him. The two married and opened up a restaurant and hotel together.

After three years of running the two businesses, Gordon decided that he wanted to fulfill his life-long dream of riding a horse from Buenos Aires, Argentina to New York City. They sold the restaurant business and Anita stayed home with their two children. While Gordon was away on his adventure she decided to create her own cosmetics store that would sell natural and environmentally conscious products. She started off selling 15 cosmetic products that she made in her garage and packaged in recycled bottles to reduce the cost. She soon opened a second location and by the time her husband had returned from his trip, people were already asking about franchising rights.

By 2004 the Body Shop had almost 2,000 stores and served over 77 million customers around the world. It was also considered one of the most trusted brands in the world. On March 17, 2006, L'Oréal bought the Body Shop for £652 million ($973 million). With the sale Roddick became more involved in charity work and began giving away her money to causes she believed in. When she died in 2007 she left her estate to charities.

Action Item #1: Get Past Survival

We all have big dreams for what we want ourselves and our companies to become but in order to make those dreams a reality you need to first get past the survival point with your business. You need to know that your company will be able to give you enough money to put food on the table and pay your bills. This is one of the most important first steps you need to accomplish as you start your business. Once you have enough money coming in you can focus on shooting for your bigger goals.

When Anita Roddick first started the Body Shop it wasn't because she wanted to create social and environmental change. With her husband gone she had to find a way to make money to support herself and her two children. The main reason behind opening the Body Shop was so that her family could survive. As an example, she couldn't afford more than 700 empty bottles so she took the unusual step of offering five sizes of every product. Even though she had very few products initially, when you entered her 370 square foot store it would give the illusion that she carried over 120 products.

According to Roddick: "Nobody was stupid enough to offer five sizes of one product; it simply didn’t make sense. We turned it around into a survivor’s option: customers pick up the size they want and come back every week for a refill. Recycling had nothing to do with being environmentally conscious at that point... My goal was livelihood... At the forefront of my mind at the time there was really only one thought – survival... I started the Body Shop in 1976 simply to create a livelihood for myself and my two daughters, while my husband, Gordon, was trekking across the Americas. I had no training or experience and my only business acumen was Gordon’s advice to take sales of £300 a week. Nobody talks of entrepreneurship as survival, but that's exactly what it is and what nurtures creative thinking."

Action Item #2: Use Your Business to Do Good

The most successful businesses seem to be the ones who don't just focus on making money but instead try to be a force for good in their industry. Entrepreneurs are also now leading the way to help others beyond their customers - they are using their companies to support the communities around them and give back - not just because they can but because it also makes good business sense.

Anita Roddick's social and ecological conscience initially stemmed from a lack of money. She had to recycle bottles because she couldn't afford to buy new ones. The store was painted green because she wanted to hide the damp stains on the walls. However, as the Body Shop grew to become a powerful player in the cosmetics business, Roddick began to use her newfound influence to try to have a positive impact on the world around her.

According to Roddick: "I hate the beauty business. It is a monster industry selling unattainable dreams. It lies. It cheats. It exploits women. I want to work for a company that contributes to and is part of the community. I want something not just to invest in. I want something to believe in... If I can’t do something for the public good, what the hell am I doing?”

Action Item #3: Learn by Doing

It's hard to learn how to be an entrepreneur from a book. You can read to get inspired or to get new ideas but nothing is really going to happen until you start to apply those ideas into your business. You can use books and courses to supplement your knowledge and give you guidance but you have to actually apply what you're learning if you really want to understand and retain the information.

Anita Roddick never learned about being an entrepreneur at school. Instead she learned from her mother who she saw worked tirelessly to make her cafe successful. While other cafes kept regular 9 to 5 hours, her mother opened at dawn for the local fishermen and didn't close until the last customer had left. Roddick had never read a book on economic theory in her life and while her naysayers believed this would be her downfall, Roddick saw it as one of her competitive advantages.

According to Roddick: "I often get asked to talk about entrepreneurship – even by hallowed institutions like Harvard and Stanford – but I’m not all convinced it is a subject you can teach. How do you teach obsession, because more often than not it’s obsessions that drives an entrepreneur’s vision? Why would you march to a different drumbeat if you are instinctively part of the crowd?... They will not teach you the most crucial thing of all: how to be an entrepreneur. They might also sap what entrepreneurial flair you have as they force you into the template called an MBA... If I had learned more about business ahead of time, I would have been shaped into believing that it was only about finances and quality management...by not knowing any of that, I had an amazing freedom... Potential entrepreneurs are outsiders. They are people who imagine things as they might be, not as they are, and have the drive to change the world around them. Those are skills that business schools do not teach."

True Story

Anita Roddick's first location was next to a funeral parlor, giving a whole new meaning to the Body Shop name. When she began franchising she had little experience and decided not to charge startup or royalty fees. However, before she would accept franchisees, they would have to interview with her. Roddick asked off the wall questions like "What is your favourite flower?" and "How would you like to die?" to get to know her candidates on a more personal level.

More Quotes

"Crazy people see and feel things that others don’t. But you have to believe that everything is possible. If you believe it, those around you will believe it too."

"To succeed you have to believe in something with such a passion that it becomes a reality."

"If you think you’re too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito."

What Do You Think?

How did you get past the survival stage with your company? Do you think entrepreneurship can be taught? What part of Anita Roddick's message impacted you the most? As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts if you leave a comment below!

Evan Carmichael

To learn more check out my list of Anita Roddick articles or my website, EvanCarmichael.com.