Marlborough Express - Weekend Express
Bella’s big braideddream
‘‘What’s French accessories?’’
Seven-year-old entrepreneur Bella le Compte knows the importance of branding.
And, after a quick Google search, her new start-up business had a name, Le Belle Accessoires Pour Cheveux.
The young Marlborough girl has started making custom decorative hair clips so she can afford to get her hair braided again for summer.
She loves going swimming but her hair is so thick, she prefers to have it in corn rows.
The le Compte family are going to New Caledonia to visit French friends in April, but Bella would like her hair done before then.
‘‘She came up with the business name and hairclip idea herself,’’ says Bella’s mother Libby le Compte.
‘‘She learned how to make them at a friend’s party, and I guess she thought, ’I can do that’.’’
Bella had her hair braided on another family holiday and she liked it so much she wanted to do it again.
‘‘She appreciates how much it costs to get done, and she really wanted to contribute this time,’’ says le Compte.
‘‘And what I am really proud of, is that she doesn’t want to spend the money she makes on for hair some new fad, she wants to put it towards something like a holiday, that the family does together. That’s what blew me away.’’
Her parents say it’s been a learning experience for Bella who is getting early lessons in economics, and that every penny she makes she has to put back into the business.
‘‘I was never this driven,’’ says her mother.
‘‘So we want to teach her about investment and spending. But make it fun, so it’s not boring for her. We don’t want her to give up on her dream.’’
But Bella says she’s getting used to the cost of overheads.
‘‘We don’t get the same amounts of money we get from selling them,’’ Bella says. ‘‘We also need to see how much it costs to make it also.’’
Le Compte was puzzled why she got a glue gun for her birthday this year, but then it became clear.
‘‘That was cunning of her,’’ she laughs. ‘‘Turns out it came in handy for Bella’s business.’’
Bella has sold 38 clips this week, and she has special Christmas-themed bows on order too. Her mother says they will take her into town to see how she can better invest her profits.
‘‘Her dad will take her around the banks in town and see who can offer the best account package for Bella,’’ le Compte says.
Hair braiding cost Bella’s family $70 last time they were in Raratonga.
Bella says when she grows up she wants to be a businesswoman, a tennis pro and a photographer.
‘‘And maybe an actress too,’’ she says.
To order your clip for $2 email lecompte.libby@gmail.com.